8 Reasons Why Not To Shave Your Dog

[Mystiqview]

I posted this also in general but thought it was also good to post in the grooming section.

A good read for those with coated breeds who either now shave their dogs in summer or are considering shaving their dogs in summer.

This topic comes up often. Maybe the MODS can put a sticky to this?

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

[BC Crazy]

Very interesting article Mystiqview. Thanks for sharing.

I get sick of people telling me I am being very cruel for NOT clipping either of my BC's in the summer months.

Now I can tell them 8 reasons why I don't :D

[sheena]

A very good read. The only reason why I would shave my dogs would be for medical reasons, eg if either went down with a tick

[Mystiqview]

Clipping down because of a suspected tick paralysis or a medical is far different from people wanting to clip because they do not like the hair or think they are doing the dog a favour in summer.

My argument is my black BC go out in the heat of the in summer and SUNBAKE!!!

[BC Crazy]

Any medical issue that required me to clip either of mine I would in a heartbeat but if is only by choice, I choose not.

My 2 both sunbak if given the chance but I move them to the shade or inside asap :) why they wantt to is way beyond me.

Edited February 26, 2014 by BC Crazy

[sandgrubber]

This comes up every year. And every year they get the physics wrong.

They say: " The undercoat provides insulation in the winter and cools the dog in the summer. If your dog has a well groomed coat, with no dead undercoat, the coat keeps the dog warm in the winter by providing insulation and keeping the dog's skin dry. In the summer, it provides a sort of air conditioning system to the dog, keeping him cool. "

The undercoat does not and cannot keep a dog cool in summer, unless the outside temperature is higher than the dog's internal temperature (~39 C). It does not provide air conditioning. Would you sleep under a heavy doona when it's 30+ outside?

The coat prevents heat exchange with the surrounding air. Heat moves from warmer to cooler regions. So long as the dog's temperature is higher than that of the surrounding air, the coat keeps body heat in and prevents cooling.

Edited February 26, 2014 by sandgrubber

[RuralPug]

Yes, true, the undercoat does not help to cool the dog at all, the outer coat does do so by shading/insulating the skin. Too much retained dead undercoat may even add to cooling problems as moisture can be trapped in the matts. Therefore a well groomed long coat will keep a dog cooler than a shaved coat.

To put it another way:

Shaving a dog removes the outer coat as well as any dead undercoat, thereby removing the shade that the outer coat provides to the skin and allowing the skin to heat faster and sometimes burn.

In climates where it is hot in summer and cold in winter, animals evolved to those conditions will not shed their outer coat during "blowing" or "seasonal shedding" but do shed a large percentage of their undercoat.

Shaving removes almost all the outer coat, not as evolution intended. Thorough grooming removes undercoat that is ready to be shed without disturbing the protective outer coat. (Of course all parts of the coat shed somewhat all year round, as in all mammals including humans.)

Comparing dogs to people does not help, as people have sweat glands all over their bodies to provide a heat exchange device whereas dogs only have sweat pores in the pads of their feet and use panting as a heat exchange device. (Personally if I were outdoors on a 30+ day I would rig that doona as shade rather than burn to a crisp. )

To me shaving horses in summer is sense, as they sweat all over their bodies and less hair will assist the sweat to evaporate faster, giving better heat transfer. This simply does not apply to dogs, and I have never understood the claim that "shaving makes them cooler".

In fact, in hot temperatures where the dogs need to be outdoors I will add a layer in the form of a cool coat, which keeps them much cooler in spite of "keeping body heat in". I think of the cool coat as artificial sweat glands LOL.

[Bjelkier]

.

Edited February 26, 2014 by Bjelkier

[sandgrubber]

Yes, true, the undercoat does not help to cool the dog at all, the outer coat does do so by shading/insulating the skin. Too much retained dead undercoat may even add to cooling problems as moisture can be trapped in the matts. Therefore a well groomed long coat will keep a dog cooler than a shaved coat.

To put it another way:

Shaving a dog removes the outer coat as well as any dead undercoat, thereby removing the shade that the outer coat provides to the skin and allowing the skin to heat faster and sometimes burn.

In climates where it is hot in summer and cold in winter, animals evolved to those conditions will not shed their outer coat during "blowing" or "seasonal shedding" but do shed a large percentage of their undercoat.

Shaving removes almost all the outer coat, not as evolution intended. Thorough grooming removes undercoat that is ready to be shed without disturbing the protective outer coat. (Of course all parts of the coat shed somewhat all year round, as in all mammals including humans.)

Comparing dogs to people does not help, as people have sweat glands all over their bodies to provide a heat exchange device whereas dogs only have sweat pores in the pads of their feet and use panting as a heat exchange device. (Personally if I were outdoors on a 30+ day I would rig that doona as shade rather than burn to a crisp. )

To me shaving horses in summer is sense, as they sweat all over their bodies and less hair will assist the sweat to evaporate faster, giving better heat transfer. This simply does not apply to dogs, and I have never understood the claim that "shaving makes them cooler".

In fact, in hot temperatures where the dogs need to be outdoors I will add a layer in the form of a cool coat, which keeps them much cooler in spite of "keeping body heat in". I think of the cool coat as artificial sweat glands LOL.

While it's true that the outer coat may provide some shading, you're got to be a mean bastard to your dog outside on a hot day without access to shade. Once shaded by a tree or overhead roof, there is no further gain to shading (you take your sun hat off when you go inside, no?). The provision of cover is far more effective than guard hairs because it cools (technically prevents the warming) the surroundings as well as the dog's back.

Shade cuts down the heat gain from absorption of solar radiation. That's all. The dog's coat's main effect on energy budget is to trap dead air and interfere with convective energy flow (as with a doona or jumper). It also interferes with conduction, ie., reduces the extent to which a dog can cool itself down by digging a hole and lying to the cooler dirt that's down a couple inches. The only way a coat has a cooling effect is if the dog is wet, in which case, provided it isn't near 100% relative humidity, evaporative cooling will help a whole lot (hence the love of clamshell pools). A longer coat holds more water.

Sweating vs. panting is relevant only in that it makes long nosed (not brachycephalic) dogs better able to withstand heat than we are. They have a significant internal evaporative cooler which is poorly developed in humans. We have a surface cooling system, but it doesn't help much to reduce core temperature.

Edited February 27, 2014 by sandgrubber