Listening to dog breeders talk about dogs, I sometimes hear them mentioning that a breed has a "hair coat" or a "fur coat".
What are the differences between the two types of coat? Do they have different bathing or grooming requirements? How can I tell if my dog has hair or fur?
Apparently there's a formal distinction between a double and single coat:
A dog's coat may be a double coat, made up of a soft undercoat and a coarser topcoat, or a single coat, which lacks an undercoat.
However:
The terms fur and hair are often used interchangeably when describing a dog's coat, however in general, a double coat, e.g., like that of the Newfoundland and most mountain dogs, is referred to as a fur coat, while a single coat, like that of the Poodle, is referred to as a hair coat.
