Why is my Shih Tzu puppy's hair short? When will her adult coat grow?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. That nice soft puppy hair coat will change eventually. Puppies are born with a soft hair coat known as their "puppy coat". I have seen this fall out as early as 3 months of age and is replaced by adult fur. This time frame can vary from dog to dog however. I hope this helps! Please let me know if I can answer any further questions for you.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This will happen with time as long as you feed her a high quality diet. She is just too young at the moment but with time if fed a proper complete puppy diet, it will happen as she continues to grow. Not all pup's hair growth is the same which is probably why her coat is not as long as her siblings. If at any point, she develops any itchiness then have her evaluated by your veterinarian to ensure there is not any underlying skin condition. Good luck!

It is possible to have shorter hair depending on their genetics. For instance (just an example), if long hair is a dominant gene and and short hair is a recessive gene then there is a chance for a puppy to have two of the recessive genes and end up with shorter hair. As long as you know there were not any other intact males around while she is in heat (the puppies can have different fathers), then I expect that she is full blooded and I would not worry about her shorter hair! She is just special! :) As she gets older, her hair may get longer.

It is possible that Tank is loosing some of his puppy coat now that he is 1 year old. Also I would make sure he does not have any signs of fleas or parasites that might cause an abnormal coat/ pet to lose hair. I would recommend an aloe and oatmeal shampoo. If that does not help I would recommend taking Tank to a vet to make sure nothing more is going on which might affect the coat growth. Hope that helps

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Puffy. I do not believe that her hair coat indicates any disease process. Rather it is likely result of her genetics. What breed was her father? My guess is that her appearance is closure related to him than the other pups. I hope this information helps!

It's normal for puppies this age to have a thinner coat than an adult dog - most German shepherds do not have a thick, full adult coat until 2 years of age or older. If there are any bald patches where she has lost hair, or if she is itching excessively, these can be signs of a skin condition such as allergies or mange - in that case, I would recommend having Roxy examined by a vet. He/she can do some simple skin tests if needed to help determine the problem and get her started on appropriate treatment.

It is impossible to determine before her permanent cat comes in. Some puppies start shedding their baby coat at around 4-6 months of age, others do not get their permanent coat until they are about 10 to 15 months old. When the adult hair coat comes in you will see whether she will be long or short haired.