[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Coated Herding Dogs
- From: "Peggy Mickelson" <pmick12@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <showgsd@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:16:39 -0400
I know Kay knows the difference...but, ..there is a difference between a
long coat and a soft coat.
Off hand, I can't think of a single herding/working breed that should have a
soft coat.
A herding or working dog with a SOFT coat is at a terrible disadvantage over
a dog
with a hard or rough coat, no matter the length. If the long coat is of
correct texture there's really no problem...
the problem is that most of what we call long coats are soft as well, with
too much undercoat
and insufficient hard topcoat to keep the dog a working animal..
The problems Pam mentioned can be attributed to soft coats more than to
coats are simply long.
Yes, soft coats get waterlogged, for one thing...as opposed to coats of the
correct texture,
which will repel water and not usually allow the dog to get soaked to the
skin. The biggest disadvantage
to a long coat is that it picks up more dirt and trash (leaves, sticks,
etc)...when you think about the development
of these breeds, however, you recognize that most of them weren't meant to
be house dogs...so
the dirt didn't matter too much. This isn't to say that no one ever
allowed their Komondor in the
house, etc., but the purpose of the dog was to work, not to be a fireside
companion, regardless of all
the Lassie stories. Ask some of the Puli people about the trash they find
in their dogs' coats when
they've been out running in the field. They make great jokes about it.
The upshot of this is that a herding/working dog may have a long coat
because the length
won't keep the dog from working...but a soft coat gets wet and
waterlogged....thereby
making the dog susceptible to chilling as well as giving him more weight to
carry around in the form of
soaking wet hair and maybe ice as well..
Go and touch a correctly coated Collie, Old English, or Briard...and
discover what a harsh coat feels like.....even if
Briards today are groomed to look pretty silky, the correct coat is
hard.........very different from a soft coat. Soft
coats feel pretty much like undercoat..... when you brush/comb out a
shedding GSD and find yourself with bags of
undercoat, that's soft coat, and not the kind of coat you want on a working
dog.
It is true, sadly, that today many breeds of dog are shown in incorrect coat
because their handlers have stripped
out the good coat while getting rid of dead hair...leaving Bouviers, OES,
and others in pretty, fluffy, poufy coats
that are totally incorrect. Judges who don't know the difference make it
worse by putting these dogs up.
Peggy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kay Springer" <showgsd@xxxxxxx>
>>> I really don't think this is correct. Look at the herding group, I
>>> would say that over half of the herding breeds have long coats and
>>> after seeing them herd it does not present a problem....a grooming
>>> problem for the owners but not a working problem. And most dogs
>>> that are herding on a continuing basis have very tough pads that do
>>> not get cut up. JMHO
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