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A Link To " 8 Reasons Why Not To Shave Your Dogs Coat"


Mystiqview
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I know it often comes up in health and even here on the general forum.

This was posted up on my Facebook feed and thought it was also good to share here.

There are many other groomers on here and many of us with coated breeds who constantly tell owners to not shave in summer. Well here is more information on why shaving is bad.

http://ekcgrooming.com/2014/02/23/8-reasons-why-not-to-shave-your-dog/

Edited by Mystiqview
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Yeah I got that on Facebook too & was going to share it here but you beat me to it :thumbsup: Well worth reading expecially the part about shaved dogs being more prone to allergies. That could very well explain why someone I know who had his BC shaved :( suddenly started licking her paws to death & the vets couldn't work out why.

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When I was a groomer, I shaved a bc every 6 weeks. He had horrible allergies. His skin was flakey, had cruds and crusts and needed to be washed in coal tar shampoo.

No matter how much you tried to tell them, they still insisted on having him shaved and blamed the breed for having this problem. It did not matter I had four without a problem and have had the breed for 12 years without issue.....

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Great article! As a groomer I hate having to clip off double coated breeds but I have groomed a few where there was no choice.

One of my favourite dogs is a pom with the most magnificent coat I have ever seen, his owner tried to convince me for a few years to clip him off so he would look like Boo (supposedly the cutest dog in the world) and I continually refused. I agreed to do it for the first time last year as he is now an old man. He now looks horrific unless he's kept shaved (I did warn her) but she thinks he's so much cuter, I don't!

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Never say never. I clipped one of my GSDo in her last couple of years. She had a skin condition that required frequent washing. No groomers in our town then. And I possibly wouldn't have been able to afford them then. So clipped her back and washed her monthly to keep things under control. Easier to dry in winter and a dog coat kept her warm. In summer I was very aware of sunburn etc and took appropriate steps

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I have often wondered about the use of the Mars Coat King on double coated breeds :confused: I used it a few times on my girl in her first couple of years but now I only use it on her pants & underneath her tail when it gets too thick & foxy. She has a very thick coat, quiet different from my other BC.

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Sheena. I find they really strip the coat and not in a good way. No matter how you try to only get the undercoat, it ciute the top coat and I have also found if you are not careful, it scores the skin.

I have one, but I don't particularly like them. Not bad if you don't really care or want to strip out more than the undercoat

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There is a guY near me who rides his bike with his clipped red BC , apart from the fact he rides flat out, which I thought was too fast anyway, the dog still pants clipped.

Interestingly the guy is American and when I am over there I see most long haired dogs clipped off, its aweful. :(

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I think you must have specific reasons for shaving a specific dog. I've got 2 tibbies.

One was born and bred in Scandinavia where the p/b tibbies have a double coat that's extremely thick. No way this one can deal comfortably with the Qld heat. So her coat is kept shaved & short. The expert groomer retains features that still make her look like her breed. Result is she's comfortable & looks cute.

The other is Australian born and bred and her double coat is far, far less thick. Same for the Australian origin tibbie next door. No good reason at all to cut or shave their coats. They cope fine with the heat and good brushing to strip their coats.

ADDING: I could not be clipping extremely short, my Scandinavian-origin tibbie IF she were still being shown.

The experienced groomer rightly pointed out that it could affect adversely her full coat, if regrown.

But she's ex-show and I continually keep the coat clipped.

Edited by mita
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This topic comes up every year. I did my annual reply, but somehow it disappeared. I don't have the patience to reconstruct previous post but its essence is:

THE PHYSICS BEHIND THE 'ANTI-SHAVING ARGUMENT IS BULLDUST!!!

Heat energy flows from DOWN gradient, from warmer to colder. Your dog is usually around 39C. If the ambient temperature is less than 39 C, you dog's coat is helping it to retain body heat. It is NOT cooling the dog. No air conditioning. More like throwing on a doona on a hot night.

There may be good arguments against shaving your dog's coat, but keeping to core temperature down is not one of them.

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Sandgrubber I agree with you, however if the coat is clipped too short

on many breeds it offers no protection and the dog will get hotter.

On coats like cockers and schnauzers clipping right back isn't really a problem because the coat is dense enough to still offer protection but double coats, poodles, malts etc should have at least a centimetre or so, so the sun isn't penetrating to the skin. Bit like standing in the sun naked or with light clothing on.

I would still rather see a dog clipped back than continually matted even if it looks awful.

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Sheena. I find they really strip the coat and not in a good way. No matter how you try to only get the undercoat, it ciute the top coat and I have also found if you are not careful, it scores the skin.

I have one, but I don't particularly like them. Not bad if you don't really care or want to strip out more than the undercoat

I do use a Mars on both of my guys. I do their pants & tail. Sometimes their rump. I do lift the top coat though & go underneath on the pants section. My girl in particular has an extremely thick coat so I find it the best way to get to her dead under coat. Mystiqview is there a better way I could be using to get rid of any dead undercoat?

I like to keep my guys looking their best even though they aren't show dogs. Just personal pride in their appearance I guess :o

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unfortunately it's simply too late for our cocker, he was clipped instead of hand stripped by a groomer as a puppy so OH was left with this unless he gets clipped

on the plus side we have a resident teddy bear in winter :p

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Edited by Leah82
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Geez Leah 82 that's criminal. What a shame :(

it is a shame, especially when his parents had such beautiful coats, the breeder was expecting big things from him as a show prospect until a testicle didn't descend.

these days I regularly clip his back and face and let his feather grow out so he looks somewhat like a proper cocker.

I briefly considered showing him in the neuter class until the cocker club said he would need to be in full coat....erm I'm don't think so

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BCCrazy, I use a good quality pin brush. I do have rakes and coat kings. I use them sparingly and do the same - lift up the top coat and do the undercoat particularly around the pants and rump.

I have never bothered with the furminator - the ad in pet stores were enough to turn me off than to entice. For the average pet owner, they would just see all that fur off, and not realise it is cutting everything to achieve it.

I also frequently hydro bath them in just plain warm water (no soap or just a gentle everyday/puppy shampoo) and then sick the blow dryer on them. Found that helps heaps to loosen dead coat to get it out quicker.

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