Shave the dog or not to shave.... - Page 1

I came across few posts recently talking about shaving/grooming of certain breeds that are not supposed to be trimmed like Springer Spaniels or Poodles, for example. One of the post included Sheltie (famous for its long beautiful coat) being shaved down to the skin by the groomer, and of course several GSDs. My question would be regarding the rate of re-growing the hair and any changes in hair quality, if any.
 
I had my 7 year old female spayed over two months ago and the vet shaved her belly and a little IV spot on the leg. The IV spot almost disappeared and the new hair is identical to the surrounding hair, but her belly hair that used to be light tan - turned almost black. Maybe it's just her undercoat coming in first and the guard hairs will come in later?...
 
I understand how somebody after picking up "2 sweaters full" of dog hair from one brushing decided to shave the whole mess... BUT - any buts...?

With my three GSDs I do have clumps of undercoat flying around my floors when they blow their coats but my vac deals with it pretty easily... and of course let's not forget about brushing them outside everyday for a couple of weeks (twice a year)... But why owning a hairy dog if you do not like its hair? Shaving GSDs guard hair? They are called guard hair for a reason... 

I live in S. Florida and it seems that so many people with Labs, Goldens, GSDs, Huskies and Chow Chows, as well as many other breeds, have their dogs shaved during the summer months. IMO it looks horrible, not to mention it just isn't natural.  Both of our dogs are long coated and people ask me all the time if I'm going to have them shaved. I would NEVER do that to my dogs! Some people have even implied that it is cruel to have a coated dog down here, but it is my understanding that their coats act as insulation against both cold and heat and if shaved they are not any cooler. In the summer months (winter too) my dogs stay in the A/C'd house except for going out to potty and exercise in the morning or evening hours.

As for your girl, I don't know why the hair is coming in a different color, but your theory sounds reasonable.

As any groomer will tell you, double-coated breeds like the GSD, collie, golden retriever, etc. should NEVER be shaved.

It spoils the coat, because the undercoat grows in faster than the topcoat. You will wind up with a patchy coat where the undercoat is showing on the surface in spots. This is not only unsightly, it wrecks the insulating properties of the coat, as the topcoat (guard hairs) are what provides the waterproof layer of the coat.

Double coats provide insulation agains both heat and cold. The only time a double coated breed needs to be shaved is if the undercoat is so matted that there's no other solution to the problem.

Then, again, my farming cousins ALWAYS shaved their border collie mix in the summer, especially as she got older and less able to tolerate the heat. Her coat would get hopelessly matted with burrs if they didn't do this, too.

She lived to be 17.

 It is best not to shave double coated dogs. The coat can grow in very badly and look aweful!  Sometimes you can get away with it once or twice without damage but I can sure tell the dogs that have had it done!  I only shave down LCGSD if they are too badly matted to avoid hurting the dog .  Kind of a last resort :)

Double coated dogs that are shaved almost never grow their hair back like it was before. The hair goes into folicle shock.

Would anybody have an example (picture) of what may happen with the coat? (any breed)

My sister's Border Collie was shaved many years ago by a groomer, much to my sister's dismay. Her dog was supposed to be bathed and have the hair on her feet and legs trimmed :(  Prior to shaving, her coat was gorgeous and ever since it was shaved it has a duller look to it. Sorry, I don't have any before pictures on hand, only after. If you saw her after pictures you wouldn't think it was so bad unless you saw her before pictures.  

Here is a puppy I sold and his new owner had him shaved *because they thought he was too hot*

This is him before going to his new home at 12 weeks.



This is the same dog with regrowth after being clip at 5 months old, his coat never recovered.
I was horrified when the told me they had him clipped off ............  Do Not Ever clip a GSD.

    This is a lil pom that I groom.  She was shaved before I got my hands on her but it shows you the coat she grows in. Pretty damaged :( This is what she looks like when I hand scissor her.  It will never fix her coat but at least she looks cute :)

Oh and i forgot to mention.  You see the darker areas on her?  There is NO hair there at all.  It has been about 4 years since the first groomer shaved her off.  The photos are an excellent example of what shaving can do to a double coated breed. Do NOT shave your long coat GSD'S unless it is an absolute last resort.