The Science of Furnishings: Why Two "Low Shedding" Puppies Can Have Completely Different Coats

The Science of Furnishings: Why Two "Low Shedding" Puppies Can Have Completely Different Coats

Boise Doodle Co  |  boisedoodles.com  |  Text us: 208-989-5629

If you have ever shopped for a puppy from a Doodle, Schnoodle, or Poodle mix litter, you have probably heard the word "furnishings" thrown around. Maybe a breeder told you their puppies are "fully furnished" or "low shedding" and you nodded along, not entirely sure what that meant for the dog sitting in front of you.

You are not alone. Most people, even people who have owned dogs their whole lives, have never had a reason to learn this. So today we are going to slow down and walk through it together, the way I would explain it to a room full of people hearing it for the first time. No science degree required.

By the end, you will understand why two puppies from the same kind of cross, both labeled "low shedding," can grow up with completely different coats. One might be soft, fluffy, and something you would barely find on your couch. The other might be low shedding too, but coarser, wirier, more like a terrier. Neither one is a mistake. It is genetics, and it is something we can actually predict and plan for.

What Are Furnishings, Really?

Furnishings are that mustache, beard, and set of bushy eyebrows you see on breeds like the Poodle, the Schnauzer, and the Portuguese Water Dog. It is the reason those dogs look like they are wearing a tiny wizard beard instead of having a smooth, clean face like a Labrador or a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Furnishings are controlled by a single gene called RSPO2. Geneticists refer to this as the IC locus, which stands for Improper Coat. That name sounds harsh, but it just means the coat lacks furnishings, not that anything is wrong with the dog.

Here is the part most people do not expect. Furnishings follow a clear pattern of inheritance, and it works almost like a ranking system.

The full furnishings variant beats a weaker version of furnishings, and both of those beat the no furnishings variant. A puppy only needs to inherit one copy of the strongest furnishings variant from either parent to grow the beard and eyebrows. To end up with a smooth, clean face like a Cavalier, a puppy needs to inherit the no furnishings variant from both parents.

This is exactly why breeding a Poodle to a Cavalier, or a Schnauzer to a breed without furnishings, produces such a wide mix of faces in one litter. It depends entirely on what each parent is carrying underneath their own coat, not just what they look like themselves.

The Curl Gene: Why Some Coats Wave and Others Ring

Furnishings tell us whether a dog has that beard and eyebrow look. They do not tell us whether the coat is straight, wavy, or tightly curled. That is a completely separate gene called KRT71, often just called the curl gene.

Curl works on a sliding scale rather than an all or nothing switch. A dog with two copies of a curl variant tends to have a tight, dense curl, similar to what you would see on a show Poodle. A dog with just one copy tends to land somewhere in the middle, with a loose wave rather than a ring curl. A dog with no copies of the curl variant grows a straight coat.

This is the gene responsible for texture. It is working alongside furnishings, not instead of it. A dog can be fully furnished with that classic beard and still have anything from a straight coat to a tight curl underneath, depending entirely on what is happening at this second gene.

The Shedding Gene: The One Most People Never Hear About

Here is where things get interesting, and where a lot of misinformation floats around online. People often assume furnishings and shedding are the same thing. They are not.

Shedding has its own dedicated gene called MC5R, sometimes referred to as the SD locus. This gene affects the glands in the hair follicle that produce sebum, the natural oil that helps hold hair in place and keeps it from releasing as easily. A variant in this gene disrupts that process. A dog with one copy of the shedding variant sheds more than a dog with none, and a dog with two copies sheds the most of all.

This gene is working completely independently of furnishings and curl. A dog can have full furnishings and still carry the shedding variant. A dog can lack furnishings entirely and still carry the low shedding variant. They are three separate switches, not one.

Putting It All Together: Why Two "Low Shedding" Puppies Can Look So Different

Now you can see why this gets complicated, and why it matters so much who a breeder chooses to pair together.

Picture two puppies. Both are labeled low shedding. Both have furnishings. On paper, from a buyer’s perspective, they sound like the same dog. But one carries the strong curl variant along with the low shedding variant, so she grows up with a soft, dense, almost sheep like coat and you genuinely will not notice much hair around the house. The other has furnishings and the low shedding variant too, but she only carries one copy of the curl gene, so her coat comes in coarser and wavier instead of soft, more like what you would picture on a wire haired terrier. She still sheds very little. She just feels different in your hands.

Neither puppy is better or worse. They are simply built from different combinations at these three genes: furnishings, curl, and shedding. A responsible breeding program is not guessing at this. It is testing for it.

Why We Test With Embark and Animal Genetics

This is exactly why, at Boise Doodle Co, we run DNA testing through Embark and Animal Genetics on every dog in our program before we ever choose a pairing. These panels tell us exactly what each parent carries at the furnishings locus, the curl gene, and the shedding gene, along with a long list of health markers.

That testing lets us do something a coin flip cannot. We can look at two dogs and predict, with real confidence, what their puppies are likely to grow into. If a family tells us they need a soft, low shedding coat because someone at home has allergies or sensitivities, we are not hoping for the best. We are pairing dogs whose genetics actually support that outcome.

I want to be clear about something, because it matters to us. Health and temperament carry enormous weight in every pairing decision we make. We would never sacrifice either one just to chase a certain coat. But coat genetics are part of the full picture too, and pretending they are not would mean leaving families with mismatched expectations. Testing lets us be honest with people before a puppy ever comes home, instead of after.

What This Means for You as a Puppy Owner

If you are searching for a puppy and coat type matters to you, whether that is for allergies, for grooming needs, or simply personal preference, the questions to ask a breeder are not just "is it low shedding." Ask what genetic testing has been done on both parents, and ask specifically about furnishings, curl, and shedding results, not just a general label on a website.

A breeder who can answer those questions with actual test results is working from data. A breeder who can only tell you "the parents don’t shed much" is working from observation, which is a much less reliable guide for what any individual puppy in a litter will grow into.

Genetics will not make every guess disappear. There is still natural variation even within a litter. But testing turns breeding from a guessing game into an informed decision, and that is the standard we hold ourselves to.

If you have questions about the genetics behind any of our current or upcoming litters, we are always happy to walk you through the testing results. Text us at 208-989-5629 or visit boisedoodles.com any time.

Contact Boise Doodle Co

Website: boisedoodles.com

Text: 208-989-5629

Quick Recap: The Three Genes

·       Furnishings (RSPO2 / IC locus): controls the mustache, eyebrows, and wiry facial hair. One strong copy is enough to produce it.

·       Curl (KRT71): controls texture, from straight to wavy to tightly curled, based on how many copies of the curl variant a dog carries.

·       Shedding (MC5R / SD locus): controls how much loose hair releases, independent of furnishings and curl.

·       Coat length (FGF5) also plays a role in overall look, working alongside these three.