Help Please. Dogs Hair Wont Grow

[simba07]

Hi, we were advised by the lady who washes our border collie that we should get him trimmed during the summer? We used a grommer she recomended and dropped our baby Simba off. We asked for him to be trimmed just a little, when we got back to pick him up he was SHAVED!! we asked what happened and they told us becuase his hair was matted? they had to shanve him we asked why his hair would be matted when we brush him every week adn he gets the hydro bath every 4 weeks? they said they did know and we had to pay $80 for them to butcher him!!!

Now 4 months later his hair has still not grown back and parts of his hair is really rough and prickly... We took him to the vet and he said that it doesn't look like any kind of infection just that his hair has changed texture.

We are really worried that his hair will never be the same and he is Long Hair Border Collie who had the most beautiful coat and markings.

please give any advise you have as to what we can do.

Thanks.

[poodlefan]

If you don't separate matts as they form, no amount of brushing helps - you just go over the top.

I'd suggest you get an undercoat rake and remove that - it may help the coat grow better. Right now, the under and overcoats are the same length and that would not be helping.

Long haired dogs don't need to be trimmed in summer if they are kept well groomed and provided with adequate shelter from the elements.

Edited January 28, 2009 by poodlefan

[Rysup]

It may not grow back until such time as he would have done a coat change. Some boys change coat once a year, some much less.

I've groomed a BC who's coat never grew back. Its not a good idea to clip them off, they dont need it.

[sas]

I was under the understanding that shaving a dog right back like a BC would change the texture, so perhaps you're stuck with it.

Hopefully a groomer can pop on and confirm whether that is the case.

I guess with being Summer you wouldn't see a lot of coat growth?

I've heard of a couple of products that may be able to assist you:

Crown Coat

contains 1% pure Royal Jelly. Designed to encourage hair growth and improve quality of coat and skin condition. Royal Jelly contains very high levels of natural proteins – fructose, sugars and B Complex Vitamins for prolonged youthfulness and general well-being Used as per instructions this will encourage strong healthy skin and coat

http://www.groomersproducts.com.au/equineg...ersproducts.htm

Royal Jelly Shampoo

Containing 1% pure Royal Jelly. Designed to encourage hair growth, ideal for bitches after litter or phantom pregnancies who have dropped their coat. It will also greatly improve the quality of coat & skin. Do not use in conjunction with any other product

http://www.groomersproducts.com.au/groomersproducts.htm

EQyss coat rebuilder

COATS: Strengthens hair so mane and tail won't break off easily. Makes hair healthier and stronger. Amazing results when used on mane rubbed out with combo rugs / hoods. If you are using fly rugs, with neck covers then using this product once a week on the mane will prevent it thinning out.

http://www.petsonthepark.com.au/prod1120.htm

This is an interesting read: http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/grooming/growhair.htm

[Guest belgian.blue]

Sounds like a dog we had a long time ago. She was a long hair kelpie mix .. her coat was amazing. For some reason my parents had her coat shaved off and it never grew back, over 12 years.

All that would grow back was fluff full of pin pricks. So shaving her ruined her coat forever and sounds like your boy sadly.

In the end she was still the same dog, just always cool in summer with a very very strange coat.

[Koemi]

It depends on the coat of the dog. Some long haired dogs that aren't meant to be shaved (goldies, borders, shelties etc) do grow back the same the first few times, but others don't. I once had to shave a Keeshond and the lady came back a couple of months later yelling at me, saying the coat hadn't grown back yet (and despite me originally trying to talk her out of it, she insisted I shave it in the first place...).

I do believe it is wrong that they did not at least call you when they found the matts. However, that being said, if I had a dollar for every owner who said they brushed their dog at least once a week and washed it, and came in with dogs FULL of matts, knotts and burrs EVERY TIME their dog was in for a groom, I'd have a lot of dollars! Some of it is due to ignorance and some of it is due to the fact that people think they always know best for their dog (not saying this is necessarily what happened with you, OP ).

There are two things I can think of that lead to the misunderstanding. One, we have had a couple of dogs come in through summer for their yearly shave who usually get done by a mobile. I used to have a mobile so this is not a dig, but the truth is many mobiles have no prior experience and do not do a thorough and/or good job. There are a handful that are excellent, but on the whole? No. So perhaps your dog was matted and your mobile wasn't aware of it, either due to ignorance or lack of understanding what she or he was meant to be doing. The second being the 'trim'. Many times at the salon I work at, people come in asking for a trim, and actually mean a shave. If they are regulars, we know what they mean, but if not, we sit down and talk to them about what they want, and a lot of the time they mean something very different than what they ask for!

How old is Simba? And did they show you evidence of the matts in the coat? (I always, always save some of the bigger matts to show the clients, since a lot of them go off the deep end when they don't get exactly what they want and accuse me of being a liar :rolleyes: )

[becks]

I agree with Koemi.

Sometimes a dog that has been shaved will have a coat come back as before. The sharp coat you can feel know will be the top coat that has been clipped and this can leave a sharp point on the hair shaft. With the next coat drop this will change. Before then, keep brushing, make sure you go from root to hair tip, section by section instead of just letting the brush float on top of the coat (ie brush in sections in the same way a hairdresser sections your hair for cutting, instead of the method you'd use to brush your own hair). A coat rake or a wide tooth comb with an elastic band woven through the teeth will help to remove any loose underoat and encorage the rest of the coat to lie flatter.

[Rascalmyshadow]

I have seen this in a few double coated dogs samoyeds,pekes,keeshonds etc. It should eventually grow back if you have a younger dog but the texture will probably not be the same. The more often they are clipped the worse the coat will get and the less likely it will grow back.

[simba07]

Thank you all SOOOO much.

I will continue to brush Simba (who just had his first birthday!) every week. I have been brushing him daily for a while now because I was thingking that I kep doing it, it will encourage the hair to grow. We have also changed his food to 'advance for sensitive skin' in hope that also encourages his hair to grow. The Vet has also given us some Omega 3 tablets to assist with the growth.

We have also called the mobile wash lady asn asked her about her thoughts and she was VERY rude, saying that we did the wrong thing when she was the one who told us to get him cut. We have now canceled her as the Vet has also advised us to use a certian shampoo which she does not have.

In regards to the lady that cut him when we got back and asked her about it she could not show us the "matts" and also told us she did nto brush him before she cut him!!! We haven;t spoken to her since as I think I would maybe not be so nice if I was to call her, so better left alone.

I think we have learnt the hard way and only hope that his coat comes back, even if not the same as he has been a different dog since it was cut - not eating right - not playing like he used to etc.

I guess I am just really dissapointed in not only myself for not researching it before we got it done, but also the grommers as we had left our baby in their hands and this is what they did. It has cost us $300.00 so far in the last week with the Vet bills and the new food, special shampoo and cream etc. and this lady could have avoided it all.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who has helped me.

<3 Simba & Ang

[tyra20007]

Hi

I have a friend who is a BC breeder and I asked her about your dilema.

Her response was:

That poor lady - tell her that as it is high summer not to worry too

much. The coat will return in the colder months and hopefully it

won't be too noticable that it has been shaved.

Also, salmon oil, corn oil etc may help.

Re the change in coat texture - that is what happens, and the dog will

probably never get a proper full double coat. That's why we never

shave ours - Maddie (at 14yrs old) was the first, and it was because she couldn't

cope with the grooming.

It makes me very glad I have Dobermann's, as there is no way I would

let anyone else groom or wash my dogs..

I will keep my fingers crossed that Simbas hair grows back fully in winter.

Edited January 30, 2009 by tyra20007

[JulesP]

Hi I am an ex-groomer and a border collie owner. The hair does take a while to grow back. I clipped my old girl last summer and it took almost a year before it was normal length again. BTW I wouldn't normally clip a BC but this old girl's coat has gone really weird and she was suffering in the heat.

As other people have said the prickly hair is top coat, the softer hair is undercoat. The coat may not grow back the same. I have clipped dogs whose coat texture has changed.

I doubt a 1yo BC would have had matts bad enough to need shaving. Might have had a couple around the bum.

Keep an eye on the pup in the sun as if the hair is short enough then sunburn may be an issue.

[weiz4eva]

i have a dog who is a Eurasier and now i dont show her and she is desexed i clip her in summer and she is a hell of a lot cooler and feels alot younger .the same thing happened the first time i clipped her, so i clipped her again and her hair has grow back better after that. i do alot of BC clips at work as this is what the farmers want. i also find first time clips do same thing and then the next time grow back better. but i guess not all dogs will, old dogs of most breeds get patchy when clipped.

good luck

Claire