What coat type is this?

[Mikelia]

I often get asked about my boys coats too. They have nice, thick, plush stock coats. A lot of the random bred gsds around here have very short, flat, harsh coats and I think it is almost a culture shock for people to see a proper gsd coat. My boys are asl lines and there are a lot of shorter coated dogs in these lines as well. I am happy my guys are so plush - although it does mean more hairs to shed lol.

[Ziltoid]

Originally Posted by Rerun

She doesn't have an unusual coat, just a nice normal west german showline coat. You have to compare apples to apples - look at west german showlines, which is what your dog looks like.

There are several "varieties" if you will of german shepherds. Some lines have different coat types. West german showlines are bred for nice full looking coats.

Thank you for this, this response was exactly what I was looking for. I've had a quick look into west german show lines and am quite confident that's what she is - so next time someone asks me, at least I have an answer other than "yeah, she has got kind of long hair hasn't she".


I feel so naive... my knowledge basically covered show lines vs working lines, and long coat vs short coat (and obviously I wasn't totally clear on that either).


Before I bought her I knew the look I was after (without knowing the name), and had reseached both parents fairly extensively. I had looked at progeny of both parents and had a fairly good idea what she would look like. In fact I'd probably gone a little overboard considering I had no plans to breed from her... I had looked into what the sires titles meant i.e. V1 SchH3 (Imp Ger) Kkl 1 a Normal ED Normal HD ZW 77.. I had watched videos of him working, competing and his protection work. I read reviews from owners of his progeny. I'd even compared his stud fees to other dogs... and all that was before I had even been guaranteed a puppy from that litter.

When I met the breeders/dam and was guaranteed a pup, I did even more reseach on both parents... and after all that I still had no idea on the different lines. Colour me clueless .

[Ziltoid]

Originally Posted by carmspack

agreed - just a good coat , NOT long . Dog appears to be "wet" lots of extra skin around the neck area which accentuates the neck area making it look like a ruff. You can see this in your last picture where the neck puffs out . Look at the area under the tongue in the picture .

She has got loads of extra skin around the neck... I had always thought it was 'growing room' but seeing as she is now about 10 months old, somehow I don't think she is going to be growing into it

Originally Posted by Questforfire

Yes definitely a standard coat but it looks quite "plush" (as has been said). She is lovely

Thank you, she is a lovely dog... although I have never owned an animal that I didn't feel that way about, so am aware of my biased opinions

Originally Posted by Mooch

She's gorgeous - looks very similar to my female
Are you in Australia?

Thank you too and yes, I'm in NSW.

[Ziltoid]

Originally Posted by Mikelia

I often get asked about my boys coats too. They have nice, thick, plush stock coats. A lot of the random bred gsds around here have very short, flat, harsh coats and I think it is almost a culture shock for people to see a proper gsd coat. My boys are asl lines and there are a lot of shorter coated dogs in these lines as well. I am happy my guys are so plush - although it does mean more hairs to shed lol.

Yep, all the GSDs around my area seem to be either very short coat, or there are a few long coats around. Mine appears to be the only inbetweener out here.

And yes, the shedding hair has been ridiculous We've only recently gone into summer months and I have mainly floorboards and tiles in the house... I've never seen so much hair before.

[Freestep]

Originally Posted by Mikelia

I often get asked about my boys coats too. They have nice, thick, plush stock coats. A lot of the random bred gsds around here have very short, flat, harsh coats and I think it is almost a culture shock for people to see a proper gsd coat.

I don't think the short stock coat isn't "proper", in fact, I prefer it to plush coats. Plush coats look amazing when well-groomed, but there is a lot more hair to deal with, and I like the easy care of a working-dog coat. The harsher, the better. Harder guard hairs shed water and dirt like crazy.

I don't think GSDs should have a coat like a Lab or a Doberman, though. It shouldn't lie absolutely smooth, and I have seen GSDs with that type of coat. Some of the girls look that way when coming into season, but it's only temporary.

[Liesje]

Dog in the original post has a nice stock coat. There are stock coats (short) and long stock coats. "Plush" is a descriptive word some people use but I've seen if have very different meanings and it's not a coat type as far as dividing dogs into show classes like stock and long stock. To me the dog in the pics has a normal stock coat, not really plush.

[Rerun]

I would agree that it's not what many would consider a "proper" coat. that is not to say it's not a very nice coat and the proper coat for a WGSL dog. If we are splitting hairs (pun intended...) then technically the working line people like czech/DDR, etc would argue that their type of coat which is very short and tight typically is what the original GSD's had. Most showline dogs of any variety are not what the breed was originally structured like, coat type included.

I have always seen the term "plush" to describe the long stock coats who have shorter fur than a longer long hair. It is not an actual official coat type or term.

[Liesje]

Rerun, me too, usually dogs I see described as plush and think of as plush are LONG stock coats but they have a really full undercoat and not the really long, stringy long hair like some have. Falon's dog Kastle is one that I think is rather plush now that he's filled out a bit and has a nice undercoat. He is a long stock coat but just barely, but fluffy and soft. My Coke is not a GSD but also very plush, just very soft like what it feels like to hug a plush blanket or plush stuffed animal. Very thick undercoat but very soft overall (like the hairs themselves are not thick or coarse but the undercoat is very dense).

My WGSL dog Nikon has less coat than Pan (WL). I think plenty of WL dogs have really nice coats. A lot of times what I see with WGSL is not that they have more coat, or longer coat, or more plush coats but they are more "wet" and have more excess skin, if that makes sense? Like the dog in the original post.

[Ziltoid]

Originally Posted by Liesje

Dog in the original post has a nice stock coat. There are stock coats (short) and long stock coats. "Plush" is a descriptive word some people use but I've seen if have very different meanings and it's not a coat type as far as dividing dogs into show classes like stock and long stock. To me the dog in the pics has a normal stock coat, not really plush.

See this is where I get confused... if she has a stock coat, then what do you call the shorter hair variety?

You have mentioned stock coat (short), but that seems to be the more standard/common coat type (at least where I live), so wouldn't this be considered stock? My dogs hair is longer than these dogs... or is it just a case that the term 'stock' covers everything from short to fairly long?

I realise that these varieties probably make no difference as far as categories in shows etc. but is there is a set of descriptive terms that are usually used?

[Rerun]

There are stock coats and long stock coats. That's it. If the dog isn't a long stock coat, it's a stock coat. There is no other term, official or otherwise, to describe it. Plush is really the only other (unofficial) term to describe GSD coats, and it applies to long stock coats.

Your dog has a perfectly normal/standard (per your words ) coat. It's not unusual. It may be unusual where you live and the type you are used to seeing, but spend some time here and you'll see it's not unusual. It's how WGSL dogs are supposed to look.