Quick question on shaving our ALD

[Doug and Beth]

Our Australian Labradoodle will be turning 1 next week and he is the best thing in the world!

 

He has the most amazing wave fleece coat which is exactly what we wanted!

 

However he is hot when outside and we feel bad for the little guy.  If we decide to shave him for the summer is there any risk that his wavy fleece coat will not grow back in the exact way it is now?

 

Thanks for all your help folks!

[Willow and J]

Willow's hair has been always short because she doesn't let me brush and my husband thinks I'm abusing the dog by subjecting her under a hairbrush. :) So, with no cooperation from the spouse, I can only brush her before her hair starts to get tangled, and then off we go to a groomer. We like her short hairdo fine, too.

In any case, for those who don't like the short hairdo, but are worried about the heat, cooling jackets may help? We just got one from Ruff Wear, and with the jacket on, Willow was much more willing to go for a walk in 95 degree heat for last several days. The idea is that when the water evaporates, it takes away the heat. I wondered, though, if just wetting down a shirt and putting it on her would do just as same? I used to wear wet scarf around my neck in the hot summer days...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

They also make cooling bandanas.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I just cut back my ALD and he had a long corded coat.  We used a scissors on everything except the feet.  We used a clippers on his feet.  His skin is so pink and soft, I did not want to take a chance of irritating it or having it get burned.  It took a while (two days off and on) but he looks fine and seems comfortable.  He loves being brushed and was never brushed with the cords.  I recommend scissors cutting, especially on delicate skin.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

My poodle's skin did get terribly irritated from clippers, one reason we stopped using them on anything but the feet.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Yes, we just use the clippers on the feet also.

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas would get razor burn pretty easily on his belly or the inside of his legs when he was groomed, so now they only scissor cut in those areas.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

He looks great, Lynda.

[Leslie J]

We have to cut Cocoa's hair down in the summer because we hike quite a bit and her hair becomes full of burrs and thistles. I cut it down to about 1" long so I can find all the little things stuck in her fur.  I think part of the grooming dilemma may be based on cost- to keep Cocoa cut down I need to have her groomed every four weeks or she'll start developing all sorts of problems with her fur.  At $80 each time it's definitely not cheap- so some people cut short so they'll have to groom less often. 

I grew up with Collies in a warm climate and we never cut their fur down in the summers- I agree that it does not cool them down one bit!

[Lynda Kamrath]

That was our big problem also.  There were so many burrs and seeds that it took us longer to groom the dogs after a walk than it took to take the walk.  They just love to be off leash and I love to have them off leash.  Since we have the territory for letting them go off leash, it just works better for us to have the shorter coats.  Our other doodle is getting his trim down next week.  Luckily, we do not have a problem with heat in this area, so the trim down has much more to do with the keeping clean than the heat.  Both my dogs love being brushed so that is also no problem with them.  Usually I check pads and ears when we come in from a walk and get in a brush and water before my husband gets back on his bike.

[Doug and Beth]

WOW

I wasn't expecting all of these replies so THANK YOU!

 

I have learned so much reading through all of this and I think we may cut him down a little bit so it's easier after swimming but I think we decided against the shaving.

 

Thanks again!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Good choices.

[Adina P]

Karen and anyone else, do you think it is possible that perhaps a short trimmed doodle might just cool off faster when brought in from the heat.  So since the dog's coat is a good insulator from heat and cold...perhaps it doesn't keep the dog cooler when in the heat, but once that dog comes in to an air-conditioned environment it might cool off faster?  This is just me trying to figure out why some people think a short cut makes for a cooler dog.  One of my friends claims her dog pants less when she's 'shaved down.'