ChowChow.org

I just wondered what age most chows loose their baby coats? Bramble has a small tuft of new coarse hair like a mohican in front of her tail and a bit on the tummy but it is taking its time coming out. No mass shedding as others have mentioned. She has also shown no sign of coming on heat at seven months so perhaps she is just a late starter.

Many do not get the cycle during the first year, and someone definitely forgot to send the memo about shedding to the baby wool. It seems to hang on forever. Bramble's coif sounds right on schedule for the first year.

hi lolas still got a lot of baby coat and she hasnt had her first season either she is 9 months old think it must run in the family xxxxxx

Sirchow wrote:I just wondered what age most chows loose their baby coats? Bramble has a small tuft of new coarse hair like a mohican in front of her tail and a bit on the tummy but it is taking its time coming out. No mass shedding as others have mentioned. She has also shown no sign of coming on heat at seven months so perhaps she is just a late starter.

You'll probably see more coat turnover at the end of summer, when the winter coat starts coming in. It takes a great amount of hormone power just to grow a plush double coat, and hormone building blocks come from protein. There's usually another surge of hormones at about ten months of age. Right now, her body is concentrating its energy more on the next growth spurt, rather than a coat. Increasing the quality and percentage of protein in her diet will help things along.

I wondered about the protein issue. I have found a food and will post on my food thread incase anyone is interested.

Although this should go in the diet section, I'll post my question here since we seem to be on the topic. How much protein is too much?? Or how much is too little? We recently decided to change food for several reasons, and one of the brands we were eyeing had 40% protein, and that seemed alittle too high for me? Am I crazy?? We were initially drawn to the food because it is grain free.. we passed on it for now and went with a different brand that has 23 or 24% protein. Is that sufficient? Bella seems to be taking a LONG time to grow her adult fur, perhaps protein is the reason?

bellabear27 wrote: How much protein is too much?? Or how much is too little? We recently decided to change food for several reasons, and one of the brands we were eyeing had 40% protein, and that seemed alittle too high for me? Am I crazy?? We were initially drawn to the food because it is grain free.. we passed on it for now and went with a different brand that has 23 or 24% protein. Is that sufficient? Bella seems to be taking a LONG time to grow her adult fur, perhaps protein is the reason?

The body gets rid of the excess protein it doesn't need, and either stores it as fat or dumps it into urine (the urine would have more ammonia and calcium in it, which may contribute to stones). A puppy's metabolism is higher, with higher protein needs for growth. For example, by four months of age, a Chow pup can already be at almost half its adult weight. By six months of age, a Chow pup can be at 80% of its adult weight. Puppy formulas are usually around 26-28% protein. Adult formulas are usually around the low 20% range. Adult dogs have slower metabolism than a pup, and metabolism slows further in neutered animals. Performance and working dogs have higher protein needs than the average pet.

How old is Bella?

Bella is approximately 15 months old. However, the problem is that we have another pup (Bruin) who is just under 4 months. We are having a hard time keeping their food separate as Bella has always been free fed, so although we did buy puppy food for Bruin and adult food for Bella, it has been tricky getting them to eat their designated food. That is why we went out in search of a new food to see if we could find soemthing that was more suited to all stages of life. Any suggestions?

If Bella doesn't have problems with her weight, you might feed both of them a large breed puppy formula like Solid Gold's "WolfCub" for a couple of months. When Bruin is about six months old, you can evaluate whether he is building fat or muscle at that stage, and start switching them over to adult formula. The WolfCub is 26% protein (bison/salmon), 12%fat(oils).

Hello; Trooper just shed his first coat - he is 13 months old today! and he shed just over the last 2 weeks - I was also waiting and waiting - but the telltale signs are the 'fluff' balls starting to float around the stairs & corners of the floors - then I knew things were starting. He looks 5 lbs lighter and very lean looking - his middle tucks in along his back - very handsome!
I heartily agree on the salmon oil - I empty two long gel caps pricking the end with a needle and empty in his bowl along with a teaspoon of cod liver oil mixed with 2 teaspoons of 'The missing Link' a great additive for his coat - each morning on top of his dry kibble (Prairie - Lamb - AAFCO recognized)- he goes for it every morning!

Sirchow wrote:I just wondered what age most chows loose their baby coats?

I was wondering the same thing last year! http://forum.chowchow.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11358 Judith-Ann explained that chows loose their coat all the time actually.