Ruby coat growth

Clancy will be a year old in August, and I have a coat question! A few months ago he had a very shiny very randomly curly coat that was just so shiny and beautiful. About two months ago he blew that coat out, and what was left looks to me like lighter-colored undercoat. He looks very puffy and scruffy. Now it looks as though the darker red, shinier fur is starting to come back in on the top of his back.

For those of you with Rubies, is this how the adult coat finally comes in?! Right now Clancy looks like a junkyard dog, albeit an adorable one!

I will try to get a good picture today that will illustrate what I'm talking about. I will love him no matter what his coat looks like, but I am hoping the nice, shiny dark red will come back in the way it was a few months ago.

I also wonder if the anesthesia that he had when neutered could have anything to do with the coat blowout and change. He was neutered when he was six months old.

You don't think he was shedding his coat for warm weather?

I have a ruby, but she's only 5 months old & am waiting for her to have her fur grow, really. It's all shiny. Just short..

neutering will make the coat pale & fluffy unfortunately , my sisters ruby had a very nice dark coat, She had him neutered & he's went pale with puffy bits & lost all his chest hair.

you could try stripping the fluff out with a coat king etc , i've never used one but have a mikki stripping comb that works very well to get out the undercoat

I have to agree with the last poster. My older girls had very nice, dark, flat hair that went fuzzy, light and unmanageable after they were spay. NOW it takes much longer to achieve the nicely groomed look.

Oh, I am so sad my Lucky will be losing his beautiful coat when he gets neutered on Friday.

It won't be undercoat, as the breed is a single coated breed and has no undercoat.

A Coat King would probably help take out the frazzly bits. The Furminator will take out excess shedding coat but not necessarily frizzy coat. It takes virtually nothing at all from Jaspar and Leo who hardly ever shed, but takes a lot off Lily, who has a really heavy coat.

I think the quality of coat on a neutered or intact dog depends on an enormous range of things from diet to genes to how an individual dog reacts to a spay. I've noted before that Lily's is soft and frizzy but only in a narrow strip down her spine -- everywhere else she is glossy and her coat has steadily improved since she lost her excessive weight and got on to a decent diet. Jaspar has gone paler and has frizzy bits on the sides... but he has darker glossy hair coming in slowly at neck and spine. He's never had a great coat even as a puppy and never had that shaggy look of some pups. Leo has always been shiny and glossy though, and like Jaspar, was neutered nearly three years ago now. Jaspar and Leo are half brothers and only 5 weeks apart in age and have always had very slow growing coats, though Leo (tri) is fuller on his black hair.

So I think it is really hard to predict. It sounds like an adult coat is beginning to come in.

My intact dogs have almost carefree coats, beautiful in color, texture, shine -- their siblings who are speutered are harder to keep up. Same food, same sire/dam, same environment.

Thanks for the thoughts! I have a furminator so I will try working on him with that. Quite a bit of the fuzzy, frizzy stuff comes out when I comb him, so I'll take that as a good sign.

He eats a healthy diet, including fish oils. The parts of him that are still dark red, like his face, are very shiny and healthy looking. Perhaps it's a phase!

WoodHaven said:

My intact dogs have almost carefree coats, beautiful in color, texture, shine -- their siblings who are speutered are harder to keep up. Same food, same sire/dam, same environment.

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Would have to agree with you on that Sandy, my own entire dogs have lovely flowing coats with hardly any frizzy dry bits, yet my parents and my in-laws who both have dogs I have bred and have had them spayed/neutered, their dogs all seem to have that dry frizzy stripe down their spine, they also have a thicker fuller coat (they are all Tri-Colours and black hair is denser than chestnut anyway) that feels drier. The one exception I have is another Tri girl who looks like a wooly mammoth despite having had a pup this year, she just never seems to lose her coat. The Coat King works wonders on her!

I went to work on Clancy with the Furminator, and MAN what a DIFFERENCE!! I think I've been a bad mommy! He was a bit wimpy at first but then settled in and enjoyed himself. He has to feel better without all that dead hair on him.

He's nice and red now, too. It will take a few times to get to all the awkward places on him, I'm sure.

I don't know WHY I didn't think to use this before. I have it for my Golden Retriever because his coat is immense and would be unmanageable without this tool. DUH! I'm really bright! LOL

Barb - great that the furminator helped. Bet he looks great now.

Hi everyone, I've been "lurking" for about a month now, and I have a quesion about cav's coats changing...we have a 3 1/2 month old Ruby male named Miles - is there anything we should be giving him for his coat? His mother, father and grandfather (who we met) all carry a ton of coat, but now I'm worried his coat will change once we have him neutered. Any advice?

Thanks!
Carrie

I think I just figured out how to post a picture of Miles - hope it worked! :xfngr: One more question - any recommendations on shampoo/conditioner for Cav puppies? His coat has been a bit dry after his last 2 baths...thanks!

Carrie

Barb--I got a furminator for my golden, too. Just started using it on Mia and, oh, what a difference. I think she feels better, too, since it's been very warm here lately.

cy1266 said:

I think I just figured out how to post a picture of Miles - hope it worked! :xfngr: One more question - any recommendations on shampoo/conditioner for Cav puppies? His coat has been a bit dry after his last 2 baths...thanks!

Carrie

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Carrie--alot of people use Pet Silk products which are great. I don't know if you're in the U.S. or not, but you can check it out at www.tiabellas.com.

Welcome, by the way~

Denise G. said:

Barb--I got a furminator for my golden, too. Just started using it on Mia and, oh, what a difference. I think she feels better, too, since it's been very warm here lately.

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I'm sure Clancy feels better as well. I think I could have filled three gallon size ziploc bags with the dead hair that's come off. I am kinda embarrassed to admit that, though!! Poor little guy!

Thanks Denise! Yes, I'm in the US (Chicago)...I'm still trying to figure out how to add my location to my profile I'll look for the Pet Silk products for Miles. Thanks for the help!

Carrie

Hi guys,

Maisie's coat is deep red and really shiny and is always getting commented on. The only problem we have with her is her ears. They are slightly straggly, even straight after grooming, and never look quite right. I get very jealous when I see other cavaliers with beatiful thick wavy ears!!
I tried a few different types of dog shampoo which I didn't think worked particularly well. My trick for Maisie's lovely glossy fur at the moment is tea-tree oil shampoo for humans!!! It hasn't aggrevated her skin like some of the doggie-brands, and it gives her a lovely deep shine.:biggrin:

Jo
Maisie (ruby)