My dog has black fur

Question

I am not sure. Is "fur" or "hair" for an animal?.

My dog has black fur.

My dog has black hair.

Which of them is correct?

Answer 1

I would say generally 'fur' is used for many mammals, particularly dogs, cats and wild animals like bears. Each individual strand, however, is a hair. If you use the word hair it will be perfectly understandable though.

Horse mane and tail hair is called hair, the rest of their 'hair' is usually called their 'coat'. 'Coat' is also often used for dogs and cats, particularly to talk about the condition, eg 'my dog has a beautiful glossy black coat'

Pigs have bristles. (Having said this, I saw a pet pig recently which appeared quite woolly!!) Sheep have wool! (As does one of my dogs, she has a short undercoat of soft fur and a longer woolly layer!)

There is also 'pelt', this is the removed skin and fur/hair of a dead animal.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Yes, I had seen "hair" and "fur" for a dog in different source of information. I was wondering which of them was more correct.

I will try to remember both of them:

I comb my dog's hair every day.

my dog has black fur.

yes, it's a little tricky because if your dog's coat is long and silky you would comb it,and call it hair, but if it has a shorter coat you brush it and call it fur!! - galsally, Mar 2, 2010

I see.... - nila45, Mar 2, 2010