Fur In Summer

[Kingbob]

Hi everyone, first time poster here.

6 months ago i rescued a little fella by the name of Fred. He's a Beagle cross and I think his other half is a labrador. he has all the Beagle colouring and ears, but is the size of, and has the fur length of a medium Lab. A lot of the fur on his sides and back is short, on his belly its long but sparse, but around his neck and back its long and dense.

I brush him weekly and get copious amounts of fur off, but its still thick around his neck. Now that the warmer weather has kicked in I can tell he's really starting to feel it, but i'm not sure if i should get his fur clipped or not. On his shoulders his fur is maybe 10-15mm long, but on his neck its 4-5cm.

Should i just clip the longer areas?

Pic here should show what his fur is like.

Thanks for any advice

[poodlefan]

I wouldn't clip him. The risk of sunburn would be high. It would also remove any insulation he gains from his fur.

Give him access to lots of water (perhaps a clamshell pool) or a cool mat.

He might also be more comfortable if he was a bit *cough* leaner.

[Dogsfevr]

He has no coat to clip off.

Dogs will feel the heat coat or not.Some just feel it more like humans.As your boy has a black saddle he will absorb the heat a tad more but that will happen short aswell.

Just keep brushing

As long as the dog is a good weight,has good shade facilities,plenty off water then all will be fine.

I have very hairy dogs & they do very well in summer .

Edited January 2, 2009 by settrlvr

[Vehs]

agree with poodlefan

exercise him in the cool evenings and make sure you have shade and water in your garden for during the day

[Kingbob]

Thanks people.

He has a bucket of water out the back which gets cleaned/filled every morning, and another inside for when i'm home. He has a kennel in the shade, and has a nice big pile of sand in the shade of a tree which he has claimed. The pile was left over from doing some paving, he liked it so much i just put a little retaining wall around it and consider it his sandpit.

He has a clamshell, but not as a pool. Since i did the paving i paved over his previous favourite hole, so the clam shell has white sand in it, and is next to a sprinkler so it gets dampened every morning too, he will lay in it, and its under a couple of shade sails which i put in just for him.

the things we do for our dogs!

ETA: Oh and yes he could be a tad leaner, but in that pic his back paws are under his belly, makes him look bigger than he is.

Edited January 2, 2009 by Kingbob