How can I tell the difference?

[canderson2087]

I was wondering how to tell the difference between a cotton and silky coat? And how old does a puppy have to be for you to tell the difference?

[Lorraine]

They are usually older than 4 months of age. If you look at the feet, a soft coat will be fluffier. Although I have seen soft coats that the feet on a young pup wasn't that fluffy. Some can fool you and you can think maybe soft coat but as it gets older, it becomes easier to tell.
A soft coat usually lacks the shine of a silk coat.
That is also one of the reasons a show breeder might end up selling an older pup because it was too difficult to tell if it had the right coat texture to consider for the show rings. And a reason why if someone looking for a pet with a soft coat can't be sure if it is a soft coat if the pup is only 12 weeks or so.