Woman Thinking about shaving your dog for the summer? Or maybe you are just sick of a large amount of shedding you’ve had to clean up after your dog gets his hair everywhere. Seems logical, right? However, it is not that simple.
What you may not know is that it all depends on the type of coat your dog has to whether or not it should be shaved or not.
What Does Shaving Do To Your Dog?
Dogs’ skin is much thinner than ours, making them vulnerable to a wider variety of harms. Despite this, many pet owners continue to wonder why they shouldn’t be allowed to shave their dog’s coat to help with the shedding.
Dogs constantly lose hair because each skin follicle contains multiple hairs, each of which is in a different developmental stage.
This is because a single follicle can produce both young and old hair at the same time, and it is the latter that gets shed and ends up on your carpets and furniture.
Furthermore, dog owners who shave their pets in the summer may be surprised to learn that doing so does more harm than good by making their pets more vulnerable to heat stroke, sunburn, and insect bites.
Keep in mind that a dog’s skin is extremely sensitive and will be easily damaged.
Why Shouldn’t You Do it?
There are various reasons why you shouldn’t shave your dog. Shaving a double-coated dog is especially dangerous because the hair will never grow back in the same way. Look at your dog, and you’ll see that his or her fur is smooth and glossy.
That’s the dog’s outer coat, and it’s so glossy and smooth that it can protect the dog’s skin from water and other environmental hazards like the sun. In addition, this outer coat has a thermal insulating layer underneath that allows for ventilation while sealing in body heat.
When you shave your dog, the clippers don’t care which coat they cut, so they both come off.
Can You Permanently Damage Dog’s Fur That Way?
Shaved dogs still shed fur just like they did before you shaved them. The only difference is that shorter, spiked hair trails are more difficult and annoying to clean.
Also, with a double-coated dog, the fur will regrow spiky and coarse, making cleanup a chore you won’t look forward to. In addition to this, your dog’s coat will not grow back the same and will be permanently damaged.
Does Brushing More Often Help with Shedding?
Yes, brushing your dog more regularly will certainly help with shedding. No matter what, your dog’s hair is coming out.
Even if you shave your dog, the now tiny hairs will still shed. So, to save time shaving your dog and damaging its fur for no reason, simply brush your dog three or more times a week. This should help with the shedding.
Things that Help Dogs While Shedding
Deshedding your dog can be done in a variety of effective ways. Regular grooming with a brush or comb, as well as washing and conditioning, helps keep the coat healthy and gets rid of the old hair that is about to fall out.
Send it to the groomers if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of deshedding your pet yourself; they’ll do a better job than you would with their powerful blowers and other pet-friendly deshedding tools.
However, if you want the best for your dog, the experts should leave the job.
Final Thoughts on Does Shaving Your Dog Help With Shedding
Shaving your dog to save the effort of cleaning up after shedding may seem like an idea that makes sense. But, in reality, it does not help anyone. Your dog will still shed. You will just have to clean up smaller, thinner hairs.
You will also leave your dog open to all sorts of health threats. Simply brushing your dog more regularly during the shedding season will be more effective for keeping your dog’s shedding under control.