Hi everyone, I'm new here and I have a question about my dog Lily.

We got her at 8 weeks old and I noticed she was extremely fluffy...and I figured it was due to the fact that she was just a tiny baby.

Here is an example

http://tinypic.com/r/30jr12q/6

Now here she is at 1 year old.

http://tinypic.com/r/wqvew6/6

http://tinypic.com/r/4l0v1u/6

You can see she is VERY fluffy but I don't think as fluffy as a wooly... I see other Huskies who have that short coat and I just wonder why she is long haired.

Don't get me wrong, I love her to bits and pieces and don't mind the fluff at all- it just gets really annoying when other husky owners will come up to me and tell me how she MUST be a collie mix because she doesn't look at all like a husky.

Any take on if she is considered a wooly?

TIA!


Just additional info:

We got her from a pet store that works directly with breeders. The owner drives to Minnesota and picks up the puppies, then drives them back. Most 8 week old puppies do not come with their paperwork (like their ancestry for example) a friend of my mine who got her Husky from the same place purchased hers at 3.5 months old- so she had her paperwork given to her at time of purchase. I just recently reordered mine through the store since I never picked up the paperwork the first time (stupid me) I don't think knowing the ancestry would help in anyway, but it might, I'm not sure.

Lily is between 40-45 lbs
She has ice blue eyes

I am not an expert, I think she is more fluffy then most but Im not sure she is a wooly, My boy is the same way, he has "Feathering" around his face and hair tufts behind his ears but not considered a wooly either.

Check Out his scrapbook for photos https://www.itsahuskything.com/t6053-thunders-scrapbook

They do have similar "feathering" I posted this same question on Yahoo Answers- I don't know why, that place can be so cruel. I got someone who just told me she was NOT a purebred and you can tell by the way she looks.



It's people like that whom I hate dealing with...

Here's my 2 woollies....



Since they are rescues I'm not sure they are 100% husky but that's what their DNA test came back as.

Right...THEY look super long haired, that's why I'm not thinking she's a wooly at all, she has that in between length. It's not short like most huskies, but it's not too long to be considered wooly.

The faces are very similar and the tails are very feathery like Lily's but the bodies are too hairy compared to hers.

Beautiful dogs by the way.

Dee she def is pure breed, I am a first time husky owner so I am learning as we go, I know to be wooly is a genetic mutation/recessive gene, and breeders do not try(or should not try) to breed for this because it is not breed standard(You will never see a wooly in the show ring) BUT they make amazingly beautiful pets in my eyes.

Dee do you have any photos of her from when she was 4,5,6 months old? LoL now I want to compare Thunder to her, he just turned 5 months.

Husky coats can vary from really short to really long (though the standard calls for a medium length). Personally I would call yours a wooly, though there's not set coat length that is "wooly." It's just what people call huskies with longer hair. It's not like, oh his hair is 4" long so he qualifies as a wooly. It's really just opinion on what someone thinks a wooly is. I've seen some that have a bit shorter hair than yours and seem people call them woolies and people say they weren't!

I just call anything that looks longer than what you'd see in the show ring wooly and anything shorter (like my Siku) a shorter haired husky.

Yes! I have read that wooly is a fault, but I guess you just don't know how the litter will turn out. Just like you don't know if you are going to carry a child with Autism. You are born the way you are.

She literally will get stopped on the street by complete strangers telling me how gorgeous she is.

Maybe the person who added her two cents to me about how my baby couldn't possibly be a pure bred has only seen perhaps one type of husky. She rescued hers when he was 6 years old, so she already knew that was the way he looked, there is no more changing and growing for him.

In my eyes she's show quality

Mine too! I get asked all the time if I will breed him, I know he is not breed standard and also he is a companion animal, not a show dog,not a breeding dog but a companion who happens to be beautiful(I love your girl the longer haired ones look exotic to me) I also adore the average ones, you said it best, you really don't know how they will turn out until they are older.

I had a guy at the dog park this weekend grill me because Topaz, my red woolly, was neutered. He had a female he wanted to breed him with.

He wanted to know why I would neuter such an usual dog. I just told him there were too many dogs dying in the shelter. I wouldn't breed any dog even if I rescued a champion, then I walked away.

People are ignorant, Unless you are seriously trying to breed out genetic problems(Hip displashia,glaucoma ext) and are a breeder who knows what they are doing and actually cares about the well being of both the parents and puppies, and can afford to take back any puppy that "Did not work out" PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM BREEDING. People think if your dog is pretty they should be breed..so sad

I had a Chow Chow, lab mix and pit/husky mix, along with a show quality husky owner all ask me if they can breed with Lily.

Uhm no...plus she's spayed. My mothers 13 year old American Eskimo dog never got spayed and a month ago she developed Pyometra. She had a 20% success rate during her surgery but she MADE IT!

It just showed me how I would never want Lily to go through that, it's scary and painful. I'm glad she's fixed.

Once again people are silly, My dad did not want Thunder neutered, he had the old school mentality of it mad them less manly(Do not ask). So i just made the appointment and took him, my father could not be happier because his jumping up/humping decreased about 50%. Of course he is a little over a week shy of six months and still a puppy but it did help.

.

The vet examined him first and decided he was sexually mature(Some mature faster then others) if he had not been we would of had to wait another month.

Dakota was fixed very early because he had an undecended testicle. It was done before we got him. I was actually happy to have him already fixed since that way we wouldn't hve to do

Each animal is different but I'm not sure I've seen any legitimate veterinary studies about adverse effects of early spay / neuter. Would love to read more if anyone has an example.

It's been common practice in shelters and rescues for years for dogs and cats as young as 7 weeks. Studies I've seen reporting bone and growth issues were not properly controlled when it came to diet and environmental factors which play a much more significant role in growth than hormones IMO.

I know one thing for sure it has a big impact on overpopulation especially in cats. Because people tend to let them roam I've seen studies where as much as 50% of domesticated puppies and kittens are attributed to accidental births.

My cat was neutered at 6 weeks, The rescue had done that though not us, when we adopted him he was 12 weeks and today is just fine at a little over a year old.

Kale was neutered right at 5 months and he's pretty big (apparently ) lol didn't notice any change in behavior or attitude though.

Thunder is big to begin with(tall not heavy) so I knew he would be big but honestly never heard of neutering them to soon making them bigger anyways like I said he was 5 1/2 months(Was done last Wed) and he is still the same pup just a little(AND I MEAN A LITTLE) less hyper. He was never one to try to run away but I know having him neutered will take away the urge to roam to some extent.

Ashley, I think it was the opposite. I think there has been discussion of neutering early having a possibility of limiting full growth potential.

I have seen some research on the subject but not enough evidence to consider it worth the risk of accidental litters. Likewise you can also find lots of support for early neutering. Ultimately it is up to owners to do what works best for them and their pets. I have never had a puppy because I prefer to rescue adult dogs, however if I ever did have a puppy not intended for show then I would be getting them spayed or neutered no later than 6 months of age. There are pros and cons to both early and delayed neutering.

Ashleymarie9807 wrote:

Thunder is big to begin with(tall not heavy) so I knew he would be big but honestly never heard of neutering them to soon making them bigger anyways like I said he was 5 1/2 months(Was done last Wed) and he is still the same pup just a little(AND I MEAN A LITTLE) less hyper. He was never one to try to run away but I know having him neutered will take away the urge to roam to some extent.

No no lol there's a debate on early neutering/spaying and growth plates closing sooner than they should.

Ohhh, I heard they grow larger when neutered young lol.