Shaving Your Dog – What You Need to Know

 Perhaps you want to save some money, or your dog has severe anxiety when you take them to the groomer.  Either way, it is important to know that shaving your dog is not as simple as it may seem.  Believe it or not, there may be a science involved when it comes to shaving your canine companion.  In this article, we will explain the reasons why you would want to shave your dog and what you need to know during the process.

There are a couple of reasons why you would want to shave your dog:

• To reduce shedding around the house
• To ensure that they have a better appearance with a cleaner coat
• To help them be cooler in the summer

Before you decide if you want to shave your dog or not, we want to discuss the main purpose of fur and how it can offer our dogs protection.  Did you know that a dog’s coat can protect them from the weather?  For example, a big fluffy coat may look unbearable during the dog days of Summer, but in all reality, it may be working overtime to keep your dog cool.  Most likely, the dogs who are shaved in the Summer months have double coats.  The undercoat will shed once Summer begins, and the guard hairs will remain and protect against the sun’s rays.

Shaving your dog can also change the texture of the coat and disrupt their natural temperature regulation.  Sometimes when fur is shaved, dogs can pick up more sticks or debris than before.  If there is one thing you should know, it would be that shaving your dog will not help with shedding.  It may seem like the cure all idea but shaving a dog who is prone to shedding will only make the fur that sheds throughout your home shorter.

Now that you have a better understanding of the dog’s coat, you will need to determine if you want to shave your dog or not.  Keep in mind that shaving your pup may disrupt natural temperature regulation which is the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish in the first place!