Coats

There are many varieties of dog fur. Fur can be wiry, coarse, brittle, smooth, straight, curly, long, or short. Breeds that have soft, smooth fur often don't shed. These include dogs such as wheaten terriers, poodles, and labradoodles.

Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier:

Labradoodle:

Other dogs have coarser fur. For instance labs have thick, somewhat oily fur that makes them good water animals.

Some dogs have a combination. Bouviers have a thick wiry outer coat and a smooth, silky inner coat.

Obviously, fur color also varies, even within breeds. For instance, scottish terriers can be black, white, wheaten, or brindle (red highlights).

Fur length also varies considerably and may impact the extent of the mess made by shedding. Newfoundlands, Collies, and Bernese Mountain Dogs have very long fur.

Newfoundlands:

Bernese Mountain Dog:

Collie:

By contrast, Grey Hounds, Pointers, Bull Dogs, Boxers, Beagles, and dalmations have shorter fur.

Grey Hound:

Beagle:

Boxer:

Retrievers have medium length fur.

NOTE: Many of these images are hosted at other sites. If you are the copyright owner of any of these pictures and would like them removed, feel free to say so! We're going to remove them soon and replace them with royalty free images soon!