05/13/2024
HOT weather is here!! ☀️ this is a long but very educational post about why you should not shave your dog, for summer or winter weather. Please read!
The “shave down” is not the best option for your pet. I hear a lot “just take it down, we like it short”, “we don’t like the shedding”, “we do it every summer she/he gets too hot”, “we don’t come to the groomer that often and really don’t want the mess with all that coat”, “my old groomer did it for years”. Dogs NEED their coats. Dogs need their coats for protection from the weather-both hot and cold. Coats need to be clean, well conditioned, mat free, well brushed, combed, and a regularly de-shed. But they need their coats. A dogs coat provides insulation both from heat and cold. It keeps them dry and it protects their largest organ, the skin, From the external environment. Even when a dog has a coat that can be shaved without damage (for example, doodles, poodles, Airedale terrier, yorkies, schnauzers, Maltese, Bichon’s) shaving does not keep them cooler, it can actually cause sunburn in the summer, overheating, and injury. So if a shave-down has to happen due to matting or any other causes, and they are going to be outside or in the sun for a long period of time then I recommend a T-shirt or some kind of clothing to be put on them. A dogs coat is natural to them, And it’s a vital (and cuddly) part of the pets we love. So I’m writing to help us all know how and why to EMBRACE THE COAT your dog has… and care for it and live with it in a way that gives your dog its best life possible.
Let’s understand first about a dogs coat. Dogs I have much thinner skin and more dense hair than you and I do. Their thin skin without it’s natural coat protection, is at risk- no matter what season of the year. Clipping short ANY double coated, heavy coated and combination coated breed, even once can and often does cause serious permanent, irreversible damage to a dogs beautiful natural coat ( for example, double coated.. Akita, Alaskan malamute, Husky, schipperke, welsh corgi. And for heavy coated, Bernese mountain dog, Great Pyrenees, Newfoundland, Saint Bernard, Samoyed, American Eskimo dog, chow chow, Shetland sheep dog. And for combination coat, golden retrievers, dachshund long haired, cavalier king charles spaniel, chihuahua long haired, Australian Shepard, border collie). Shaving off a double, heavy or combination coat can lead to a kind of alopecia in the hair follicles, depending on where in the cycle of rotation of the hair follicle the clip down occurs in, that can lead to permanent loss of hair or change texture of the coat. Soft undercoat does need to be shed out, but it should NOT be shaved down.
Shaving does not stop the shedding, it only makes the hair that is shed shorter. Little spikes of hair laying around your house can be even harder to deal with than the regular length hair that is shed off your best friend! Love and embrace the coat. Know that to DE-SHED it is easier than shaving. Plus healthier. Bring your baby and all their coat to me here at Bubbles N Bows and let them take care of that hair and keep them healthy and comfortable all seasons of the year! 🫧🐾🩵
