All You Need to Know About the Short-Haired and Long-Haired German Shepherds
When you think of the German Shepherd, chances are that you think of the short-haired one. In fact, a lot of people don’t know that German Shepherds have a long coat as well!
In this article, I’d like to go through the differences between the short-haired and long-haired German Shepherds and other facts that you might be interested to know.
So, let’s get started, shall we?
Perfect!
It’s All About That Coat (Or Is It!?)
As the name suggests, the main difference between the two German Shepherds is their coat.
But, that’s not all.
The long-haired German Shepherds are known as the Coated German Shepherd and have longer, softer, and silkier hairs around their ears, faces, tails, bellies, behind their legs and hindquarters.
However…
The Long Coated German Shepherds don’t have an undercoat like the short-haired German Shepherds do—and that’s the reason why this breed is not recognized by the American Kennel Club and hence, isn’t allowed to participate in dog shows.
But, there’s another complication.
While most long-haired German Shepherds don’t have an undercoat, some do.
That still doesn’t change things for the American Kennel Club recognition.
The short-haired German Shepherds are better suited for cold climates as they feature the undercoat that keeps them warm. Even though the long-haired GSD has longer hair, it is the short-haired breed that has a larger number of hair.
The short-haired breed is known to be working dogs and are one-master dogs. However, the long-haired ones are known to have a better temperament.
The Issue With American Kennel Club
As I have mentioned earlier, the long-haired German Shepherd is not recognized by the AKC because they do not have an undercoat like the short-haired German Shepherd.
According to the AKC, the lack of an undercoat is basically a ‘defect’ that the long-haired German Shepherds have.
So, this means that due of the lack of recognition from the AKC, they aren’t bread as much as the short-haired ones and so, most people are not even aware of this variation in the breed.
Stuck In Between: The Third Type of German Shepherd
This third type of German Shepherd is also considered to be a purebred German Shepherd known as the medium-coated German Shepherd.
This dog is basically a mix between the short-haired and the long-haired type. The breed is known as the medium-coated GSD mainly because the dog has a coat that is too long to be a long-haired GSD and too short to be a short-haired GSD.
This breed is commonly referred to as the ‘plush-coated’ German Shepherd and is double coated like the short-haired GSD.
However, this dog is also not recognized by the American Kennel Club either.
Final Words
The short-haired, long-haired, and plush-coated German Shepherds are all purebred but the latter two aren’t recognized by the American Kennel Club and thus, aren’t as popular as the short-haired one.
There aren’t many fundamental differences between the three breeds but, you can see the differences in shedding, temperament, and traits in all three of the breeds.
I hope this article was somewhat educational for you. Do you want to see more of such articles? Let us know in the comments section!