The Kromfohrländer appears in coat varieties seen here: From left to right: Smooth/short (very rare), smooth usual, wire-haired/long (very rare), wire-haired usual (ungroomed), wire-haired/usual (groomed). Sometimes a wire-haired dog has a short coat that needs no grooming (very rare). Wire-haired means the presence of a beard, that’s it! It is the much longer scruffy coat most closely associated with inherited footpad hyperkeratosis which is now uncommon. There is a DNA test run on all breeding dogs for “Corny Feet” (hyperkeratosis) that indicate “Clear/carrier/affected.” Affected is uncommon in breeding dogs as it is typically visible.

Collage and caption courtesy of Mary Dixon