Summertime in the south

Sorry to hear about the heat stroke. I have to be careful with my female during summer as she has had heat stress before from running around after balls and animals when its hot - she just cant contain herself.

I second the furminator for getting out all the undercoat in summer. I have found it fantastic for lightening their coat enough so they can compete in summer. I brought one from the petstore for around $95 and then managed to pick one up on ebay for $20.
 
The furminators are SO expensive, but I bought one anyway several years ago. On my previous Sheltie it worked very well - he was a tiny little guy (13 inches, 12 pounds) and didn't have a huge coat. Bela is still small, but a big bigger (~20 pounds) and has a very dense coat. I'm going to try it on her tomorrow and see what happens. I've already tried a shedding blade and got a whole lot more than I bargained for - it will have to be done on the back deck!

Bela's coat was shaved some time before I got her - before even Sheltie Rescue got her. It's mostly grown out, but will probably take another good 3-6 months to really be at its peak again.

I live in Georgia, so the heat is a big concern. I usually supply my dogs with cooler mats and fans to cool off with. Even in the short time I've had her, Bela has learned to lie in front of the fan on her back with all her feet in the air.
 
BarbV said:
Ditto to all

That being said, in the past, I've allowed Timber's belly to be shaved - belly only not the guard hairs on each side of the belly. Even with air conditiontioning in the house he would stretched himself out of have his belly to the floor.

What does the forum say to that? I've not yet done this with Indy and
Bacca
Click to expand...

There was some great grooming videos in another part of this section that recommended shaving the middle belly area as you have to help cool the dog down when they lay down. Sounds like you did the right thing and had the right idea!
 
As many of you know, this year we had Bitsy Boodle clipped down to a "puppy coat." She has a very heavy coat and has suffered through five miserable summers. I always swore I wouldn't clip, but after last summer, my DS said she wanted to give it a try.

Bitsy is happier than she has ever been. She's cool, light, and her energy level has more than doubled. We have absolutely no regrets.

Bottom line: It depends on the dog.
 
I think in very rare instance,such as Chris's dog it would be the only exception.

I also live in SC,and never have givin a thought to shaving or cutting back on coats here. We play & excerise in the cool part of the day.Early mornings,and evenings. Pretty much the rest of the day,they are inside with AC on.

My lab refuses to go out when its so hot,and we had in past years shaved him.But not in the last 4 summers. I do not think it helps at all. The only perk on shaving Earnhardt,was that he had no shedding. But that was it.

Brush,brush,get that undercoat out.The coat acts as an insulator for the skin. Be careful using a furminator,as used improperly,it will damage the coat.
 
If you are going to use a furminator, then I do recommend that you line brush with it just like with a normal brush.

You certainly do not want to strip out the guard hair, but thin the undercoat some. You also don't want to strip the undercoat entirely, because this is the insulator for them. Just enough to keep fur from flying everywhere!
 
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