Shave my white gsd? - Page 2

That's a GREAT piece of advice...BLOAT is a very dangerous contition...and if you don't get your dog to the vet's very quickly...They will NOT make it...They will DIE...

You NEVER feed your dog before exercising them...and you NEVER feed your dog right after exercising...

In fact many years ago I was given a piece of advice from some very experienced Trainers...Add Water to a dog's kibble...Let it stand for a few minutes then feed your dog...This will prevent your dog from drinking too much water after eating kibble...If you don't add water to the food...then your dog will eat the kibble...then gulp down a bunch of water...then the kibble will expand and can cause BLOAT...

 

~Bob~

Nans, if matted to the skin, there's not much choice but to shave at least part of it--there has to be sufficient room to slide a mat cutter into the mat without tearing or cutting the skin in order to cut them out, and on a large dog that takes hours, and is very painful for the dog during the course of it. In those cases, shaving is the best option, but the OP didn't say anything about their dog being matted--just hot. A warm bath and I'll bet that white GSD-girl will be popping out puffs and tufts and dense winter undercoat that needs to loosen up and fall out already!

I live where it gets hot in the summer, days up to 110 and the evenings may cool off to 85 thankfully not humid.
My dogs run with me when I ride so to help out I use show sheen on them. Soak them well use a rake and you will remove all loose unwanted hair without hurting them.

I never feed kibble in the morning even with soaking I do feed raw and Kibble at the same time at night an if planning a night ride then after that.

Drooling can be an early sign of heat exhaustion. Good for you for being so observant of your dog! :) Some dogs by their individual physiology can be more sucsceptible to heat related stresses.

GSDs especially will continue to work and play well past their tolerances for heat or exhaustion, as we all well know.As a retired veterinary hospital manager, seeing dogs in severe distress or dying from heat exhaustion was not pretty. Many of these animals had very aware, caring owners, including LE... You see young men dying from overexertion and heat exhaustion every year at the begining of football season, so this issue transcends to all species...

If you are not planning to show, then clipping your dog may be the safest thing for her. Our holistic DVM recommends it for any coated dog at risk for heat prone stress or metabolic, i.e. hypothyroid, issues during the summer months. The coat will grow back in full for winter with no issues, given there is no underlying issue such as hypothyroidism or adrenal fatigue, etc. Just do the last clip, if needed, in early to mid fall for your area.

Very good post on the thermodynamics of coat, heat and humidity from an engineer and owner of an Old English Sheepdog: http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=2554

Quote: "Now let's consider what happens when the surrounding temperature matches the dog's body temperature. At this point the dog cannot cool himself/herself by rejecting heat through the skin/coat, nor from "convective panting" as the air passing over the tongue is the same as the body temperature. The only cooling that can be accomplished is through the saliva evaporation described above. While this is becoming serious the evaporation of saliva removes a lot of heat and the dog can survive, albeit uncomfortably, for several hours without fatal distress as long as water is available to prevent dehydration. 

As the temperature continues to rise and exceeds the dog's body temperature things quickly become critical. Saliva evaporation due to panting is less effective in rejecting body heat and worse yet this is now accompanied by heat flow through the coat reversing. Heat from the environment is now flowing into the "relativly cooler" body of the dog causing it to rise above it's normal level. The coat's insulating properties are slowing how fast that heat flows into the dog but nevertheless the overall energy balance is that heat is flowing into the dog forcing it's body temperature up. 

The dog is now in a nasty, potentially fatal, escalating spiral; saliva evaporation is less effective - heat is flowing into the dog requiring more cooling - the dog has to pant more to cool but panting burns more fuel (food) which causes more internal heat driving the temperature up yet more - saliva evaporation is yet less effective...... As the surrounding temperture continues to rise there will come a point when the heat load entering the body exceeds that being rejected through panting-induced saliva evaporation and the dogs temperature then soars and can quickly become fatal."

http://cedarbreezeconsultants.com/dogblog/?p=88  This author is Federally Certified for FEMA's Animals in Diaster program.

http://bigdogacb.hubpages.com/hub/Should-you-shave-dogs-with-thick-coats Bolding and capitals are original to the article:

Quote: "A Dog's Fur is Made to Protect the Dog from both Cold and Heat:

TRUE. A dog's fur is made to insulate the dog from extreme temperatures, especially in heavy-coated breeds;however, that does not mean that shaving will not help keep your dog cool. If you live in a hot and humid climate and have a breed with a thick coat, it may be a good idea to shave them. The increased air flow across their back can cool them just as well (if not better) as the fur insulator, and they will feel much more comfortable without the extra fur.

Dogs Only Sweat through their Paws and by Panting:

TRUE. Dogs do not sweat in the same way that humans do because the sweat would not normally be able to evaporate off of their skin through their fur. This DOES NOT, however, mean that shaving just the body of your dog will not help in their cooling off. As I mentioned before, the increased air blowing across their skin will help cool them and keep them comfortable."