Hair

[kmatt]

How long did it take before your Blem Girls hair grew in? Don't get me wrong I like the short hair, but I really miss Teddy's long luxureus Hair.

[Karlin]

Do you mean when do puppies get adult coats?

Blenheims would not be different from any other colour coat, it is more to do with the individual dog and lines. Some dogs have fairly lightweight coats, some have heavier coats. Some puppies have a lot of coat, some do not.

Coats begin to look like adults with some feathering by around 9 months to a year old, usually. But generally older than that to really begin to fill out.

[chloe92us]

Ollie will be 2 in August and I'm still patiently waiting!

[kmatt]

I've notice Karlin that tri's tend to get fuller coats that seem to grow faster. That is why i differntiated between them. I just was wondering how much more I will have to wait. Anna has some nice feathering on her legs, but she has a fuzzy butt and no feathering on her chest.

[mhabca]

Mika is almost 2.5 years. Her legs have nice feathering, but so far her chest feathers are only about 1 or 1.5 inches long. Slowly but surely.

[kmatt]

Mika is almost 2.5 years. Her legs have nice feathering, but so far her chest feathers are only about 1 or 1.5 inches long. Slowly but surely.

Ears?

[Karlin]

Ears take years to grow to a long length generally. I have two tris and their coats grow at the same rate as my blenheims. Leo is a half brother to Jaspar and would have had about the same coat at the same ages, but his ears have always been longer. Tris and B&Ts do tend to get heavier coats as the black hair seems to be heavier, all else being equal. But again this is really dependent on lines and individuals. Leo has a fairly lightweight coat and is easy to maintain. I've seen very heavy coated blenheims too.

The best guide is the parents and grandparents. But generally a full adult coat with long ears really takes a couple of years to come in.

[mhabca]

Ears?

This picture should give you a pretty good idea of what she looks like. She was 2 years, 4 months here.

[Karlin]

She probably won't get a much fuller coat then that nor her ears that much longer -- she is similar to Jaspar and Leo (Jaspar in my avatar pic). By two+, her coat is likely pretty much as full and long as it will get (I just love that picture you posted!). Jaspar's ears in that pic are about the longest they have ever grown, and took years to reach that length. But as you can see from say Nicki's pics, her dogs have really long ears including blenheims! Jaspar's ears just would never grow to those lengths. Lucy by contrast has a very hairy chest and belly and has had very long ears!! (a blenheim). But I keep her ears a bit trimmed up and Leo's and Lily's I keep shorter now because they both have SM and scratch at their ears enough to cause matts and hair loss when they are longer and also I think the weight of the longer hair is more uncomfortable for SM dogs.

[rhiannasmom]

My little girl blenheim is 13 months and has the same length coat as yours. I try to even out her coat with a feathering comb. She's not a show dog, so I'm free to trim as I please! Last week I shortened her butt-feathers and evened out the leg feathers from where the vet had to shave some fur for her IV when she had her spay surgery. For her, the chest feathers are quite fluffly and her slippers are coming in nicely. (Had to trim those down a few months ago when she walked through someone's old gum. ) She has very thick front leg feathering, but the hair on her back legs just grows straight down. Not sure if that's normal or not.
Personally, I prefer a mid-length coat. She's such an active little monkey and I have a hard time as it is pulling out the burs and brushing through all the tangles. I've seen some beautiful, long coats on cavs in the meetup group I attend and I always wonder just how much work it takes the owners to keep them that way! I just hope I never have to shave her... I can't imagine how long a full coat would take to grow back!
Melissa