Shaving Your Dog

We often are asked by clients to shave their dogs, especially in the summer. I wanted to talk about reasons to shave (or not shave) your dog, and why. Obviously there are breeds that are regularly clipped quite short - I'm not talking about those breeds here. I'm talking about breeds that are not generally shaved or clipped.

Sometimes, you might need to shave your dog: he may have a skin condition, he may have gotten surgery (or an ultrasound, for example), or he may have matted hair. Those are all good reasons to shave a dog. Usually, this kind of shaving is quite close to the skin. There are other reasons that people generally shave their dogs: they seem "hot" in the summer or they shed a lot. This kind of shaving usually doesn't entail shaving all of the hair off - usually about an inch is left on the skin. These might not necessarily be good reasons to shave your dog, because shaving doesn't actually help with the things you're trying to fix.

First, let's talk about how dog's hair grows, because that's important when you're talking about shaving and how the hair grows back. Double-coated breeds (a good many dogs are double-coated - Labs, German Shepherds, Goldens, many others) and northern breeds (Huskies, Malamutes) all have two coats: an undercoat and a top coat. The undercoat is often a duller version of the color of the topcoat, and is downy and fluffy. Its purpose is to insulate. The top coat is made up of guard hairs. These are longer, sleeker hairs that sit on top of the undercoat. The follicle that the hairs grow out of also contains an oil gland. Guard hairs in a Lab for example are loaded with oil (because they were bred to work in the water). The guard hairs protect the undercoat and act as a shield against harsh weather and water. A human hair follicle contains one hair; a dog's hair follicle can contain multiple hairs of both types (undercoat and guard hairs). Because multiple hairs grow out of the same follicle in a dog, the hair that grows the fastest tends to "take over" that follicle, keeping other hairs from growing through it (follicles can hold up to about 7 hairs). Sometimes (often) the undercoat hairs grow faster than the guard hairs.

So when you shave a dog, how the dog's coat grows back depends on how closely he's shaved. If your dog is shaved for mats, or for surgical (or ultrasound) reasons, he's probably shaved almost to the skin. Unfortunately, that means that undercoat hair MIGHT grow out first, pushing out guard hairs. I have a living breathing example of this in one of my own dogs. My older dog, Emma, was shaved along her belly and up her sides for an ultrasound in October 2010. To this day (it's July 2011), I can still see the line where the shaved area stopped, and the shaved area itself is full of soft, downy, slightly dull brown hair. She has almost no guard hairs in that area, and it's been almost a year. So be careful of shaves that cut the hair really really short - you might be left with a fuzzy coated dog that takes months (or a year or more) to look "normal." And unfortunately, sometimes, with consistent shaving, the hair never seems to come back to its original condition.

Even if you don't shave your dog down that short, the regrowth of the hair is often uneven - meaning you don't have a consistent mix of guard hairs and undercoat hairs growing out of each follicle. When that happens, your dog can look "patchy" almost like he's losing his hair in spots. This generally isn't a health concern (although it can certainly look like one - lots of hypothyroid dogs have patchy looking coats). And undercoat hairs do grow quite quickly, so even if your dog eventually looks like he once did, he may have to go through a few months of having an uneven coat before he gets there.

So let's talk about shaving your dog because he's hot in the summer. Remember that dogs don't sweat like people do, through their skin. So it doesn't make a dog any hotter to have a full coat of hair. The only way dogs sweat is by panting, and through the pads of their feet. Thick or long coats on dogs act as insulation both from the heat of summer and the cold of winter. They also protect the skin from sunburn. What might make your double-coated dog more comfortable is to thin out the undercoat regularly. Pulling out the dense, thick, and dead undercoat will allow more air to circulate next to the skin, and help keep the dog cooler. This can be done using a rake grooming tool, or a Furminator. Groomers also can use a tool called a carding tool to pull out that undercoat. If you feel you must shave your dog, leave at least 1" of hair on the skin to protect against sunburn.

Does shaving your dog keep it from shedding? For the average dog, hair growth happens in cycles; shedding occurs when the hair gets to a predetermined length (based on the genetic makeup for that dog). The hair then dies (it's grown as much as it's going to) and falls out. Dogs tend to shed seasonally, based on the amount of light during the day. If your dog is a mostly indoor dog, he'll probably shed most of the year. I have 3 Labs that are indoor dogs, and they shed continually. Because shaving shortens the individual hairs that are shed, it might temporarily cut down on the amount of hair that's actually lost(because the hairs have to grow out a bit before they die and fall out). But shaving to 1" doesn't remove hair, and your dog will continue to shed as those hairs grow. And it depends on where your dog is in the growth cycle as to how quickly the hair grows back. So the shedding will continue, regardless of the length of the hair (just ask anyone with a Great Dane that's shedding! They have very short coats, and shed as much as a Lab does). If you happen to shave your dog and he's not in a growth cycle for his coat, it might take a very long time for his coat to grow back. And again, the hair might grow back unevenly.

We have several clients that shave their dogs here at the daycare. For the most part, those dogs' coats are quite different than dogs of the same breed whose coats haven't been shaved. They are usually shorter, denser, fuzzier, and not as glossy as their counterparts' hair who haven't been shaved. If you really really really want to shave your dog, you should at least have an experienced person do the job. Our groomer, although she is uncomfortable shaving double-coated breeds, will do so if asked. At least she knows how to shave the dog safely (leaving enough hair to protect the skin) and evenly. So I guess the answer here is: you can shave your dog safely, but be aware of why you're shaving, and think about whether it'll really help. For the most part, shaving can be avoided by regular (deep) brushing. If you have any questions about the right kind of brush or technique, you can check with a groomer. They have alot of knowledge of dog coats and what works best for that breed.

So if you shave, shave carefully! And try to think of other ways to either cool off your dog, or lessen shedding.