Whether your dog has a double coat decides three things: which brush works, how dramatic shedding season will be, and whether clipping is a good idea. It is worth thirty seconds to find out.
The check
Part the coat with your fingers, somewhere over the shoulders or along the back, and look at the base near the skin.
- Double coat. Under the coarser outer hair there is a second, denser layer — softer, often lighter in colour, closer to wool than to hair. It looks like a different coat because it is one.
- Single coat. One uniform texture all the way down to the skin. It may be long or short, but there is no distinct second layer.
If you are still unsure, brush for a minute and look at what comes out. A double coat produces soft, pale, fluffy clumps. A single coat produces loose strands that look like the coat you can see.
Breeds that usually have one
Huskies, malamutes, german shepherds, golden retrievers, corgis, chow chows, samoyeds, most northern and herding breeds — and a large share of mixed-breed dogs, which is why the check matters more than the label.
Among cats: maine coons, norwegian forest cats and siberians, though the distinction is less sharp than in dogs.
What it changes
Which brush
A double coat needs a tool that reaches past the topcoat. An undercoat rake has teeth spaced and long enough to do that. A slicker or a pin brush skims the surface, which is why brushing a shedding husky with the wrong tool feels like it achieves nothing — the dead coat is still underneath.
See shedding season.
Shedding season
Double-coated dogs shed their undercoat heavily, usually twice a year, and it is genuinely dramatic. Daily raking for a couple of weeks removes far more than weekly brushing spread over months, and it is much less unpleasant for the dog than letting the loose coat pack down.
Clipping
The general guidance from groomers is not to shave a double-coated dog. The undercoat insulates in both directions, and the topcoat does not always grow back with the same texture. If your dog is overheating, the usual answer is to remove more undercoat rather than to remove the coat.
A single-coated dog has no such constraint, which is why poodles and doodles get clipped routinely and huskies should not.
If it turns out to be a single coat
You need less than you think. Short single coats want a rubber curry brush; long single coats want a wide-tooth comb to find mats before they set. Neither needs a rake, and we would rather you did not buy one.
Which brush for which coat goes through all six.