To shave, or not to shave ...

Ok. It has been silly hot so far this summer.

No doubt you are feeling the heat, but imagine how it would feel wearing a fur coat all summer. Crazy hot, right?

There are many things you can do to help keep your dog cool this summer. Perhaps shockingly, a shave down really isn't one of them.

Though it would stand to reason that if a dog is too hot, less hair will make them less hot, this actually isn't the case. A dog’s coat helps to regulate its body temperature in both hot and cold weather.  The undercoat and outer coat form an insulation barrier that keeps the temperature regulated. Since dogs only sweat in the pads of their paws, sweating is not as effective of a method of cooling as panting, which is totally unrelated to its fur thickness.

Your dog's coat also works to protect him from harmful UV rays.  Dogs have almost no pigment in their skin to ward off these harmful UV rays and are very prone to sunburn and skin cancer. So removing their protective layer can shock their system. Just like if you were to stay all bundled up and inside all winter, then strip down to your skivvys, even in short amounts of exposure to the sun, you could find yourself really uncomfortable. The same holds true for dogs that get shaved down.

Lastly, when you shave a dog down, their coat has a tendency to grow back thicker. This means that as their undercoat grows back, you may actually cause the opposite effect and make them even more hot and uncomfortable, even in the colder weather.

There are some instances when a shave-down is unavoidable, such as for medical reasons or if your dog is severely matted, but the best way to keep your dog cool is  to make sure your dog has access to plenty of cool water and shade at all times.