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Belton/Non-curly Coat Progression

23K views 101 replies 26 participants last post by  Targaryen 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey folks, in another thread, I promised that I'd dig up photos of Kodi's coat progression so that people could see what happens with the Belton gene. (though some Beltons show much more ticking than Kodi does)

I also find it interesting, looking back, how very different Kodi's coat was as a puppy from many of the curly-coated puppies we see here. While the curly coated pups are absolutely adorable, they also, generally mean that you'll be working harder through blowing coat. So if easy of coat matters to you, and you are looking for a puppy, look for one with a non-curly coat.

I was actually surprised to see, as I went through the pix that Kodi's coat was straighter even than his two siblings in the photos. (though that is NOT why I picked him!:))

This will probably take a couple of posts:

The first photo here is 7/15/2009, when I went to pick Kodi up. This is all 3 puppies (the two Irish Pied had already left) Kodi is in the middle. I believe they were 11 weeks more or less.

The other photos, in order, Kodi on 7/15, 8/9, 10/8/09 and 1/8/10. Even in the last photo, a 6 months, you can't see any Belton marks at all.
 

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#41 ·
I have to believe that Luna has the Belton gene, then. She has lots of black spots on her back that look like black hair is growing our of them but the rest of the same hair is white. They seem to be in the center of the back. I have had DH take some pictures up close on the black spots for everyone's inspection
Karen, you say Kodi has this but he looks very white to me.
 
#45 ·
Just for comparison here's his 1 week photo vs his photo after his groom (end of October).
Oh, that is cool to see!!! What an adorable baby he was!!! You can actually already see a lot of darker pigment in the skin around his nose, even in his baby picture. How old is he now?
 
#44 ·
OK, I found a few more of Kodi's back when he was younger, showing the Belton stripes (spots) growing out. In the first, taken on 1/1/10, He was exactly 7 months old, and you can see that the lines are quite short, just emerging. (Again, the long black stripe is not a Belton spot, that's a real black pigment spot that he's had since birth)

The second photo is 0n 3/24/10 at 11 months, and then 4/09/10 just a couple of weeks later. I've included the one of him on the ramp last summer (at 2 yrs and a couple of months) again, so you don't have to scroll back and forth to see the progression. I just measured his stripes now, and the hair is about 7" long, giving you an idea how far it extends down his sides.
 

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#49 ·
He's a cutie. He could be Havana Brown, which does have black skin, or this could be the first stage toward turning blue or silver. I haven't seen it, but I've read that many dogs who end up blue or silver go through a rusty stage first.
 
#50 ·
well his skin isn't black, so it's not not that.
but it's weird cause he has tiny little hints of white at the tips of his ears and on his chest and paws. sometimes he looks black and sometimes he looks reddish brown.
whatever the color I just hope his hair gets long enough to stay out of his eyes like kodi
 
#51 ·
When I said "skin", I meant his nose and eye rims. You said those were black, right? If so, he could be Havana Brown. If he's ad the white bits all along, they are probably just markings. If he's getting more white as he matures, it's probably a sign of silvering. If he's silvering, it's common for a lot of them to go through a stage where the black gets a reddish/brownish tinge.

Don't let Kodi's photos fool you. In the older photos, he had some hair cut in front to keep it out of his eyes. Now that it's longer, I need to keep it up on a pony to keep it out of his eyes.:) I'm HOPING that when it gets really long, it will part naturally on each side of his face the way his dad's does.
 
#52 ·
Ohh okay gotcha. Yeah he's got the black skin then. He's only had some of the white parts, he's getting more but they're very slight.
Can he be both havana brown and silvering?
And yeah that's what im waiting to see, what his hair will do as it gets longer!
 
#53 ·
If he silvers, I don't think it would be considered real Havana brown, since it's common for silvers to turn brownish for a while. But Havs are always a mystery when it comes to color!:biggrin1:
 
#55 ·
I posted some pictures over on a thread about Brody's grooming today, but I think I'm going to post them in this Belton thread as well because you can really see the ticking on him after I had him shaved down. I honestly think there are more spots now than when I had him cut down in October. Or maybe it's just cuz his hair is shorter now.
 

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#58 ·
Some people say they shouldn't be cut because dogs DO use them to judge the size of things around their heads, etc. (just like cats) But show people routinely cut whiskers off short haired show dogs. I don't think the whiskers on our Havanese do the dog much good, because they are so hidden in the rest of their facial hair!:biggrin1: But that all being said, yes, they do grow back.

This often comes up with horses too. Some people are adamant about not cutting horses' whiskers, saying that they help them find their way around in the dark. But most show people routinely shave whiskers, right down to the skin... and if they show often, they have to do it every week. They grow back FAST!:)
 
#59 · (Edited)
Kodi had fur as a puppy that was just like Jasmine's! I am always wondering why she looks somewhat different from many of the puppy pics I see on this forum.

I just realized Jasmine might have the belton gene. She is a sable parti, mostly all white with sable ears, and she has developed on her back large freckle-like spots you can see through her fur (which is straight and silky and rather fine). Will these spots grow sable hair?
 
#60 ·
Hey folks, in another thread, I promised that I'd dig up photos of Kodi's coat progression so that people could see what happens with the Belton gene. (though some Beltons show much more ticking than Kodi does)

I also find it interesting, looking back, how very different Kodi's coat was as a puppy from many of the curly-coated puppies we see here. While the curly coated pups are absolutely adorable, they also, generally mean that you'll be working harder through blowing coat. So if easy of coat matters to you, and you are looking for a puppy, look for one with a non-curly coat.

I was actually surprised to see, as I went through the pix that Kodi's coat was straighter even than his two siblings in the photos. (though that is NOT why I picked him!:))

This will probably take a couple of posts:

The first photo here is 7/15/2009, when I went to pick Kodi up. This is all 3 puppies (the two Irish Pied had already left) Kodi is in the middle. I believe they were 11 weeks more or less.

The other photos, in order, Kodi on 7/15, 8/9, 10/8/09 and 1/8/10. Even in the last photo, a 6 months, you can't see any Belton marks at all.
Wow - that pic of him in the grass looks exactly like Benny!
 
#61 ·
So Brody got shaved down on the May 7. He was pretty spotted. He's starting to get ashy looking now.

You can scroll up to see the May 7th pictures. I'm going to post one I took on May 15 (still very spotted looking) and one I took today (he's now getting more ashy looking as the hair grows out).

I just thought it would be interesting to see how it changes as his hair grows in again.
 

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#68 ·
That mixture of color looks more like a Sable than a brindle to me, but I am no expert. I thought brindle had more Black. Sable has a "sprinke" of black.
 
#69 ·
I think it's more likely that Rollie is sable too. But brindles can fade a lot too. The difference is that you can clearly see the tiger stripes on brindles when they are little and their hair is still short.
 
#72 ·
I suspected, after getting Ume, that he had the Belton trait. I could see some spotting on his back when he took a bath and his tail was a mixture of black and white, making it look grayish. After the hubby took Ume for a summer cut, my suspicions were confirmed. He has spots on his back, his chest, his paws.

:jaw:
 

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#75 ·
Thanks, Karen. :)

I'll be interested in seeing if more develop as he gets older. He's 6 months right now, so, I guess there's still time for further spotting. I like the progression pictures you put of Kodi. I imagine that there will be a similar progression.
 
#76 ·
My guess is that if he has that many spots at 6 months, he'll have more. Kodi had almost none at that age. I'm sure the rate of progression differs from dog to dog, though!
 
#78 ·
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