To clip or not to clip? What are the grooming options available?
Natural Coat groomed & de-shed 1-4 weekly
Natural Coat groomed & de-shed 1-4 weekly with a silhouette Trim
Natural Coat groomed & de-shed 1-4 weekly with a hidden undercarriage clip
De-Shed & Clipped Body coat with natural feathering scissored.
De-Shed & Clipped Body coat with feathering scissored & hidden undercarriage clip
De-shed & then clip ½ the length of the coat off the dog
Clip the full coat no shorter than a 7f blade
The reasons to clip a double coated breed are –
if you are unable to regularly 1-4 weekly de-shed your dog of its dead hair
if your dog is of a senior age & is not coping with the heat or regular grooms
If your dog has health /heart problems or is overweight
if you live in a high risk tick area
if the dog doesn’t have access to air conditioning on hot days
If your dog lives or visits areas with grass seeds, burrs, cobblers peg, prickles
if your dog swims a lot & you can’t maintain their coat after each swim
If a undercarriage clip isn’t giving enough relief in the hot weather
your dogs coat is so neglected it would be inhumane or impossible to de-matt it
your dog needs veterinary surgery
Or a combination of the above reasons
In some cases, depending of the health & age of the dog, clipping a double coated breed comes with some associated risks such as
The coat may take a long time to grow back.
The coat may grow back in uneven stages due to guard hair and undercoat hair growing at different rates.
The coat may grow back in uneven stages or have stubble patches if the dog has been clipped with a blade shorter than a 7f
The colour of the coat may change
The texture of the coat may change
Post clipping Alopecia
Heat Transference & Insulation.
A double coated dog uses it’s coat to help regulate its temperature. In the warmer months of the year the dog will shed more undercoat than in the cooler months. Dogs drop or release their coat due to temperature, hormones and how much daylight is in the day.
Heat transfers from the internal body to the hair and then to the atmosphere. For heat transference to work best the coat needs to be well groomed. All the dead hair needs to be brushed, combed, raked and groomed out of the coat. All the live hair needs to be clean and standing flush from the skin so that air can circulate between the hairs. As long as the dog has some length of hair, heat transference can occur.
