Double Coated Breeds & Hot Weather

Bodi's Mom

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#1
Summer has arrived here in the Northeast (82 Degrees today), and Bodi wants nothing to do with going out - just to do his business and then right back in the house. No interest in car rides (which we do on a daily basis). Tried walking him later last night and early this morning, got just a short bit down the road and turned back, panting like crazy.

I hose him down every warm day, which he loves, but still very little interest in staying outside. What do other owners do with their double coated breeds in the summer? I don't remember Bodi being this bad last summer when he was just a year old.
 

corgi_love

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#2
I'd suggest you cut/trim or shave his hair on his tummy and under arms, that way he can lay on his tummy and cool off on cool surfaces.
 

Saintgirl

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#3
^^^^I agree!!!

As a groomer and an owner of double coated breeds, this is what I do for my own dogs. I also recommend that you take Bodi in for a professional groom so that the groomer can remove any of he dead and loose fur so that it lightens up his coat, but still leaves the natural protection that the double coat offers from the heat. You can also buy a cooler bed for him to lie on to keep him at a comfortable temperature. We usually forgo the usual walks in the summer and instead go swimming! The dogs love it and it keeps them cool.
 
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#5
I would have a groomer strip the undercoat, and use the furminator at home.

Get a doggie bandana that soaks up water and cools them also they sell backpacks with coolers inside. And dont forget sunsreen.

Great looking dog BTU.

PLS DONT SHAVE THE DOG!! Im a groomer and i hate when they do it
 

mrose_s

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#6
Do NOT shave please.

Their double coat is their insulator, you shave a double coated breed and it can ruin this mechanism. While their double coat does well to keep them warm in winter, it also keeps them cool in summer.
I once talked to a woman that took her chow in for a groom, they groomer shaved under its belly to "cool it off", it now has very little insulation in warm months and suffers more than it did before.

I hate seeing shaved double coated breeds.
I'd be working on getting as much dead hair out as you can to lighten it up and allow the coat to do its job though.
 

corgi_love

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#7
I did not say SHAVE the dog. I said trim or shave the dogs tummy, that will not cause a sunburn, it will help cool the dog when he lays on cool surfaces..? Or are you not refering to what I said?
 

Bodi's Mom

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#8
Thanks for all the input guys. I am a former groomer and would not shave Bodi - I do however trim the hair around his neck, underbelly, and hind quarters. We do have a huge pool as well as a pond but Bodi wants nothing to do with either - he loves to get hosed down, but will only put his feet in the water. Berners are not the best swimmers - their double coat weighs them down terribly. I also have a small kiddie pool that Bodi loves and will stand in but that's it. He is brushed daily and furminated every other day.
 

Gempress

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#9
Their double coat is their insulator, you shave a double coated breed and it can ruin this mechanism. While their double coat does well to keep them warm in winter, it also keeps them cool in summer.
*dons infamous Devil's Advocate Hat*

I completely disagree. I've seen so many people say this, but have yet to see any proof of it. How many long-haired, double-coated wild animals do you see running around in very hot climates? And just look at the coats of the dog breeds that originated from hot climates--pharoh hounds, greyhounds, basenjis, Ibizans, Rhodesian ridgebacks and Australian cattle dogs, just to name a few. The only desert breed I can think of with remotely long hair is the afghan hound, but it's a single coat. That has very different insulation properties than a double coat. You try running around in two layers of snug-fitting thermals in the summertime and see if makes you feel cooler.

My neighbor shaves his Akita in the summertime every year, and you can tell the poor dog gets so much relief from it. Before the shaving, the akita wants nothing to do with moving. All he wants to do is sprawl on the tile and pant. But after the shaving, he is happy, playful and prances around the house. The same was true with my aunt's malamute.

If your dog is in the direct sun a lot, I can see where shaving might cause some problems. The dog probably isn't used to having the sun hit so close to the skin. But if your dog has access to plenty of shade, I think that there's nothing wrong with shaving.

EDIT: Just wanted to post that, since it's only 82 degrees, you might want to give Bodi a chance to get used to the heat before you consider shaving. That temp is not really very hot. Shaving is more common here, but it's much hotter. Our temps have already been 100 degrees or more for the past few weeks. I don't think I would shave my dog if the temps are only in the 80s.
 
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Laurelin

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#10
I would never shave my double coated dogs.

Here's one reason why:

Trey pre buttshave:





Post buttshave:





Sorry for the bad pics, but I hardly take pics of his butt.

Ever wonder why Trey pics only show one side? Not only did it grow back a totally random color, it's very thin now and a really weird texture.
 

Gempress

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#11
Ever wonder why Trey pics only show one side? Not only did it grow back a totally random color, it's very thin now and a really weird texture.
I've heard that shaved double coats can grow back differently. But I still believe that it does help the dog feel cooler. I guess it just depends on how the owners would feel if their dog's coat grew back differently.
 

Dizzy

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#12
Many dogs are shaves.

I personally LOVE the look of shaved old english sheepdogs and beardies!!

Depends how attached you are to their coat, but I do disagree with the whole concept of it keeping them cool in the summer.

If this was the case, Bo's already measly hair wouldn't thin out naturally in the summer.

What shaving MIGHT do, it be an issue with a working or swimming dog.

The natural guard hairs and dense undercoat keep a dogs coat from properly absorbing water.

It might also grow back diffrently (like human hair does).

On googling.. a vets opinion on heat:

I am squarely on the side of shaving long haired dogs down in the summer. I think that dogs feel better and are less likely to have skin disease when long hair coats are shaved in warm climates. I do not know if it helps them stay cool, or not. In theory, since dogs don't sweat, there shouldn't be a lot of effect either way on heat dissipation.

People who groom and who show dogs often feel that it is better not to shave long haired dog breeds. Their reasoning is usually that the coat serves as an insulator from the heat or that the undercoat will grow back faster than the outer coat, producing different texture to the overall hair coat, which is undesirable to them. I am not sure whether that happens or not. However, maintenance of the coat (cleansed, combed and brushed properly on a regular basis) is necessary to prevent matting and secondary skin infections. If this is impossible or just impractical then I think that clipping the coat is still better, even with this concern.

Once in a while it does take a long time for a shaved hair coat to regrow. When this happens it can be a sign of an underlying hormonal disorder, especially hypothyroidism. Also, it is probably important to use sunblockers if hair coats are shaved very close to the skin, especially when dogs have white or light colored hair coats -- or to limit exposure to the sun until there is some hair regrowth. I have really only seen a few dogs with obvious sunburns and none with severe sunburns but it is almost certainly best to error on the side of caution with sun exposure.

There are veterinarians with very strong opinions on both sides of this issue but I have not seen anything really conclusive, one way or the other, about the effect of shaving dogs in the summer that compared shaving or not shaving dogs and related it to any skin problems or heat exhaustion. So unfortunately, the best you can get is someone's opinion. Mine is that long haired dogs in my practice area have less skin disease and no more heat exhaustion (or maybe less) when they are shaved in the summer but it is just based on observation and I know that can be a faulty way to come to a valid conclusion.


Most double coated dogs do not come from hot climes. They are usually working dogs, and usually need to face outdoor temps and mountain temps at that.

Labs, Bernards, Bernese, Collies - all come from weather swept cold places.
 

Laurelin

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#13
I think one thing that is really wrong about that article is that it says 'long haired dogs'. Well... longhaired dogs are really a variety of coat types. While shaving a papillon is not something i'd do, it wouldn't hurt the coat like it would a sheltie or another double coated breed.

If you shave Nik or Trey down, what you'd be doing would be to just get rid of the guard hairs. Under all that is basically a downy undercoat. This is what keeps them hot! They shed a lot of this in the summer.

If you want to cool them, the best thing would be to strip the undercoat, not shave the guard hairs.

At the least you could furminate or use another rake and get rid of a lot of dead hair.

I've had Shelties in Houston for a long time. Shelties are about as cold weather as you can get. they were bred for the rugged shetland islands. I've never had a problem with them getting too hot. Maintain the coat, get rid of the undercoat and let the dog have access to a kiddie pool.

Their coat is very functional. In the winters, the paps are freezing and need sweaters, but the shelties can go in the snow forever. It keeps water away from their skin- its a pain to bathe them because it takes a long time to get them wet, then longer to dry.

If you shave a breed like that it won't grow back the same. It's not just aesthetics, but texture and thickness is affected as well.

Some people will trim the belly with Shelties as well, so that's an option. I've never done that.
 

Paige

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#14
I shaved Shelby. She died with her ugly shave job. She was much more spunky after all that hair was removed.
 
Z

zanna.russell

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#15
Omg, No!

My family has had collies for 35 years and we've never shaved one - even in 100+ degree temps! If you do shave a collie, I bet you dollars to doughnuts they will be horribly embarrassed and hide. A rescue dog that we took in had to have his coat shaved (his coat was totally matted to his body - it was very sad) and he hid and tried to make himself small. Other people have shared similar stories of what happens to a collie when they get shaved, so this is far from an isolated occurrence.

They blow coat twice a year and they will grow back what is appropriate for how and where they live. It DOES act as an insulator! If you give the dog an opportunity to become aclamated to his environment (let him spend a lot of time outside), he will grow the right density of undercoat.

Example:
There is a huge difference in what kind of coat my Sophia grows when she was a kennel dog (and slept in a dogloo) and now that she is a house dog. In the winter as an outside dog, she had a coat that dripped to the ground. She looked like a tri-color woolly mammoth! She's been a house dog for six years and between two bouts six months apart of being naked as a jaybird, she has the same light coat year 'round.

Interestingly enough, when we lived in Berkeley, she stayed "naked" longer than she does now that we live in the Sacramento valley. In Berkeley, the temps are in the 60's and 70's (very much like the culture :lol-sign:) in the summer and here in Sac, 100 degrees in the summer is a "cooling trend".

So riddle me this one, Batman: Why would she grow her undercoat back faster in a hotter climate unless that undercoat served to protect her from heat, too?
 

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