The quality of the wintercoat is not only related to the cold or the diet, but very much by light. Research on arctic mammals clearly shows that light (through hormonal processes) is important for the amount of fur on the animal. Because of this fact some sled-dog owners have lamps with light on in the wintermonths to decrease the amount of fur (in their kennels). They do it bacause too much coat can heat the dogs too much during the dog-races.
On females the coat-quality varies according to oestrus-cycles (hormonal changes) too.
The reason why italians have nicer coats are not explained by this. But a beautiful or long coat isnt necessarily a coat of good quality!!. The quality of a coat is more than dense and long. It is the quality of the hairs itself. Rough weather, cold and wet, will indicate the quality. Also look for how long time it takes to dry off after a swim. And also how long time it takes for dirt to fall off after becoming muddy or dirty. In northern regions it is also important that ice and snow do not collect or cluster in the coat between the pads which will make the dog sore-footed on a longer trip.
Speaking of coats. I have a question to the description on each dog on this web-sites lists. Why is there a rubric on Coat . Every dog is classified as shor-coated even if the leangth varies a lot?
fenris
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