# Smooth Coat vs Regular Coat and weather extremes ..



## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

I've got a litter of Malinois pups on the ground right now. Some of the pups have a smoother coat than the others while others have a more rougher coat. (not fluffy like a Terv btw) But still what I see as a noticeable difference within the pups of the litter. 

How would you see the coat differences in the pup as an adult to handle weather extremes of cold and heat during work? Or does the coat even matter once the dog is acclimatized to a specific climate? 

Examples .. Rougher coat ..










Smoother Coat ..


----------



## Tamara Villagomez (Nov 28, 2009)

That smooth coated pup is nice! My 2 mail pups were like the first pup and have since shed that coat and are kinda short coat now...not as smooth as that smooth pup of yours but a short coat...Them are some nice pups you have there though!


----------



## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

Geoff Empey said:


> How would you see the coat differences in the pup as an adult to handle weather extremes of cold and heat during work? Or does the coat even matter once the dog is acclimatized to a specific climate?


Where you live the heat will be more of a factor than the cold for either type of pups. You get pretty hot summers with humidity there right ?


----------



## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Damn those are some ugly ugly dogs. Got any video of them biting ??


----------



## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Gerry Grimwood said:


> Where you live the heat will be more of a factor than the cold for either type of pups. You get pretty hot summers with humidity there right ?


I'm thinking more of where they are going to end up Gerry I've got the future working homes to think of. We could be talking -45+ wind chills etc plus hot and humid as well.


----------



## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

No vids of them biting ??


----------



## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> Damn those are some ugly ugly dogs. Got any video of them biting ??


I do but you have to go to gay Facebook to see them .. :lol: You think dem dar dogs are ugly what till you get a load of me! :^o


----------



## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Geoff, I like you already. Haven't shaved, wearing bibs is a big plus......but what are the gloves for????? Now to the question...are the dogs single or double coated??? That is where the difference is when the temps really drop.....but the gloves have me worried. And what kind of bibs are those with a zipper up the middle??? Might have to try those. You would pass as a ******* here.


----------



## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Don Turnipseed said:


> Geoff, I like you already. Haven't shaved, wearing bibs is a big plus......but what are the gloves for????? Now to the question...are the dogs single or double coated??? That is where the difference is when the temps really drop.....but the gloves have me worried. And what kind of bibs are those with a zipper up the middle??? Might have to try those. You would pass as a ******* here.


Gloves were because we were tattooing the Hellions the pics were pre tattoo and I had no time to pull the gloves before grabbing another pup from the box. Gotta move ya know! My hands are covered with cuts and assorted scabage from the pricks biting me the past few weeks, and I didn't want the ink to make any baby maligator permanent teeth tattoos. We used a Ketchum's ear clamp punch for the tattoos. 

The bib overalls are Big Bill .. http://bigbill.com/CANADA/pages/BIBOVERALL.html 

The pup on the top looks like it is a double coat and the bottom from what I can tell is a single coat. I've had a few say in email that the bottom pup should grow a double coat.


----------



## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

So they have to be on gay facebook, where negative comments are naughty naughty ???

It really is tough to say how either example of pup you have shown would do in - 41. That is crazy talk there.

I do not see a double coat on either one of them. The double coats are really thick and stand almost straight up.


----------



## Candy Eggert (Oct 28, 2008)

Aren't all Malinois' double coated? I've seen some that don't have as much undercoat, especially in young dogs. Long coats would be different than either of these two pups. Almost Tervy like, if not Terv.

Looks pups look like they have puppy coats to me ;-) The smooth just looks to have less undercoat. It should get more undercoat as it gets older. Otherwise it's going to spend a lot time being cold


----------



## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

I wouldn't worry about the coats. I haven't met a Malinois yet that wasn't double coated, just shorter vs longer coated. The fluffier pup is probably going to have a little longer coat as an adult, the shorter coated one a smoother coat. How much undercoat they carry though will really be what determines how well they handle the cold, and although a little longer coated dog can grow more undercoat due to length, the slicker coated ones will also thicken up as needed. I think any difference you see in their coats as adults really won't have that big of a difference in how well they handle the cold. It's not like you are looking at long vs short hair, just short vs shorter.

The difference as adults between smooth/tight coat as a pup (like the one in your photo)










and this (like the fluffy one in your photo)










Worst case scenario, the dog wears a vest when working, but in the temps you are mentioning I think they might need one anyway if they are going to be in -40 for any length of time.


----------



## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

I have some a couple of quite slick coated alaskans and they are fine in the cold as they have a short but dense undercoat. They don't look double coated until you dig for it but it is there.


----------



## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Candy Eggert said:


> Aren't all Malinois' double coated? I've seen some that don't have as much undercoat, especially in young dogs. Long coats would be different than either of these two pups. Almost Tervy like, if not Terv.
> 
> Looks pups look like they have puppy coats to me ;-) The smooth just looks to have less undercoat. It should get more undercoat as it gets older. Otherwise it's going to spend a lot time being cold


That is my understanding as well is all Mals are double coated some more than others. It is just hard to see at this young age. Would the smoother coat one in the 2nd picture you think have less undercoat as an adult? So be less tolerant of the cold? And the other 6 less tolerant of the heat and humidity? There is 2 pups with a smoother coat and the other 6 the coats are rougher (fluffier).


----------



## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

I haven't seen coat effect dogs heat/cold tolerance as much as it just being an individual dog thing. At least not the coat variations you see in a Malinois. The difference between say a Malinois and a Husky or Tervuren, sure. 
My dogs add/loose coat based on the climate they are in, so if the smoother coated pup goes to a cold climate it will probably just naturally grow more undercoat, and the longer coated dog will grow less if it's in a hotter climate, more and less still being within the range of what the dogs genetics say it should have. 
In my opinion if the environment they are going to be in is one a Malinois can do OK in, then either dog will be fine. If there are questions about the dogs ability to handle the environment, then neither dog may be suitable without some sort of help like a vest/jacket.


----------



## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Thanks Kadi so acclimatizing the dog has more of the bearing on the question than the appearance of the coat in the beginning? 

I understand that all OPP and RCMP dogs up here are all kennel dogs for that reason. We had a trial up here about 2 years ago that the heat went up 20o+ with huge humidity over 2 days. Dogs refused blind searches, jumps it was really hard on the dogs.


----------



## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

The coat difference between mals is SO FAR DOWN my list of priorities, I wouldn't even consider it when chosing a pup personally. Both the coat types shown by Kadi on the grown dogs would be workable for me.


----------



## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

Geoff Empey said:


> I understand that all OPP and RCMP dogs up here are all kennel dogs for that reason.


Just as a point of interest...I got to see a lot of old Mal pictures when I visited the RCMP kennel. Many different coat types and looks represented. Cold intolerance has never been mentioned to me as a reason they were discontinued in the program.


----------



## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

My two GSDs are a short coat and a long coat. Both outside dogs and both loose a ton of coat in the spring. The long coat looks more like a big boned Terv right now. In a few months he'll look like a moth eaten coyote.
Neither like the heat. Both like the cold but they both adjust.


----------



## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Cool I'm trying not to sweat the small details ..


----------



## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

I know you want the best for everyone!

Can't wait to see them!!!


----------

