Out Of Sync?

[Luke GSP]

Hi all,

I was just sitting there yesterday chatting to a mate of mine who has recently moved him and his dog to the UK from Australia, and it started me thinking. If a dog has a winter and summer coat, asuming that the winter one is thicker, when a dog moves from the south to the north, do their coats get "insync" with the new seasons? Is the winter coat a winter coat through timing or does a dogs coat just naturally grow thicker when it is cold?

Hope that make enough sense that someone that knows more about these things than me can shed some light on the subject. :)

[Kirislin]

I moved a horse from Victoria to Qld in April, just as she was growing her Southern Winter coat. From memory it didn't get as woolly as it would've done in Vic but it was still alot woollier than Qld horses. The following year it was much finer but when I brought her back to Vic her coat Winter coat was a bit scanty and it took another year to thicken up again.

So, I'm guessing that it is partially pre programmed but will adapt the the seasons in time.

[Vehs]

It adapts... and if you keep a dog in a heated house they won't get a proper winter coat and will shed all year round... LOL

[Bjelkier]

When we important a dog from Poland he came from their winter to our summer. Poor boy.

He lost his super thick winter coat very quickly and then spend a good deal of time rolling it until it was more in sync with our weather.