The Sheltie Coat
Shedding
Shelties are beautiful with their long flowing coats. Maintenance of those coats is both less and more than many people think, while they do leave some hairs around, for the better part of the year they don't shed much or require much brushing except for behind their ears and the "feathers" on their tail and hind limbs which, in some dogs, has a tendancy to mat. I typically do a weekly brushing, focusing mostly on those areas and a light brushing on the rest of the dog.
Shelties do occasionally "blow" their coat, this means that all of their undercoat comes loose and is shed. For most shelties a day or 2 of extensive brushing with an undercoat rake or shedding blade will remove all of the undercoat leaving a half naked, but no longer shedding dog. If ignored and not brushed out, this fluff will fall off in clumps on furniture, carpet etc. They can make a huge mess and it can mat in their coat creating discomfort for the dog. This occurs approximately yearly for most dogs (males and spayed females) and twice annually for unspayed females.
Most blow their coat in the spring, some will in the fall. Unspayed females blow their coat worst of all about 2 months after each heat. Since gestation is 63 days that means that they will almost always have a thin straggly coat when they have a litter (and consequently, when people come out to look at puppies). I suspect that this is nature's way of providing a nest for the puppies and making their bellies more accessible for nursing pups.
Colors
Shetland sheepdogs come in several colors. Almost all shelties have "Irish Spotting" which is a varying amount of white on the neck, feet, tail tip and face. They come in Brown and white (sable), Black, white and tan (Tricolor), Black and white (bi-color), and merle
Sables, especially those carrying a bi-color or tricolor gene, tend to darken with age and often end up with a black saddle and black on their face by the time they are 2-3 years old. They are still referred to as "sables", not tri-color even though they are 3 colors. This is due to the genetics involved.
Merles may have light or multicolored eye, and while blue merles are most common, sable merles may also occur.
Age Related Changes
Sables, especially those carrying a bi-color or tricolor gene, tend to darken with age and often end up with a black saddle and black on their face by the time they are 2-3 years old.
Pictured here is June and Jellybean respectively at age 1 and then age 2 showing how much their coats can darken in just one year
Merles also have age-related darkening to their gray areas.
June age 1 June age 2
Jellybean age 1 Jellybean age 2
In Jellybean's photos you can also see a black mask around her eyes in the first photo. These are common in shaded sables and fade out as the rest of the dog gets darker and are no longer present at age 2.
Coat density also changes with age and the older the dog gets, usually the denser the undercoat.
Pi age 1.5 Pi age 9 Pi age 9
