"Harries"

Linda Monroe-Monarch Mastiffs

Some Mastiff pups are 'fluffy' as pups, but shed this off as they get older, usually by six months or so. A true long coat stays long and gets even longer.  Usually the coat is real soft and silky. Long fringe on the ears is usually a sign that a pup is actually going to be long haired. The long coat gene comes from the other breeds used to save the Mastiff breed from extinction after WW II, probably the Saint Bernard. 

The Gene for long hair is recessive, denoted as (l), and the short coat is dominant, denoted as (L). Both parents must be carrying the recessive l gene to produce a long coated pup. The odds of having a long coated pup in a litter out of two short coated parents is 25% if both are carrying the l gene. If you breed a long coated dog to a short coated dog who is also a l carrier, the odds of having long coated pups go up to 50%. If you breed a dog to a dog that is LL or double dominant for short coat, none of the pups will have a long coat, but all will be carriers. The hard part is determining if the dog is LL, or Ll. If the male (or female) has ever thrown a 'hairy', then you know what they both are genetically. Of course you will need more than one litter to determine this if you happen to get all short coated pups due to random selection. It is not possible to determine the actual coat length of a pup until at least around five weeks old. Generally, a true "hairy" will have fringe on the ears, rump and tail as a pup and the coat is soft and silky. 

I have seen long coats that were huge and gorgeous and others that were small
and not so gorgeous. The long coat gene is inherited independently from most other
characteristics, as is coat color, mask and ear pigment as well as nail color.
Example:

Long coat X dominant short coat
ll LL = Ll Ll Ll Ll 
(100% offspring short coated, but all carry the long coat gene recessively.)

Short coat w/recessive long coat X short coat w/recessive long coat
Ll Ll = LL Ll Ll ll 
(25% long coat, 50% long coat carrier and 25% dominant short coats.)

Dominant short coat X dominant short coat
LL LL = LL LL LL LL 
(100% of offspring will be short coated.)

Long coat X long coat
ll ll = ll ll ll ll (100% long coated offspring)


Remember, when dealing with ramdom selection, you may not get these exact statistics in each litter. If you add all the litters together and divide them by actual long coats, who has produced long coats and who has never produced long coats, you will see the percentages emerge. Remember it takes BOTH parents to produce a long coat or "hairy" pup!!! Hope this helps.