Coat (dog)

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A dog's coat is its fur. A dog can be double coated—that is, having both a soft undercoat and a coarser topcoat. Some dog breeds are single-coated—having only one type of coat or the other, more often only the topcoat. The state of the coat is considered an indication of the animal's breeding and health.

Most dogs shed their undercoat each spring and regrow it again as colder weather comes in; this is also referred to as blowing the coat. Many domesticated breeds shed their coat twice a year. In many climates, the topcoat and undercoat might shed continuously in greater and smaller quantities all year.

Some dog breeds' coat is more like human hair than like other animals' fur; for example, the Poodle's coat grows continuously, getting longer and longer, and requires frequent trimming.

Contents 1 Show dogs 2 Colours and patterns 2.1 Colour names 2.2 Patterns 3 References 4 Miscellaneous 5 External links

[edit] Show dogs

The nature and quality of a show dog's coat is an important conformation point in the hobby of dog fancy.

Some considerations in judging the quality of a dog's coat:

• Colour (coat colour other than those allowed in the breed standard results in disqualification)
• Markings (distribution of colour, spots, and patches; for example the spotted coat of a Dalmatian is distinctive, the markings of a terrier vary.)
• Pattern (specific, predictable markings; brindle, for example, is a common pattern.
• Texture of hair (smooth, rough, curly, straight, broken, silky)
• Length of hair

[edit] Colours and patterns

Dogs' coats come in a tremendous variety of colours and patterns. Some breeds come in only one or two specific colors, while other breeds can have a wide range of colors, patterns, and shades. Breeds bred strictly for their working ability tend to have more variations than breeds bred primarily for their appearance over a longer time, although some very old breeds also have more limited coat colors.

Words used for coat colours can vary from breed to breed, so a colour that is called red in one breed might be called brown in other breeds.

[edit] Colour names

Image:Chesapeakebayretriever01-l.jpg Brown Chesapeake Bay Retriever		Brown and its variants, including mahogany, midtone brown, gray-brown, blackish brown; the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, whose color "must be as nearly that of its working surroundings as possible", also uses the terms sedge and deadgrass. (Weimaraners are often described as "steel-grey" but they are in fact light brown, the colour of the powder for instant hot chocolate.)
Image:Seter irlandzki profil 5o899.jpg Red Irish Setter	Image:AustrKelpieChocolate wb.jpg Dark chocolate Australian Kelpie	Red—reminiscent of reddish woods such as cherry or mahogany—and its variants, including chestnut, , tawny, orange, roan, rust, red-gold, reddish brown, bronze, cinnamon, tan, ruby; also includes liver, a reddish brown somewhat the color of cinnamon or bronze; the breed often determines whether "liver", "chocolate", "brown", or "red" is used to describe the color, as in a liver German Shorthaired Pointer or a chocolate Labrador Retriever.
Image:Toy poodle.jpg Apricot Poodle	Image:GoldenRetrDark4 wb.jpg Dark Golden Retriever	Gold Rich reddish-yellow (orangeish), as in a Golden Retriever, and its variants, including yellow-gold, lion-colored, fawn, apricot, wheaten (pale yellow or fawn, like the color of ripe wheat), tawny, straw, yellow-red, mustard, sandy, honey.
Image:MuttShepherdRetriever 72.jpg Yellow is a common color for mixed-breed dogs	Image:YellowLabradorLooking.jpg Yellow Labrador Retriever	Yellow—yellowish-gold tan, as in a yellow Labrador Retriever—and its variants, including blond and lemon. Lemon is a very pale yellow or wheaten color which is not present at birth (the puppies are born white) but gradually becomes apparent, usually during the first six months of life.
Image:FrenchBulldog.jpg Cream French Bulldog		Cream: Sometimes it's hard to define the line between pale yellow and cream. Depending on the breed and individual, cream ranges from white through ivory and blond, often occurring with or beneath lemon, yellow, and sable.
Image:Pomeranian orange sable 600.jpg Dark orange sable Pomeranian	Image:Shetland sheepdogs.jpg Lighter sable Shetland Sheepdogs	Sable: Black-tipped hairs; the background color can be gold to yellow, silver, gray, or tan. The darkness of the coat depends on how much of each hair is black versus the lighter color.
Image:Galibalticstorm.JPG Black Newfoundland	Image:620768 52069243.jpg Black Labrador Retriever	Black: Usually pure black but sometimes grizzled, particularly as dogs age and develop white hairs, usually around the muzzle.
Image:Kerry blue Terrier.jpg Kerry Blue Terriers	Image:Australian Shepherd 600.jpg Blue merle Australian Shepherd	Blue: Not the rainbow's blue but rather a dark metallic gray, often as a blue merle or speckled (with black). Kerry Blue Terriers, Australian Silky Terriers, Bearded Collies, and Australian Shepherds are among many breeds that come in blue.
Image:Weimaraner wb.jpg Silver gray Weimaraner	Image:735px-Miniature-Schnauzer4.jpg Salt and pepper (?) gray Miniature Schnauzer	Gray—sometimes also called blue—and its variants, including pale to dark gray, silver, pepper, grizzle, slate, blue-black gray, black and silver, steel, silver-fawn.
Image:American Eskimo Dog.jpg White American Eskimo Dog	Image:Bichon Frise 600.jpg White Bichon Frisé	White: Pure white, but distinct from albino dogs.

[edit] Patterns

Patterns, like colours, might be called by different terms for different breeds.

Image:AustrKelpieLiver2 wb.jpg Liver and tan Australian Kelpie	Image:BTCoonhnd.jpg Black and Tan Coonhound	Black and tan, liver and tan: Coat has both colors but in clearly defined and separated areas, usually with the darker color on most of the body and tan (reddish variants) underneath and in highlights such as the eyebrows.
Image:Border Collie 600.jpg Black and white Border Collie	Image:CavalierKgChas2 wb.jpg Blenheim (Red-brown and white) Cavalier King Charles Spaniel	Two-color (also called bicolor, Irish spotting, or flashy) coats such as gold and white, liver and white, tan and white, black and white: Usually sharply contrasting colors, usually with the darker color on most of the body and lighter color underneath and in highlights such as the eyebrows, although sometimes one color is in patches, ticks, or other types of markings. Some breeds have special names for the color combinations; for example, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel uses Blenheim for reddish brown (chestnut) and white. Irish Spotted or flashy pattern is symmetrical and includes a white chest, white band around the neck, white belly, and white feet or "boots." This pattern is commonly seen in herding dogs, and Boxers, among others.
Image:EntlebucherBall2 wb.jpg Black tricolor Entlebucher Mountain Dog	Image:Miniature Australian Shepherd red tricolour.jpg Red tricolor Miniature Australian Shepherd	Tricolor: Three clearly defined colors, usually either black or red on the dog's upper parts, white underneath, with a tan border between and tan highlights; for example, the Smooth Collie or the Sheltie. Tricolor can also refer to a dog whose coat is patched, usually two colors (such as tan and black) on a white background.
Image:Beagle 600.jpg Tricolor Beagle
Image:Australian Shepherd 600.jpg Blue merle tricolor Australian Shepherd	Image:CatahoulaRedWhitePair wb.jpg Red merle Catahoula Leopard Dogs	Merle: Marbled coat with darker patches and spots of the specified color. Merle is referred to as "Dapple" with Dachshunds.
Image:Tuxedomix.jpg Tuxedo lab mixed-breed dog		Tuxedo: Solid (usually black) with a white patch (shirt front) on the chest, and white on some or all of the feet (spats.)
Image:Great-Dane wo Background.jpg Harlequin Great Dane		Harlequin: "Torn" patches of black on white. Only the Great Dane exhibits this coat pattern.
Image:Dalmatian b 01.jpg Spotted Dalmatian		Spotted
Image:Borzoi 600.jpg Red patched Borzoi	Image:English-Springer-Spaniel.jpg Brown and white patched and speckled English Springer Spaniel	Patched
Image:AustrCattleDogRed wb.jpg Red-speckled Australian Cattle Dog	Image:GermanShorthPtr wb.jpg Liver-ticked German Shorthaired Pointer	Flecked, ticked, speckled: also called belton in English Setters
Image:Rio14months.jpg Orange belton (orange and white speckled) English Setter	Image:EnglishSetter9 fx wb.jpg Blue belton (black and white speckled) English Setter		Image:AustrCattleDogBlue wb.jpg Blue speckled Australian Cattle Dog
Image:IMG013biglittledogFX wb.jpg Light brindle Great Dane	Image:BostonTerrierBrindleStand w.jpg Darker brindle and white Boston Terrier	Brindle: A mixture of black with brown, tan, or gold; usually in a "tiger stripe" pattern.
Image:Galgo-Espanol.jpg Medium brindle Galgo Español	Image:Ravyn french bulldog.jpg Very dark brindle French Bulldog
Image:GermanWirehrPtr1 wb.jpg Brown and white patched grizzled German Wirehaired Pointer		Grizzled
Image:WhippetWhiteSaddled wb.jpg White Whippet with brindle saddle	Image:Rambo.jpg Airedale Terrier with large black saddle	Saddle or blanket: A different color, usually darker, over the center of the back.
		Particolor: Two-colored coat with the colors appearing in patches in roughly equal quantiles.
Image:Finnish Lapphund Elbereth Norppa 2.jpg Wolf-sable Finnish Lapphund with white and tan markings		Wolf, wolf-sable or wolf-grey: Possessing a color and pattern similar to that of a wild wolf. The undercoat is light but the top-coat is dark. This is fairly common among spitz breeds.

[edit] References

• Cunliffe, Juliette (2004). "Coat Types, Colors and Markings", The Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds. Paragon Publishing, pp 20-23 and various. 
• Fogle, Bruce (2000). "The Breed Section Explained", The New Encyclopedia of the Dog. Dorling Kindersley, pp 83 and various. 

[edit] Miscellaneous

Coat may also refer to a dog coat (also known as a dog rug); a garment made by humans to protect their pets from the elements.

[edit] External links

• dogsindepth.com The Online Dog Encyclopedia - visual coat color chart (worldwide)

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