Another Coat Change?

[ireadbooks]

Our 8 month old's coat seems to be changing again! I've been sweeping up more hair than usual, and his flanks have suddenly changed from black to tan/red. He's a "plush" or long stock coat. He's got a few short ear floofies and a little mane, but nothing as impressive as true longcoats. When his puppy fuzz fell out he got a patch of wavy hair on his shoulders, which grew longish and silky and straight eventually. In the past week I've noticed his fur has turned wavy all down his back!

Is it normal for another coat change about this time? And how many more coat changes will we see before he's done? Just curious.

[RowdyDogs]

I don't know about dogs, but in horses and people both hair coloring can and often does change throughout the lifetime. The two old dogs I have had since they were young (Wooby, my oldest, I only got a couple of years ago, so I really don't know if she's changed colors) haven't changed much, although Bandit has gotten a bit darker...he used to be almost entirely white except his dark patches, and now he has visible dark flecks throughout his coat. Scooter has gone gray in the face, but otherwise not changed. But I wouldn't take that as representative. My hair was black then white-blond then gradually got darker and now I'm usually classified as a redhead, and if it follows the same pattern as my dad's hair coloring (which it has so far), I'll probably be a solid brunette by the time I'm starting to gray, and gray late at that. So how to classify my hair color? I'm a redhead at the moment, but I was dirty blond just 5 years ago...

One thing that interests me is that I gave my new red heeler, Abi, her first bath today, and when she was wet I noticed that she actually has black hairs mixed in with the red along her back. They're not visible when she's dry, but when she's wet she looks like she has a light gray streak along her back. She's 6 months old and I'll look forward to seeing how that affects her.

So this isn't really an answer, but I'd say it's hard to say? Coat genetics are hard...Bandit, my mostly-white dog, should be a clear roan, and all his littermates were. No chance of exposure to a different sire or anything either. He just didn't quite work... LOL

Or my friend's colt, who was originally dun but that couldn't be registered in the breed association (didn't exist) so she registered him bay, then he turned charcoal, now he's visibly black...she finally had genetic tests done and he's a true black IIRC...never would have guessed it by how he looked in his first 3 years of life. And I've had to go through the incredible hassle of re-registering a stallion (it involves DNA testing) who was black for his first 6 years but actually was gray...

So, without knowing GSD puppy color changes, I'd just assume that he'll change colors as much as he wants to. LOL edit: and I'll also add that it's very likely that some GSD breeder will come in and be like, "Ignore RowdyDogs, she has no idea," which is entirely true when it comes to GSDs. I just posted because color genetics in dogs (and all animals) are kind of complex from what I've seen, and I just wanted to share my experience I guess?