Dog fur texture?

[sweet_ceana]

Ok, just curious... ceana's black fur is velvetly soft while her white fur is more coarse. Is this true with all dogs, or maybe just mine. I was thinking that maybe the lack of pigment made the hair feel different...

[Liz P]

Funny you should say that, because I have read that white hairs tend to be longer (IOW, a dog with a white mane tends to have longer hairs on its neck/shoulders than a dog with a black mane). There was nothing scientific behind that statement, just a BC person making an observation. I do know that hairs are more or less brittle depending on what color they are, but I don't remember the details.

 

I haven't noticed any real diff in texture between colors, just parts of the body. The hair behind the ears is my fav, followed by the mane. Of course, I do prefer smooth coats to rough for functional reasons. I could do without the brushing, bathing or removal of burrs...

[Anda]

With Ouzo is the oposite: his head and chest (which are mostly white) are the softest - they stayed as soft as they were when he was a puppy. The hair on his body - black- is rougher. Ear hair is wavy and ... how can I put it.... very Lou-esque

[RaisingRiver]

For Diesel, who is short-haired, his white is softer - even the white on the non-head part of his body.

 

I find the top of heads is always soft - and the ears often the softest.

 

With River, med-rough, her neck scruff at the back of her neck is very coarse, while every other part her is softer. Her white under neck hairs are 'fluffy' soft, while her black tyvex-sleek hairs are thicker, yet soft and blow easily in the wind.

[Devi]

My big black and white BC mix's fur textures are very different. When I brush him, his white hair barely sheds. The white hair is shinier, too. The black hair is noticeably thicker and sheds like crazy, year round! If you look at him from the side, you can see where the black hair is longer than the white hair.

[border_collie_crazy]

Misty is like that, Happys hair is all the same. but Misty, her black fur feels like silk and her white fur is course.

[Kat's Dogs]

Dazzle is opposite too. Her white hair is very soft and fluffy-like. While the black fur is and silky, and more stiff-like.

Just for a different breed, the shih-tzu's fur colors all seem to have the same soft-cotton-like feel except for black (which is course, like a terrier's)

[Rosanne]

I read an article on how pigmentation affects hair length somewhere, sometime, but upon searching the internet today I was completely unable to find it. It was about how/why the white hairs are usually longer giving that lion-like mane effect that somebody mentioned. I think it had something to do with the fact that BC's are actually white dogs with black spotting, so the black hairs are affected by the color-pattern/pigmentation. . . but I really can't remember beyond that bit.

[ClickMeBC]

As with Ouzo and Dazzle, Quynn's white ruff and chest are very soft and fluffy, while the black coat covering most of his body is course and shiny - opposite your dog.

[NorthfieldNick]

Nick, who is blue and white, med-rough coat, is one big fluff ball. He's the softest dog I've ever felt- no difference between colours. I wonder if the dilute colouring has anything to do with it... blue (which looks mud brown, solid, not merled, or nearly that blue) is caused when a black dog gets a dilute gene.

[WyoBC]

I don't know, Black Jack's hair seems to be pretty soft on his white and his black. His back is a little bit rougher than his head and neck. His neck is the fluffiest hair I've ever seen!! I loose his collar in it. lol.

 

Not to steal the thread but I have a question. Is the hair on their butt always really thick and rough? I can't seem to get Black Jack's butt hair to soften up. It's like a hard brush back there

[Millie&MeBC]

Most of Millie's white hair is on her chest, and that's where she's softest. It might just have to do with the area, though. She's very soft all over, though. She has white on her paws too, but that's not proper for softness measurement.

[Kat's Dogs]

Dazzle's "butt-fuzz" is full and long. I don' know about "rough", it is sort of a funny texture. Not soft and fluffy for sure, more course and stiff-like. More so than her other black fur.

[PSmitty]

Jack feels the same all over, but then again, he doesn't have much coat. Alex's black and white are both soft, but I think his black is softer, while the white is slightly more coarse.

[Vickkers]

clover's white hair around her neck is definitely softer than the rest of her but her white patches on her legs and stuff don't really feel any different. Her butt fuz or leg fringe is definitely coarser...but her tail is the coarsest and hardest to brush of it all and it's red with a white tip and it's allll coarse