Summer Doo?

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Yesterday, here in NJ, is was 88 degrees. I noticed that Charli who loves to be outside, even by herself in the cold winter days and night, was laying on the tile in the hallway inside the house. DH asked me if Charli should be shaved down in order for her to handle the heat better.

So, my black doodle families, the question I have is how short do you take them down for the summer? Charli's last grooming she was taken down short with a 3/8" comb.

What else do you do to keep them comfortable in the heat?

[Joan Concilio Otto]

Our Coby's summer cut is almost a shave - I don't know the exact length, but it's SHORT all over. We do leave his tail a bit longer. He ends up feeling like a car chamois... which is nice for us, and it seems to feel better for him!

 

The interesting thing is, he's almost gray when his hair is short.

 

We let his "winter coat" grow out until, if you held it straight, it's close to 5 inches. Of course he's got the "retriever wave" to it, so it doesn't look quite that long, but he really gets fluffy.

 

It's like having 2 different dogs, in photos!

[Bonne Bouche]

Yesterday was only in the 70's here, and BB was panting all over! He's only 15 weeks, so I'm worried how bad it would get!

 

We're def going to give him a short shave in a few weeks, I'd love to see some good pics of Black Doods to model after, and tips!

[Bronwen Watts]

We live in Virginia, and it gets super hot & humid here in the summertime.  Tyson also spends so much time in the water in the summertime (at the beach), that it makes things easier to keep his hair short, otherwise it is a grooming nightmare.  I usually take him to the groomer and have him shaved down to just fuzz about 2 times in the summer--once right around now, and again in July (maybe it's down to about 1/2 - 1 inch, not too sure of exact length).  It makes him super soft, and extremely easy to groom after being in the water.  After that July cut we let him grow out the rest of the year, and I just do trims of his face, tummy, etc. myself in between.

[Frannie & Callie]

Summer is not Callie's favorite season! Just like with y'alls guys, she suffers! I keep her trimmed down to about 1/4" to 1/2" all over her body, with her face and ears not AS short. I prefer when she's able to keep more hair on her but she's miserable once it hits around 75 degrees. It was nearly 90 on Sunday and she barely moved at all in the park. I bought a little kiddie pool for her to cool off in, and I'm going to repeat what I did to cool her down last year...keep her short, make walks "business only" and host a lot of indoor play dates!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I've read both takes on cutting them down.  That shorter is better, and then I've also read that leaving the hair longer traps the cool air next to their body to keep it cool.  I think it is just that face it is black.  Lucy is hot to the touch.  I don't cut her too much shorter in the summer.  I've been keeping her cut with a 1/2 guard but only going in the direction of growth, not both ways ..... so she's actually a little longer than 1/2".

 

What I have found that helps her the most is we bought a "Cool Vest".  You soak it in ice water and then put it on her and it keeps her cool.  So anytime I take her out with me in the summer we take the vest and a tupperware container of ice water.  When we get there I soak the vest and put it on her and then if we are out too long I resoak after a few hours.  It seems to really help her.  i also have ones that just tie around the neck that work the same way!  I use that on Sophie.

[Marianne *OZZY & ZOEY]

Hey A - I shave Ozzy for the summer he does the same thing likes to lay on the tiles and get wet so this might not be a good picture but he looks like a velvet dog all summer long and much easier to care for  as well.  Show pics of Charli when you decide what you are going to do. Love M

[Ann]

Bella is 2 and we used to think that her hair insulated her from the heat and then read on here that black doods absorb the heat...it all made sence!! Plus she is in and out of the water a lot, so we will get a short summer cut the first of June.They do look great with their longer coats, but I can see where the shorter hair is more comfortable.