Many breeds undergo a change in coat color with maturity, the Bearded Collie coming immediately to mind. The color during this time is referred to by many fanciers as a dog’s “transition color,” and most breed standards rarely address it. Even fewer standards refer to changes in a dog’s coat that comes with maturity, and the Komondor and Puli are stellar examples of this. Born fuzzy and cute, both breeds will look entirely different on either side of their first birthday as their coat begins to mat. A few months later, and the dogs resemble unmade beds (or, as one person said to another as we walked past the pair with a 22 month old Puli, “Why doesn’t she groom that poor animal?”). By the time a Puli is four or five years old (a bit later for a Komondor because of its size), the dog is full corded. One breed, four different looks over a life time. Does your breed also undergo changes in coat from birth to adulthood?
Image of Gábor Miklós Szőke‘s Puli sculpture created for the Hungarian Heritage: Roots to Revival program at the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Note the real Puli standing in the foreground. Photo by Emily Bulger from an article on the festival.