I resisted clipping my aussie for years because I had also read that the fur would not grow in correctly. However, as someone else mentioned with theirs, mine seemed to grow more uncomfortable in the heat with age and I finally caved several years ago. They gave him a puppy clip, which made him look like he did at 4-months. It was adorable and I could tell a difference in his attitude from the relief. His coat also grew back to his typical lion-coat for the winter months.
Oh yeah, I shave the Corgi
Who has the most gorgeous foxy sable coat ever. Meant to be a show dog (fate intervened) the first time my DH saw him shaved (I’m a former dog groomer) I though he’d faint. Til he saw how much more comfortable his little buddy is (all 48 pounds of him) and after realizing that the cats really weren’t going to laugh out loud, and that his hair would grow back before it got cold (it is just as beautiful as ever) he told me the other day it was fine, and why hadn’t I done it yet?
I have a double coated mutt dog that gets shaved in the summer. Against my wishes, he swims (or, stands, really) in the Chesapeake Bay (yuck) almost daily. About 3 summers ago, he came down with staph infections twice in 8 weeks. My vet said it was likely due to the dirty water on his skin not drying. Despite trying to wash him thoroughly every time he got out of the water, he always went back IN, and that undercoat was just not conducive to drying quickly. So we shaved him, and have every since. He seems perfectly happy, and keeps up much better on our runs in the summer time when he’s shaved. FWIW, I’ve been doing this for 3 years, and his coat always comes back thick, full, and soft in the fall/winter months. I wouldn’t be terribly put off, though, if it didn’t.
I’ve been shaving my German Shepherd (gasp, I know - I’ve already been told by someone it’s not “normal” to shave a shepherd) for a few years now. He definitely seems more comfortable with his summer 'do and stays cleaner! With the heat he would search out wet places to lay, get all kids or dirt, hay, etc worked up into his coat and that wasn’t fun for anyone. It also allows me to thoroughly bathe him more frequently and to remove any ticks that may have taken up residency on him (they are really bad around here).
On a side note, and at the risk of embarrassing myself…I ask, how would clipping the hair prevent it from growing back? Really you are just cutting the hair, not pulling it out and damaging the root or folicle. Heck, I’ve been shaving my legs for years and could only hope that would cause it not to grow back!
[QUOTE=RooMB4;5602492]
On a side note, and at the risk of embarrassing myself…I ask, how would clipping the hair prevent it from growing back? Really you are just cutting the hair, not pulling it out and damaging the root or folicle. Heck, I’ve been shaving my legs for years and could only hope that would cause it not to grow back![/QUOTE]
We really need to figure this out :lol:
I used to trace clip my dog Sparky. He was likely a BC/Keshund mix. The first year I owned him he was miserable and his ruff fell out in chunks and looked like heck. The first year after that I had everything but his tail, head and legs clipped. He looked pretty dorky.
After that I would clip under his neck,between the front legs, his pants, his belly and a little bit up the sides. He was much happier but if you didn’t know what he normally looked like you would never realize he was clipped.
His coat always grew back fine.
My blue merle aussie got shaved twice a year once we moved to Texas - he was MUCH happier “streaking” across the pasture after his cuts in spring and summer. I let his hair grow back for winter and have never had a problem with it. If he did pick up any fleas they were much easier to detect when he’s shaved.
I took him to Petsmart once, but decided I didn’t need to pay $50 when I could spend 20 minutes and do it myself with the horse clippers! I used to leave a little fuzzy bunny tail on his dock but I don’t think he appreciated that 
Susan
[QUOTE=OveroHunter;5602504]
We really need to figure this out :lol:[/QUOTE]
Don’t we all WISH our spayed females, with their “special” extra thick coats would just give it a rest and not grow their coats back. …ever…
AND YES!!! PLEASE God!!! Let me shave my hairy legs and never, ever have to do it again.
Give me a break -biology doesn’t work like that. But don’t we all wish it did. My Aussies track mud and dirt into the house all winter long -
I shaved my aussie girl and mutly boy in the summers and thier winter coats were just as beautiful as when I didn;t shave them.
Current dog is a standard schnauzer and is kept hand stripped. FWIW it does seem that she is cooler in the just stripped coat over the "its-been-ages-sincee-we’ve-been-to-the-groomer’s too long coat.
Thanks everyone. My dogs have been shaved at $60 a pop… looks like I’ll be doing it myself this time. I love their hair cuts, they look like over sized puppies!
It’s called post clipping alopecia or groomers alopecia. No one really knows why it happens, just that it does.
You can shave a dog once and have it not grow back, you can shave a few times a year for years and years and have it always grow back and then suddenly it doesn’t.
And by ‘not grow back’ I don’t mean the coat stays short. It’s patchy, harsh, off colored, sometimes with darkening of the skin also, and nasty to touch or look at. My persian cat is one that didn’t grow back - came that way! People frequently assume she’s diseased.
So, no, you do NOT want it happening to your own legs. :lol:
Damn… Well a girl can dream, can’t she?
The outercoat of breeds like Huskies and GSD’s insulates them from the sun and prevents them from overheating.
I can’t understand why people insist on believing this. The coat traps the dog’s body heat inside- dog inside is around 100 degrees, most dogs start getting uncomfortable when it hits 60 degrees outside because their coat is trapping the heat. With a full coat the only way they can shed heat is by panting and through their foot pads. Remove the coat and the heat can just radiate out.
I shave my dogs bellies every summer and rip out their undercoat and they love it, it makes such a difference in their ability to tolerate the heat. If they had long fur it would also get shaved.
I have BC’s that I have had clipped for the summer. And yes, they do seem more comfortable. 
And the hair grew back for the winter no problem. Had them clipped in April/May. hair grew back by October/November.
I wanted to keep their feathers and their tails so my groomer did a modified clip. So they had a little “jacket” in the front and she just scissored all that.
Here are some pics (you need to go to about the middle of the album for the shaved pics and then towards the end for the hair grown back pics).
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1046852612218.2008165.1252744510&l=ca9858b188
Sorry… I only have pics of the black and white BC with her hair grown back. Unfortunately, my blue and white passed away this past October. Hence the pics of the little brown and white spaniel at the end of the album… adopted her back in November after losing my precious “Ice”. This is the first non-BC I’ve had in 20 years! It’s been interesting. :lol:
I’m debating on doing it again this year. It was ungodly hot last year so I might wait it out and see.
I would love to shave my Aussie girl but unfortunately I have nightmares related to my childhood Spaniel having her beautiful smooth luxurious coat shaved. It promptly grew back in resembling only what can be described as a frizzy rough dust mop :no: And STAYED a rough frizzy fuzzy mess for the rest of her long life 
That dog looked like a walking joke poor thing.
Im terrified of my girls coat looking like that. So for now I help her with the southern heat by stripping out the undercoat best I can and walking her in the mornings or late evening. If we are out hiking I dump water on her occasionally.
I am a Certified Master Groomer with 15 yrs experience.
Some dogs can be shaved and their hair grows back just fine for YEARS.
Then you have dogs that one day their coats just stop growing back normally. The guard coat just stops coming back or is damaged. I see it most often in Poms, Sheltie, Chows, and Goldens. It also can trigger skin disease in some dogs.
great-that photo will haunt me forever.:eek:
[QUOTE=gaitedincali;5603707]
It’s called post clipping alopecia or groomers alopecia. No one really knows why it happens, just that it does.
:[/QUOTE]
I am curious as to how often alopecia happens to dogs that were not clipped. Is it possible that this condition would have occurred anyway? Can anyone point me in the direction of reliable research?
I’ve clipped my aussie every year for about the last 6 years. She is MUCH happier clipped in the sweltering MS summers.
