Puppy Coat

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matterfam
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Joined: 05 Jun 2021, 05:16
First Name: Cheryl

Puppy Coat

Post by matterfam »

Our Miniature Schnauzer Abby who we groomed every six weeks crossed the Rainbow Bridge on February 8th. I’ve been heartbroken and am looking for a puppy. I have a deposit with a breeder who has a litter of four. Three of the puppies have the fluffy puppy coat, but one has a straight not curly coat. None of them have been groomed. Has anyone seen this before? If yes, what will the coat look like as the puppy ages?
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zeta1454
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Re: Puppy Coat

Post by zeta1454 »

Welcome to the Forum Cheryl :)

I am sorry to hear about Abby and hope that you will soon be able to bring the new little puppy into your family to ease some of the pain.

I am not sure how to comment as regards the puppy coats - really the breeder will be the best one to advise you in terms of grooming and how the coats will develop. What age are the puppies and have you seen the mother? Also when you say that you groomed Abby every six weeks, was this hand stripping? Some miniature schnauzer coats can be better than others for hand stripping but this is something that the breeder should know from their knowledge of the breeding lines they have used and the coats of the parent dogs.

All the miniature schnauzer puppies we have introduced to our family and those we have bred in the past did have quite thick soft jackets by about 6-7 weeks of age and this would be stripped back from 8 + weeks of age to allow the harsh top coat to come through. I would not have described them as curly coats though. At birth and up to about three weeks the jacket is much less thick and very straight as with all young pups. Here are a few photos to show the changing coat in a couple of our pups from years ago.

This was at about 4 weeks of age:

Image

And about 10 days later:

Image

And at about 7 weeks old:

Image

And another photo of a different puppy from the same litter at 8 weeks of age to show the coat better:

Image

As you can see the coat is thick but not really curly :)
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matterfam
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Joined: 05 Jun 2021, 05:16
First Name: Cheryl

Re: Puppy Coat

Post by matterfam »

Thank you for the warm welcome and caring words about Abby.

Using the word “curly” might have been misleading because three of the four puppies have coats like your 8 week old photo. We visited the puppies again last weekend, and the fourth puppy’s coat (purple collar) is even more “wirey”, not soft to the touch. The breeder says she really likes it because it as if the top coat is already there.

Although, not the best photo, I think this photo shows the difference quite well.
Image

I used the “Add image”, function…I hope it worked!
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Schnauzerluv
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Re: Puppy Coat

Post by Schnauzerluv »

It worked! Is it the black pup on the bottom? I can see the coat looks more wiry as you say and straight. I have noticed some of our schnauzers had more wiry coats as pups than others.

If you are planning to hand strip, the pup on the bottom would be a great candiate, but if you are clippering, a portion of the coat will most likely soften over time. Although my mom's S&P boy Billy retained a lot of wire despite being clippered. Still not the same as hand stripping, but there is a difference with coats at times.

Keep in mind, the more wiry the jacket, the less fluffy the furnishings will be. To let you know, a more wiry coat is much easier to keep tangle free.
matterfam
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Re: Puppy Coat

Post by matterfam »

Hi! Yes, the black puppy on the bottom with the purple collar is the one with the wirey coat.

We always take our Schnauzers to the groomer and clippers are used. We have never hand stripped. Our preference is a soft coat so it sounds like the little girl with the green collar would be a better choice for us. 🐾
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Schnauzerluv
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Re: Puppy Coat

Post by Schnauzerluv »

Yeah, based on appearance and your preference for a soft coat, I agree the pup with the green collar seems to be a better choice. It's always fun to get input from the breeder as to their temperments as well, some can match the personality to potential adopters. They all are so adorable, congrats on your puppy 😊

Disclaimer: This is just based on my personal observations and experience, nothing professional.
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Schnauzerluv
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Re: Puppy Coat

Post by Schnauzerluv »

Here's my pup at 8 weeks to compare

Image

This is him now (10 months). I hand strip and card out the undercoat, so his coat is becoming wirey, but you can see he has a lot of fluff by his "puffstache" (his fluffy beard).

Image
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