Sheltie fur

Question
I had a yorkie "Teddy" and a sable sheltie "Katie" that I got at 3 years old from one of our adult children. Katie is now 6 years old. We live in the country on 2 acres and recently I wanted to get another pet. I wanted a sheltie because Katie was so smart and well behaved. I  found a sheltie litter being sold by a local couple who bred their two working shelties on a small farm. I saw both parents on the farm and both were sables. Both  had pretty faces, natural ears, nice fur ( although the bitch's was a little thin, probably due to her huge litter of 10 puppies and nursing them all) In all ways both parents looked normal and much like the pictures in magazines and such. I bought the only tri-colored pup. We named her "Molly". She was bright and inquisitive, not shy or timid at all.I picked her out at five weeks old and picked her up to take her home at 8 weeks old. She was as fuzzy as all the sable pups when she was younger but now she seems to have lost her "fuzz". She is 12 weeks old now Her birthdate was July 20, 2005. Her fur around her neck is somewhat longer than the rest of her fur but she almost looks like  a short haired dog. Her fur is very dense, appears to have 2 layers, but she is not "puffy" like my full grown sheltie.  She almost looks like a "smooth collie" vs a "rough collie" look of the sheltie breed. Is this a normal growth pattern ?  She has a beautiful full white collar a long tail and beautiful expression. Her ears are naturally tipping forward and in every way she is a beautiful dog  except for her fur texture. Now mind you , we love her. She is very smart, is 90%  house broken and learned how to use the dog door at 9 weeks old. I take her to puppy obiedience classes and she is the baby and the star of the entire class ! I just want to know, will she ever get a normal  puffy coat? I would ask the breeder but I am almost embarrassed to imply there is a problem. Thanks for your help and expertise.

Answer
Hi Catherine!

Fear not!  It takes up to 2 years for the beautiful mature coat to grow in.  

Big kudos to you for knowing the conditions of the parents as well!  Thank you from the rest of the breed for encouraging healthy conditions for pups and moms: not puppy mills.

Also: you are correct about the mother's coat... they do shed a lot when carrying and having babies.

'sneezes
Dave

(PS: now you understand part of why my 1st is called "possum" because they have short fur and almost no fur on their tails as puppies-the second half is when my neighbor said he looked like a possum, our pup instantly responded... thus naming himself.)