Anyone care to post an explanation of this phrase and how to tell if a dog has one?
Thank you!

open coat, as in open to the skin
a true lab coat has a second underlayer, making it a thick journey to get down to the skin
an open coat has just the top layer, so they have less coat, and no thick under coat

you can tell, if they are a bit puffy, and have an undercoat, that is more correct
the open coat is much like the coat on other dogs, no undercoat inbetween the hairs of the upper coat

barb

Now this is interesting. I have had coats pointed out to me as open that stood out (sort of like chows) as opposed to lying flat.

A correct coat consists of an outer coat and an undercoat.
The outer coat is coarse and more water repellent and is what is left when they blow their coats.
The undercoat is a softer coat that fills & pads underneath the outer coat. It is the softer stuff you find all over your house when they blow their coats.

An open coat is a coat that may look fluffy and full but lacks the coarse textured outer coat.

So I guess what's more commonly called a "single coat" would be just the top coat--the thin, slick coat often seen on poorly-bred field labs...

...while "open coat" would then refer to just the under coat, sticking up fluffily and lacking the coarser top coat to seal it in?

That is the way I use the terms.

An open coat is not a single layer coat but rather is a coat which does not wrap and hold close to the body. A dog with an open coat usually has the soft undercoat and an outer coat that is not as hard to the hand as it should, allowing the coat to stand away from the body. These dogs often have what I refer to as "bottle brush" coats on their tails. The open coats allow weather and water to reach down to the skin. Not what you want on a water dog.

Does anyone remember a few Potomacs ago when the judge raked her fingers through the dogs coats along their ribs? (going against the way the coat would lay) I believe she was checking for just this subject.

Yes - at Potomac you could tell which dogs had already been gone over by looking at which dogs had lines down their sides

Speaking of coats - isn't the correct Labrador coat one with very little or no wave. We seem to be seeing more and more wave and longer coats or is this my imagination?

No it is not your imagination. Waves upon waves upon waves. That is the only part of the NEW standard that people did not object to. Here we are about 15 years later and the coats are going crazy.

Ok. I searched for open coats and found this old thread, which only confused me more!

Which is it:

1. Open coat is one that doesn't have the soft undercoat or
2. Open coat is one that doesn't have the coarse outercoat

Or is it some combination of the two? And if a dog has an open coat, will judges count that against it, specifically after a spring/fall coat blowing?

Thanks in advance for your clarification!

I have a dog here that has what i call open coat. She has both top coat and undercoat, of correct texture. However it is not thick and dense like all my other dogs. If you run your hands through her coat in either direction you can see her skin. That would be what i call open coat.

Having an open coat and having enough coat are not the same thing. My interpretation of an open coat is the same as Linda O's. There can be a lot of coat (both topcoat and undercoat), but the coat is not tightly wrapped and often is longer with a lot of wave with coat flipping out away from the body. There is no point in having a ton of undercoat if the topcoat does not protect it.

I have a dog that has a nice tight harsh outercoat but not a ton of undercoat. While he could use more undercoat, his topcoat allows him to swim in icy water and remain dry under the topcoat - I was pretty amazed. While still not ideal, IMO this is preferable to a ton of open coat where the dog would just get soaked. Unfortunately, open coats appear to be in fashion right now and there are a lot of bottle brush tails to go with them.

I'm understanding more, but what does "wrapped" mean? Thanks

Linda,

Are you refering to a tight wrap just at the base and then a "fan" or lots of feathering down the rest of the tail a "bottle brush"? Just haven't heard that term before and want to make sure I am understanding you.

Thanks!

Replying to coat,
So, if i understand this correctly, the girl that i have who i think has open coat, does not? She just doesn't have enough coat?

Wow, it's not a mystery why our breeds coats are in serious trouble these days!
No one can even agree on what an open coat actually is!!
I have seen terrible, sleek single coats at shows and I have seen coats so full of wave and curls that I had to do a double take to make sure someone didn't walk in the ring with a curly coat retriever by mistake!
I think I'd rather have a single coat than THAT much hair! It looks awful on a Labrador!



replying to: "Does anyone remember a few Potomacs ago when the judge raked her fingers through the dogs coats along their ribs? (going against the way the coat would lay) I believe she was checking for just this subject."


This years judge did that to every dog as well. It left rake marks down the side of all the dogs

Someone told me that in the UK, the judges do the "raking" to determine coat consistency AND to help determine who they've already judged!!

Maureen would have the definitive answer!

where is maureen ?

On vacation

Stand behind the dog and took towards the head. You can see under the top coat without back ruffling it. The hairs do not lay down. There are varying degrees but the worst coats will have the bottle brush tails. A bottle brush tail looks thick but up close you'll see the hair is not laying down. If you flatten the hair with your hand the tail isn't as thick. I've seen open coats on dogs that had little undercoat, good undercoat and too much undercoat. The problem is not only found in show dogs. Working retrievers have the problem too.

If you think about it, improper coat can kill a retriever. If the coat soaks up icy water and does not dry, it can cause hypothermia. I hate seeing warming vests for Labradors in hunting supply catalogs. Proper coat should handle cold water swimming without endangering the dog.

do you think a well wraped tail gets less wraped as a dog gets older? i noticed this when looking at pictures of some stud dogs as they aged.

The coats on my old dogs are softer than when they were of breeding age. The reduced hormones may have something to do with it. Human hair not only grays but the texture changes so my guess is that it's possible for coats to open up with age.

bumping this in hopes that Maureen will answer

Maybe Maureen doesn't know either