To shave or not to shave? That is the Question.
We “DO NOT” shave, clipper, puppy cut, double coated breeds and this is why..
What is a double coat? A few breeds that have double coats are: Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Pomeranians, Huskys, Pugs, and Shelties to name a few.
Lets start off with what exactly ” shaving” is. Shaving is anytime clippers are taken to the dogs coat no matter what length you are taking off.
A double coated dogs coat is made up of two types of hair; guard hairs and undercoat. The guard hair is what protects the dogs skin. It is harsh and often a different color than the under coat. The under coat is the cotton like fluff that sheds all over your house. When you shave this coat off you are removing the guard hairs leaving the bottom portion of the hair still attached at the pore. By leaving this portion still attached it will start to kill that guard hair. Once the guard hair is dead it WILL NOT GROW BACK. It may grow back partially the first time or two. Then it will all turn into undercoat or ultimately go bald. Its called clipper Alopecia.
What does this mean? A dog will have 50% guard hairs and 50% undercoat with a correctly maintained coat. Once its shaved it will turn to 100% undercoat and will look unhealthy or moth eaten as it grows in. This also means for you instead of only cleaning up 50% of the original undercoat you now have 100% to clean up off your floor.