Fluffy!

Dogs with double coats regulate their body temperature by shedding off and growing in their undercoat. If it's colder, they grow more undercoat. If it's warmer, they grow in less of an undercoat.

Now that we have moved into a colder climate, Loki is FLUFFY! I've never seen his coat so full. His belly is also completely fluffy. In the past, you could see his pink skin on his underside pretty easily between the sparse hair.

Consequently, he looks bigger. But really, it's just all fur.

Before:
(living in So. California)

After
(living in DC Metro area):

Can you tell the difference? The camera can't quite capture the thickness of his undercoat. But he definitely is fluffier now than ever before.

Hm... does that mean that the spring time blowing coat season will be worse?

4 comments:

Peter Blitstein said...

Yes, it will be worse, sorry to say. Our Niko gets a very fluffy coat in winter (we live in Wisconsin). Come spring, the house is full of his hair for several weeks.

But the fluffiness is cool, isn't it!

Anonymous said...

My shiba (Maro is my shiba's name :-)) started shedding his undercoat last Sept and he is still shedding now (We live in Seattle)! I bought a Roomba, which has been helping me a lot for everyday cleaning. Before getting one, vacuming was the fisrt thing I had to do after I came home from work, which wasn't fun at all!

shiba1 said...

Wait until one of the many DC shedding seasons...We had to get a Dyson vacuum just to battle the fur!

The Shiba said...

A full shiba coat- a truly full coat- is stunning. Cortez's coat is perfect right now- it is a thick carpet that one can bury their fingers in and have to dig to find fur. Someone the other day commented that he looked fatter. I put on his collar and suddenly you could see how the deep the fur on his neck is. He is virtually waterproof. I just love it.

Come spring, it is frightening. We too had to purchase a Dyson vacuum cleaner and I take him to Pet Smart for one or two major groomings. They take pictures to post on their wall to show how much fur they can get off a dog. But then, he looks transformed into this sleek, lean machine of muscle which too, is its own beauty.

The fall blowout is not too bad usually since the summers are pretty warm, but the spring- get ready. His fur will be your fur- everywhere!

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