Here is Wilbur, my rescue dog. Note Extreme Butt Tufts. Ordinarily we would indulge ourselves by plucking his tufts, but since my daughter is coming home from college tomorrow, we've been doing our best to resist picking his tufts so that she can have the pleasure. The tufts are coming out on their own (he would tell you that is The Way It Should BE and we should leave his butt alone, but sadly, we hardly ever can leave it alone.....).
So now he looks like some sort of wild animal that no one brushes. Like the kid who comes to school in dirty clothes and rumpled hair. The kid who looks like no one loves him......
His tufts are too short to do much with, though I suppose they would felt..... My Corgis, on the other hand, have undercoat that is an inch long, or even more. Definitely spinnable.............
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Yes, I have spun dog undercoat. I've never done anything with the resulting yarn..... It seems like a lot, but once you start spinning, it doesn't go very far. At least -- a Corgi's worth doesn't. People with larger breeds get lots of down when the dogs shed out. (One of the members of my spinning guild had a Samoyed, and had/has a lot of a blend she calls "Sammy/Lamby".)
It can be a problem to have as little guard hair in it as possible..... The guard hair is, as you might expect, picky and pricky, and the more of it there is in your yarn, the fewer uses your yarn will have.
Dog down is a bit like llama -- it doesn't have the crimp of wool, so no elasticity. It tends to be very warm and very heavy. Lots of people who like to use it blend with wool, as did my friend with the Sammy. That way you can get the "halo" (similar to angora -- which is rabbit), but get some elasticity and air built into the yarn from the wool.
And if you save it up, it's very important to make sure it is stored light and fluffy. Stored animal fiber that is the least bit less than spotlessly clean will, over time, mat if stored squished. To the point of being entirely useless for spinning.
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