Mini Aussie Coat: Transitions, Maintenance, & Feel

A Coat of many colors

I always wanted to know...
"What is the coat of the Miniature Australian Shepherd Like?"

I've been meaning to write this post for a while as it was one of my biggest concerns about this breed.  Well, I finally have enough "data" since Indie just turned 1 year old!

My fiance and I think the Australian Shepherd coat is perfect.  The longer I own an Aussie, the bigger the fan I become of everything about them! Even my fiance, who did not want a dog at all because he is a) a cat person and b) thought dogs would be smelly and dirty, is completely enamored with this breed.  Personally, I find a long coat to be more fun to pet and bury my face in than a short haired dog. Indie's coat naturally sheds dirt, is not greasy or smelly, and he doesn't shed very much. What more do you want? This is a hardy, moderate-to-low maintenance working dog and in my opinion, they're the best!

Coat Appearance and Feel

Well, this depends on the age.  Aussies are cotton ball fluffy when they're tiny and then they loose all that fluff and have this thin, soft, wispy chicken feather coat for a while during their adolescent phase. As they get closer to being 1 year old they finally get a long, slightly more dense and coarse adult coat (see pics below).  Right now at 1 year old Indie's coat is long, but not very thick.  I hear it takes two to three years for the coat to really get to full thickness.  In the pics below, it looks thick, but it's really not.  I will keep updating this post as he gets older.

Overall, I find my dog's coat to be very soft, especially the part on top of his head. His coat lays flat against his body and it has a slight shine to it.  I mean, you don't look at an aussie think "Man, that's a lustrous, shiny coat!" like you would with a cocker spaniel or maybe golden retriever, but it really is quite shiny! You can see this shine better on the tri's than the merles.  Indie's coat is more dry and soft instead of silky, greasy, and sleek. I love it!  It's great to pet Indie because he doesn't leave that nasty coating on your hand, do you know what I'm talking about? Some dogs have this "stink" and is stays on your hand. 

Behind his ears his hair is more like goose down.  Ultra soft and when he got older, it was prone to dreading up when wet or from grass seeds being stuck.  The fur on the back is dense and less fluffy (but in a soft way) while the butt is very fluffy and also prone to dreading. 

Dirt

Aussies coat's are meant to shed the dirt and I find this to be true with Indie.  It's amazing actually.  He can be covered in sand from the beach and as soon as his coat dries there's nary a trace of it left.  If we're out on a walk and he jumps into a pond or a lake, by the time we get back to the car you can't even tell he even went splashing around.  My fiance and I are so thrilled about this.  I was worried, because Indie has white feet, that they would always appear yellowish or dingy. Not so, they are ULTRA white all the time even if he's stepped in anoxic bog mud.  Once he's dry, the dirt just falls right out.

Water resistance
As Indie's adult coat started to come in, around 7 or 8 months old, I notice that it became increasingly water resistant.  It seems so thin to me compared to the uber thick coats I've seen on some aussies, but nonetheless he'll look completely wet and when I go to part his hair he's dry under his top layer!  While this is good for keeping them, it makes a bath and shampoo slightly harder.  You really need a detachable shower nozzle to spray him and physically part and tussle his  hair to get it wet all the way through.

Smell

This is actually something that is very important to me.  I can't stand dogs who have oily, musky smelling coats.  You know what I'm talking about.  After you pet them you have this stink on your hand and you have you to go wash it off.  Well, not aussies.  So far, I haven't met one where I felt that way.  Indie can play hard and not get a back for weeks and he's never greasy or smelly.  Our house does not have that "dog smell."  I am forever thankful!!!

Shedding & Maintenance

Well lets just say the biggest maintenance aspect of these dogs is not their coats! (It's the exercise/mental needs!). I don't consider Indie to be a shedder.  I had a shepherd mix growing up and he shed constantly.  Labs seem to shed constantly.  I will notice a few of Indie's hairs every now and then, but hardly at all.  When I have petted shorter hair breeds of dogs, I feel there is this plume of hair that wisps up into the air each time you stroke them. Gross! Well, thankfully not Indie. I could not be more satisfied with his coat!

He tends to get dreads on his butt hairs and behind his ears from grass seeds getting stuck in his goose down-like feathers and I just cut these out with scissors when I feel them.  I give him a brushing about once every two weeks, or when needed.  Mostly I do this to distribute oils, keep his coat shiny, and check for any hair that has been shed.  It takes me about 3 minutes to brush him.  The best way to achieve a healthy coat, aside from light amounts of brushing on occasion, is to feed your mini high quality food!

Trimming?

Other than cutting dreads out, I haven't really had to cut his coat. It looks awesome and styled as it is! In fact, someone in Home Depot asked me if I had his hair professionally done to look that way. I was like "Actually he's been rolling in grass, swimming in the river, and I haven't bathed him in over a month!" I did lightly trim his butt once because they got long, but then realized it actually looked better that way.  If you dog is having diarrhea, you might want to thin out or shorten the butt area a bit.   

Photos of the changes over time:

 Fluffly Puppy Phase: 
2-3 months old

Awkward, short, chicken-feather hair: 

4-6 months

 Longer Adult Coat Starts to Come in: 
7months - 1year

One Year Old!:

 

1.5 years-2 years: