Good To Know.
TO SHAVE OR NOT TO SHAVE? Groomers are asked this ques- tion quite a bit, especially during our hot summers. Oftentimes, dog owners believe that shaving a dog’s coat dur- ing the summer will help him stay cool. The truth is quite the opposite, especially for a dog that has a double coat, like Huskies, Newfoundlands, Samoyeds, Pomeranians, Corgis, Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. A double-coated dog has two layers of fur. The undercoat is the fine fluffy hair that is short and crimp and closest to the skin. It provides insulation and helps regulate the body temperature. The top coat is made of hard, coarse guard hairs to safeguard skin against external elements such as harsh weather, insects and harmful sun rays. Shaving the dog will inhibit their natural ability to heat and cool themselves, causing much more harm than good.
scruffy, frizzy and/or patchy appearance. “Once you shave a dog, you’ve forever changed the texture of the fur,” said Eve, a groomer at Fluffy Puppies Dog Boutique & Salon. “It may actually ruin the dog’s coat and will never properly grow back.” Eve highly recommends the process of de-shedding versus shaving a double or triple-coated dog. She was using a special Mars tool for de-shedding on Cooper, the young Golden Retriever. Afterwards, a special shampoo for de-shed- ding was used for his bath. For larger dogs, the process takes up to one and a half hours. Cooper, who is a regular client, was very comfortable throughout the entire process. “Regular grooming is key to a beautiful coat, healthy skin and happy dog,” said Eve.
Six Reasons NOT To Shave
Your Double-Coated Dog: It will not keep him cooler in the summer. It will permanently damage the coat. It will increase the risk of sunburn and skin cancer. It will not decrease shedding. It will not help with your allergies. It may result in post-clipping alopecia. The shaved hair may never re-grow.
Eve highly recommends de-shedding versus shaving dogs with double coats. She is working on Cooper, a young Golden Retriever who comes regularly to Fluffy Puppies for de-shedding and grooming.
Cooper in the tub. He seemed to really enjoy the process and all of the atten- tion. The end result was a beautifully groomed and happy dog.
Undercoat and topcoat hairs grow at a different rate. In
some cases, the top coat may not grow back to what it initially looked like, after its been shaved, leading to your dog having a
52 THE NEW BARKER
Kerri, one of the other groomers at Fluffy Puppies, was also working on a Golden Retriever. Marley’s coat was entirely different from Cooper’s. And, he has some skin issues, so Kerri was doing a skim cut, using a light skimming motion to remove the excess coat. She was careful not to cut into the undercoat, just skimming off the longer guard
hairs.For dogs with bacterial, fungal or yeast infections, frequent bathing helps kill the infectious organisms and para- sites. Contact time between the skin, hair and shampoo is very important. The longer the shampoo stays on the dog, the greater its killing action. While it might not be practical to leave shampoo on your dog for 30 minutes or longer, it is factored into the professional grooming process.
Marley, another regular customer of Fluffy Puppies, receives some extra TLC from his groomer Kerri.
www.TheNewBarker.com
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