# silky or cotton coat?



## hottubecake (Jul 28, 2010)

Hi everyone,

How do you tell if your puppy has a cottony or silky coat? And will it change as he gets older?
Thanks Joan


----------



## happyhavsfarm (May 14, 2009)

*Coats*

The texture is different. Silky coats and thinner and more like people hair. Cottony coats are thicker, but both are nice. The coat will not change

Marian
Happy Havs Farm


----------



## LilyMyLove (Jul 11, 2009)

How long after you comb it does it matt up? Lily has a cottony coat and she matts in a day. People think she is so soft and fluffy- and she is. Its like a cloud, a very high-maitenence cloud.


----------



## jetsetgo! (Aug 3, 2010)

LilyMyLove said:


> How long after you comb it does it matt up? Lily has a cottony coat and she matts in a day. People think she is so soft and fluffy- and she is. *Its like a cloud, a very high-maitenence cloud.*


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

When they go through coat blowing it feels as if they mat the minute you stop taking the last one out. Ruby is in the middle of it right now and it's a nightmare.


----------



## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

Cicero is like cotton candy and it's a job keeping the mats out of his coat. He has thick hair that is so soft...but a lot of work. I think the silky coat is probably much easier to care for.


----------



## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

LuvCicero said:


> Cicero is like cotton candy and it's a job keeping the mats out of his coat. He has thick hair that is so soft...but a lot of work. I think the silky coat is probably much easier to care for.


Dale - that surprised me. In the photos I have seen of Cicero, I would have guessed his coat to be silky and very thick. It is obvious you take very good care of him. He is one handsome dude!


----------



## LilyMyLove (Jul 11, 2009)

pjewel said:


> When they go through coat blowing it feels as if they mat the minute you stop taking the last one out. Ruby is in the middle of it right now and it's a nightmare.


Geri Lily is too. Its driving me batty! I thought that only happened in spring but she matted all over in two days! I am bringing her to the groomers-I cant deal. :brick:


----------



## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

motherslittlehelper said:


> Dale - that surprised me. In the photos I have seen of Cicero, I would have guessed his coat to be silky and very thick. It is obvious you take very good care of him. He is one handsome dude!


Thanks Linda. Cicero does have 'lots' of hair. His ears are real silky and the hair on his chest and legs hardly ever get a mat, but the fuzzy cotton hair on his body needs to be brushed every single day. I do 'have' to take care of him...or I would end up in a big mess and have to clip him naked...lol

Your cute baby reminds me a lot of Cicero!!


----------



## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

LuvCicero said:


> Thanks Linda. Cicero does have 'lots' of hair. His ears are real silky and the hair on his chest and legs hardly ever get a mat, but the fuzzy cotton hair on his body needs to be brushed every single day. I do 'have' to take care of him...or I would end up in a big mess and have to clip him naked...lol
> 
> Your cute baby reminds me a lot of Cicero!!


Thank you! Yes, I have thought Augie looks a bit like Cicero, although his coat doesn't look as full. We boarded him for a couple days last week and before we picked him up, they brushed him out. He sort of smelled like a pimp - very strong!! But it had aired out some by the next day and smelled not so bad. But he felt so silky and his coat has remained very easy to brush since then. I called this a.m. and they used IOD silky coating brush spray. I am going to go down and check it out. It probably has silicone in it and may not be good for long term use, I don't know. I had been using the Coat Handlers conditioner, diluted, as a brush spray, but not exactly thrilled with it. What do you use on Cicero?


----------



## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

The difference is pretty obvious. Pam can now tell as soon as they are born while the hair is still wet. We have some of both. The silkier coats are MUCH easier to maintain. Some of our older, retired dogs have the curly gene, but Pam now keeps them in a puppy coat. The thicker coat is a curly coat even though it can still be blow dried straight. 

We used to try to simply select away from it, but you really didn't know if a dog with a straighter coat would produce the curly until she was bred. Now that there is a test for it, it's much easier to select away from.

If you notice the pictures of Fifth on our website, her puppy coat was not curly. After blowing her puppy coat. and when her adult coat came in thick with curly the test became available. We had her tested and she is carrying two copies of curly, so we had her spayed since we don't want to continue to produce it, or wait another generation out of her to be sure to select away from it.


----------



## LilyMyLove (Jul 11, 2009)

Tom King said:


> The difference is pretty obvious. Pam can now tell as soon as they are born while the hair is still wet. We have some of both. The silkier coats are MUCH easier to maintain. Some of our older, retired dogs have the curly gene, but Pam now keeps them in a puppy coat. The thicker coat is a curly coat even though it can still be blow dried straight.
> 
> We used to try to simply select away from it, but you really didn't know if a dog with a straighter coat would produce the curly until she was bred. Now that there is a test for it, it's much easier to select away from.
> 
> If you notice the pictures of Fifth on our website, her puppy coat was not curly. After blowing her puppy coat. and when her adult coat came in thick with curly the test became available. We had her tested and she is carrying two copies of curly, so we had her spayed since we don't want to continue to produce it, or wait another generation out of her to be sure to select away from it.


Tom,

How long does it take for the dog to completely blow the puppy coat? Lily is 17 months now and blowing coat as we speak. It seems to be cottony and mostly straight with some wavy areas, but nothing I would call curly (compared to the "curly" Havs I've seen, I could be wrong) . I think she looks better air dryed and not completely straight. When she is blown dry, it gets bone straight and she has a somewhat drawn appearance.

How long until I know how she will turn out? (Surprise, surprise, puppy surprise!)

I love Lily (obviously) and think she is gorgeous, but I will try and get a silky dog next. I just picked her up from the groomer and they cut matts out, I'm calling her Patches.


----------



## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

Tom, Cicero has a very thick coat but he is straight with just a little wave. After the blowing coat his hair changed, but that could be the belton gene. I remember when Fifth was born and wanted her so badly. Just as I talked DH into letting me contact you is when you posted you were going to keep her. She is a cutie and doesn't look curly in her pics to me. When I think curly, I think of coats like Ann's Scooter, who makes me smile everything I look at his pic. He has the cutest expressions! I love the work you have done on your web page!!


----------



## LuvCicero (Mar 31, 2008)

motherslittlehelper said:


> Thank you! Yes, I have thought Augie looks a bit like Cicero, although his coat doesn't look as full. We boarded him for a couple days last week and before we picked him up, they brushed him out. He sort of smelled like a pimp - very strong!! But it had aired out some by the next day and smelled not so bad. But he felt so silky and his coat has remained very easy to brush since then. I called this a.m. and they used IOD silky coating brush spray. I am going to go down and check it out. It probably has silicone in it and may not be good for long term use, I don't know. I had been using the Coat Handlers conditioner, diluted, as a brush spray, but not exactly thrilled with it. What do you use on Cicero?


Linda, I have tried the IOD products on Cicero and I wasn't crazy about them. I have tried almost every product out there in the almost 3 years. I know many people love the Coat Handler conditioner, but it doesn't do much for my cotton boy. I have settled on the EQyss products as the Premium shampoo and conditioner seem to keep more moisture in his coat. But, I always finish him with Cure Care conditioner which I have used for years on myself and other pets and it's dirt cheap so I don't have to be stingy with it. I get it at Sally's Beauty Supply and float his coat for the final rinse.


----------



## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

LilyMyLove said:


> Tom,
> 
> How long does it take for the dog to completely blow the puppy coat? Lily is 17 months now and blowing coat as we speak. It seems to be cottony and mostly straight with some wavy areas, but nothing I would call curly (compared to the "curly" Havs I've seen, I could be wrong) . I think she looks better air dryed and not completely straight. When she is blown dry, it gets bone straight and she has a somewhat drawn appearance.
> 
> ...


There is no fixed timeline. It seems like it varies with each dog.


----------



## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

LuvCicero said:


> Tom, Cicero has a very thick coat but he is straight with just a little wave. After the blowing coat his hair changed, but that could be the belton gene. I remember when Fifth was born and wanted her so badly. Just as I talked DH into letting me contact you is when you posted you were going to keep her. She is a cutie and doesn't look curly in her pics to me. When I think curly, I think of coats like Ann's Scooter, who makes me smile everything I look at his pic. He has the cutest expressions! I love the work you have done on your web page!!


All the pictures on her webpage were before she was a year old. She now has a sable, curly coat. We were really hoping she would keep that red, silky coat, but it wasn't to be. Our first stud dog, Smallhaven Trip to Remember did something similar, so I guess that's where she got it from. We have managed to keep Trip in our pedigree, but have gotten rid of the curly coat.

Thanks for the compliment on the webpage, but there is still a lot of work to do. A lot of the dogs' individual pages are pretty old. I need to put up a Retired dogs page and link to their individual pages, but just haven't gotten around to it.


----------



## waybrook (Sep 13, 2009)

LilyMyLove said:


> How long after you comb it does it matt up? Lily has a cottony coat and she matts in a day. People think she is so soft and fluffy- and she is. Its like a cloud, a very high-maitenence cloud.


Panda is the same way so soft and cottony, and a major pain in the neck grooming wise. She has to be brushed daily unless we keep her in a puppy cut (which we have done this summer and will most likely continue). The cotton coats are beautiful but a LOT of work....


----------



## waybrook (Sep 13, 2009)

Tom - just looked at your new puppies - Clarissa is a doll baby deluxe. Of course, they are all cute as buttons, but she is stunning!


----------



## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Tom, while we're on the subject of coat - I have a question I haven't heard on the forum before. Do some Havs just never get really long hair on their faces? Abby was three in June and has never been cut and although her coat has been very slow-growing, her face is significantly shorter than the rest of her plus a little bit on her head right above her eyes never seems to get longer than about 1 1/2 inches. The rest of her head hair is long. I'd appreciate any input you can share.


----------

