Can a soft coat ever be restored?

[sanford]

I read the following from Idaho Cairns:"If you clip/shave that coat too short too often you run the risk of losing the outer heavy coat permanently..."

The hair on Ruffy's back and tail is harsh and I can easily strip him in those places by lightly tugging at the hair. But the hair on his sides, chest & legs is very soft and fluffy. When I tug in those places, the hair doesn't come out & I don't want to pull his hair & skin too hard. Frankly, the hair in those areas looks like undercoat to me, with no topcoat at all. Is it possible for a cairn to have a top coat in some areas & not in other areas? My supposition is that prior to my adopting him, Ruffy was probably shaved/clipped for the first 3 years of his life. Is it possible that he might have been born with such a coat?

Idaho Cairns - I suspect you are right, but I'm asking anyway - Can harshness/texture ever be restored to such a coat?

[remltr]

Sanford, don't know the answer to your question about the coat, but was wondering if you could update your other post regarding Ruffy's diarrhea issue. Really interested to know if taking the dental chews out of the mix has improved his condition.

[Tracy A.]

Some dogs just have a soft coat. Mettwrust has a soft coat, he is a creme brindle... Bratt on the otherhand is like a sos pad.

I think lighter colored Cairns will have a softer coat from what i've read. Does his hair seem like it's growing?

[Hawkeye]

Sanford, you have just described Bailey's coat - coarse on the back, tail and upper sides and then soft everywhere else. I'm not sure if the coat could be restored, but I know it would be really difficult. The reason Bailey's is soft is he did not like me pulling in those sensitive areas so I backed off and used the trimming shears. I have been trying to pull the coat lower on the sides little by little and he keeps giving me THAT look. How does he handle the stripping?

[Idaho Cairns]

A couple of responses to your question. Some Cairns have a naturally soft coat, just something they were born with and coats do run from soft to heavily outer coated dogs as the run of things. I have had two Cairns which were clipped close and neither of them ever developed a heavy outer coat subsequently so in my very limited experience, no, the coats will not come back after the dogs have been shaved enough times. We probably obsess too much on coats in any case. As I mentioned earlier, it really is a matter of preference--some owners simply prefer the softer feel and look of dogs with the outer coat gone and some don't. To me "Cairness" is in the attitude not the appearance--personality first, looks a distant second.

[sanford]

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate being able to get another perspective & point of view from other members of this forum.

Idaho Cairns: As per your observation, I admit to being one of those folks who obsess over my cairn's coat. ( When it comes to Ruffy, I tend to obsess over everything!).

P.S. Rermitr: Here's an update re Ruffy's diarrhea: I discontinued giving Ruffy Dental Chews, (as well as Pill Pockets, which he was getting twice a day). My vet seems somewhat baffled at this point. Having tried so many other things, I reluctantly agreed to his injecting Ruffy with a steroid, since we seem to be running out of treatment options, So far, there hasn't been any measurable improvement. There is a good chance that this might be inflammatory bowel disease, which an MRI might reveal, but there is no blood or mucous in the stool, which is often, but not always a sign of IBD. Ruffy continues to have a good appetite and excellent energy level. At the end of this week or early next week I'll report back to the vet and we'll take it from there. I'll post a follow-up if there is any change!

[Betsy Leiss]

Sanford, I know it's been years, but whatever happened with Ruffy's diarrhea? My Kerry suffered with explosive bouts of diarrhea off and on for years (twenty years ago). I switched from Eukaneuba to a natural lamb/rice diet and she never had trouble again. So how about Ruffy?

 

[sanford]

Betsy, I'm glad to say that Ruffy's persistent diarrhea has been resolved for so many years that I never think about it anymore. 

As with Kerry, switching Ruffy's diet (after much trial & error) seemed to solve the issue. In our case, we changed to fresh frozen, (Primal) and he's been fine for all these years since. In hindsight, I've come to believe that another factor might have contributed to his digestive problems back then:      

In the year prior to my adopting him, his life as a 3-year old was in turmoil, losing his forever family by being surrendered to a shelter, living in a cage in a shelter that neutered him and put him on a diet of unappetizing substandard food that caused Ruffy to be underweight, could have taken an emotional toll on this very sensitive, trusting being and contributed to his stomach issues.

In addition to changing his diet, perhaps it took a year of living an emotionally secure life with me that put him on the mend. I say this not to boast, but to remind myself how deep the emotions of our cairns run, even though they don't have the words to express them.

As you can imagine, I'm elated that both Kerry and Ruffy found happiness and a good life with us!😄

 

Edited January 6, 2018 by sanford

[karwask]

On 8/23/2011 at 12:42 PM, Idaho Cairns said:

A couple of responses to your question. Some Cairns have a naturally soft coat, just something they were born with and coats do run from soft to heavily outer coated dogs as the run of things. I have had two Cairns which were clipped close and neither of them ever developed a heavy outer coat subsequently so in my very limited experience, no, the coats will not come back after the dogs have been shaved enough times. We probably obsess too much on coats in any case. As I mentioned earlier, it really is a matter of preference--some owners simply prefer the softer feel and look of dogs with the outer coat gone and some don't. To me "Cairness" is in the attitude not the appearance--personality first, looks a distant second.

Hi Idaho Cairns and all, 

This is very much in the ballpark of my questions about coat as I don't fully understand the whole thing.

I like Jack to be long and scruffy looking and would like to also keep whatever wiryness he currently has. I can't afford to have him hand stripped, wouldn't do it myself, and not sure I want to put him through that either maybe except for his tail. 

So exactly what is it that reduces the wiry texture in the dogs? Is it the cutting the hair? or brushing and/or combing? I have in mind would like to and need to either brush him out or comb him out from time to time and have some things trimmed (behind and bottom of paws, etc.) but would like to leave it at that if at all possible.

If so, would one be better than the other between brushing or combing? 

Any and all insight much appreciated. Picture as refresher and cause it's fun, included:)

[bradl]

Have a look at the hair near the skin the photos in this post.

When you cut the hair, you are cutting off the wiry colored part near the tip, and leaving the dead, thin, colorless part near the skin. That's why clipping tends to wash out the color of a coat, and why the remaining coat is softer than bristly new, live hair that grows out of the space vacated by a yanked (or fallen out) hair.

[bradl]

Brushing vigorously and regularly will help some of the really dead hair come out (you are basically yanking it with a brush instead of your fingers or knife). I like a pin brush and sometimes a slicker brush and between the two you'll get some long coat and some undercoat. Dead hair wants to come out and those will get at least some of it. You will get at least *some* renewal that way.  We use scissors and/or clippers on our very old guys with no particularly ill effects other than lackluster coats.