O.O!!!!!!!!!!!! What did I do!??!

This thread has been such a relief! My Skylar has almost no undercoat and although she has no papers, we were assured by the backyard breeder that both of her parents were purebred Siberian Husky and we were able to meet both of them.  She was born on my birthday, so of course she was destined to be my beautiful furry overlord!

yeah Leo's dad is a copper and white, he had the short coat too, he look more race Siberian husky then show Siberian husky like his mom who is  black and white with some tan coloring on her back legs. but he ended up with a medium coat and one of his sisters has the short coat and the other ended up with a woolly looking coat both of them are black and white like their mom.

Ah genetics....having a clear understanding of the lineages being paired is so important to a successful breeding program.  Knowing what is going to work to produce a consistent healthy litter with clear breed type and defined goal for what the breeding should produce doesn't just happen by haphazardly pairing dogs.  Having a short coat doesn't necessarily mark any working lineage any more than having a plush coat marks the presence of show lineage.

yeah that's very true. i guess lost of people have the misconception of singling out the very short coat husky, I'm guess most people think they are Alaskan husky even though the are short coat Siberian huskies.

Try not to think about it as "short coat", but a proper and correct coat. A woollie coat can't insulate properly and will collect snow, and short hairs can't insulate well enough either for the extreme cold in extended periods. Some coats can be thin, or cottony from lack of guard hairs, or simpy not correctly weatherproof. These are not coats that should be bred. Lacking coat is not a sign of a racing pedigree, and far more likely to indicate a poorly informed pet breeding. If your dog isn't directly from a sled dog kennel (or from parents directly from a sled dog kennel) then its probably best to assume pet bred. Mushers tend to be a very closed breeding ring and the chances of finding these dogs sitting around in a shelter is slim.

Husky refers to any breed or landrace of sled dog. There are dozens of breeds of husky.

i think when most people think show husky the atomically think plush coat, and when they think racing husky they think very stream line, athletic looking short coated husky. its strange how they get categorized just by what people  think they should look like.

i agree , his dad looks very similar to your husky's build in your signature. its very strange how genetics cycle themselves, that's very interesting .

To rock the idea of 'snow dogs' = plushy fluffy I present Keegan's momma Roo.  She was the #3 Siberian Bitch US and #10 over all Siberians last year.  She does not work in harness, past generations behind her did but were not short on coat. She's a very correct bitch, but if you want to get right down to it her biggest fault is that coat.




Vs Keegan's sire Jack who is a Sled Dog titled working dog, which means he at minimum has achieved 100 competitive miles in harness, who you can see is a more plush coat.



Or pretty much any of Karen Ramstead's working Siberians.  No one would ever accuse these Sibes of lacking coat

you know that's right lol. beautiful examples of coat types, love them.

i did have a question just dawned on me, Leo has longer hair on his shoulders that tapers down to the back of body. sometimes it looks like a bit of a lions main. i was wondering if his coat would get a more uniformed or just stay that way lol?

Sounds like a ruff. You will probably find small coat length differences like that in every dog.

lol, it very cool looking when its cold but is much less noticeable in the summer. i was just curious.

Males have a ruff over the shoulders/neck for a more "masculine" appearance.

Husky mom, you say Roo's "fault" is her coat, what do you mean by that? It's too short or something else?

Her coat is short and dense. It's not exactly a correct coat for what we would ideally want in a working dog in their original environment. Now we see similar coats in some sprint lines. But those dogs are not bred with a ton of consideration to the appearance but more to the functionality. Which is where you will see some of the largest differences in well bred dogs.

So for a working dog in its original environment, you would want a bit longer coat then. So for, say sprint line dogs, a shorter denser coat improves its functionality, how so? Just less heavy or is there something else? And sprint line dogs, im assuming they couldn't be out as long in the cold then too, correct? I'm sorry for all the questions! I really want to understand. If you don't feel like answering Huskymom, it's cool.

No, no. Sprint dog breeders don't tend to breed for the whole dog but rather just what they are wanting. So if the ears get a little larger or the coat loses what it should be, as long as the dog accomplishes what it is they want who cares about the other. A longer guard coat is what helps keep the dog dry and more weather proof. I see it in my sprint dogs, they get a deeper dampness than my dogs with appropriate coat.

Not to say that sprint breeders don't care or their breeding practices are lesser than that of a show breeder. I don't want to make it appear as such. After all they are still breeding ultimately for a healthy capable Siberian, and most importantly are still breeding a purpose filled dog. They may just end up reflecting their purpose differently than a dual purpose or strictly show bred dog does.

See, I can be as dense as a huskies coat, haha, thank you for explaining that Huskymom

If I pour a pitcher of water over my sprint bred sled dog... I get a wet dog.
Water over our Siberian (in most months, when not in such a heavy shed) it runs right off, thanks to the natural weatherproofing.

^very interesting. At the risk of sounding very stupid...again, haha, why is it not important a sprint dog have a higher efficiency coat? Or is it something that isn't necessarily bred out of them, and just something that happens more often than not?

Sprint dogs are generally not expected to do multiple day courses, instead competing in multiple day "heats" which use the same course each day.

"A first generation Eurohound cross (fifty percent Pointer, fifty percent Husky) have short coats, suitable for sprint races, which don’t involve resting or sleeping on the trail. When the first generation cross is crossed again with the Alaskan Husky, the resulting generation can have thicker coats, suitable for longer distance teams. Most distance mushers prefer the pointer genetics to only be 1/8 in a dog for maximum performance . This then reduces the Eurohound influence, and dogs should be termed Alaskan Huskies or Hound crosses."

^ ok, makes total sense to me now, thank you for taking the time to explain it to me jmscott

Lani, Ami has a distinct ruff that ends just past his withers. I'm curious, does this rufff typically also have extra loose shin in the neck shoulder area? I'm forever trying to assess Ami's weight and with his wooly coat it's difficult enough. While i can feel definite backbone easily and even with his wooly coat, he has a pronounced tuck up, his ribs in the ruff area are just barely palpable but lower on his side's easy to palate. I don't know if that's just extra loose skin or a fat dog. Forget about seeing a waist from above unless i soak him.

It's an a issue because Ami is an eager eater, a devoted scavenger and my husband believes if he's looking for food and eating with gusto, he must be hungry and in the cold weather, he should eat all he wants. I don't want to over feed and get a fat dog.

I have this same worry Amy, sometimes I think Kohdi has moobs.

Artic_Wind wrote:

I have this same worry Amy, sometimes I think Kohdi has moobs.

Ami also has this Brahma bull thing going on his neck/chest. Sort of like a turkey wattle only lower.

Artic_Wind wrote:

I have this same worry Amy, sometimes I think Kohdi has moobs.

Ami also has this Brahma bull thing going on his neck/chest. Sort of like a turkey wattle only lower.