Hey all! I was just wondering about labs with wavy coats. My choc lab Scout has a very wavy coat from halfway down his neck to the tip of his tail I generally call him fluffy or curly butt ;D I love his waves! he's had this ever since I had him at 8 weeks, he is 4 now. I read somewhere that if a lab has a wavy coat it means there blood lines are long and pure and their ancestors haven't been over or in bred, is this true and they have more of the original lab traits in them, I know that the lab wasn't registered until mid 1800's or so and that there were crosses between retrievers, setters and pointers to get the lab after the st ohns water dog and I have managed to trace Scouts parents pedigrees right the way to the very first registered dogs or foundation labs but I have also read that there was a different path taken to get the choc lab ??? I have had people telling me on a few occasions that I am starving Scout because they can see all his spine, what they fail to realise it, it's not his spine, it's his wavy fur! I would love to know more on this and to see who else's labs have got the waves going on Thanks everyone ;D
Re: Wavy labrador coat Sorry cant see your photos, someone hopefuly will be along who can tell you how to do it. How interesting ! My choccie, Otis, seven months, also has wavy hair, and i love it too, Im hoping he will keep it, he also has a fluffy bum which is cute !! Love to see your pics, Maggiex
Re: Wavy labrador coat Thanks Maggie! I love the wavy coat, Scout also has really soft, shiny fur and the older he ha got, the more wavy he has become! Oops, I must have done the pics wrong again, sorry about that, I can see them if I copy and paste the links into my search bar, but I'll try again Thanks again Holly
Re: Wavy labrador coat They say that a bit of a wave often goes with a good coat (ie. proper double coat, pretty waterproof etc). The fur along the back is usually harder to the touch than the rest of the fur.
Re: Wavy labrador coat All Scouts coat is soft even his waves His coat is very water proof and has the double coat, usually when he swims, he comes out, one shake and he's practically dry! He did loose the thick, double coated-ness after he started with his dust and storage mite allergies, but they are now much better after his immunotherapy injections and he now has a full, proper Labrador winter coat winter coat, not as thick as show line fur because he is half show line and half field line.
Re: Wavy labrador coat Holly's coat is wavy for the full length of her back. We think it's because she's a bit of a punk, but we could be wrong .....
Re: Wavy labrador coat Have no idea what a wavy coat means in terms lab ancestors, but it sure is pretty! Lovely boy!
Re: Wavy labrador coat He`s lovely and wow at those waves Sam has a slight wave but nothing like this, it seems to show more when he is wet
Re: Wavy labrador coat Thanks for all your comments so far! I got asked once by someone if I plated Scouts fur myself to get it to look like that! ??? you can imagine my amazement at being asked such a question!, even if Scouts fur was long enough I wouldn't plat it!, Maybe he does it himself of a night time You should see Scout when he's wet, he looks even wavier than these photos, almost like a chessie
Re: Wavy labrador coat My Scout has a slight wave along his back Scott has a lot of waves. It's weird how different my two are Scott is slightly bigger and has a thicker coat than scout. They have completely different faces and yet most people can't tell them apart! : Scout now looks like the picture of their father on Drakeshead website so I guess Scott looks like their mum. I can't really remember which one she resembles, when I met her they were tiny pups.
Re: Wavy labrador coat [quote author=scoutpuppy link=topic=3217.msg34537#msg34537 date=1383947097] I read somewhere that if a lab has a wavy coat it means there blood lines are long and pure and their ancestors haven't been over or in bred, is this true and they have more of the original lab traits in them, I know that the lab wasn't registered until mid 1800's or so and that there were crosses between retrievers, setters and pointers to get the lab after the st ohns water dog and I have managed to trace Scouts parents pedigrees right the way to the very first registered dogs or foundation labs but I have also read that there was a different path taken to get the choc lab ??? I would love to know more on this and to see who else's labs have got the waves going on [/quote] Never read anything along these lines before. Would like to think so, (my labs coat is super wavy like examples provided above). Slightly off topic - but I found it interesting how guide dog centres and detection dog trainers assess dogs abilities for work by looking at swirls on their coats. If a dog is 'right pawed' and the swirls of hair travel anti-clockwise, it's likely to have calm, confident and self assured qualities. If a dog is left pawed with anti-clockwise swirls, it's more likely to have creative problem solving skills - more suitable for detection work (apologies if you already knew this but thought it was worth a mention anyway). For anybody else interested, this research is reiterated on ITV's 'The Secret Life of Dogs' documentary (hosted by Martin Clunes). Someone's kindly uploaded the episode which discusses this on youtube, right here :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16IxqJ7_M8Q
Re: Wavy labrador coat I actually forgot about that fact Reuben! I Scouts a good mixture really, he's a direct cross between the 2 different types of labs and he has a calm, confident, self assured nature about, and he has creative problem solving skills, I have started him in tracking work because he LOVES to 'go find' things He has the calm temperament of the show lab, and the stamina and go of the field lab, but he's not hyperactive. I think his wavy fur is one of the things that makes him a hit with all the lady dogs he comes across Thanks again for the comments
Re: Wavy labrador coat I think ours is definitely a problem solver. Anyway back on topic: I thought our dogs coat was as wavy as other owners examples, but as it turns out it's quite neat in comparison. It's more noticeable than it used to be though
