to summer cut or not to summer cut

[Michelle Motorola]

Hey everyone, i just cant seem to decide whether or not i should get my puppy trimed for the summer. She is 16 weeks and she had pretty thick hair. I do notice she pants a lot when its warm outside, i spritz her with water, im just wondering if anyone has thought on grooming a puppy for the summer and if it is a good idea what would i tell the groomer i want? scissor cut or clippers? :S

this picture was a couple weeks ago and her hair has gotten longer since then already. But that is the texture

[Michelle Motorola]

i made the appointment, now i just have to figure out what to ask for. I think they are going to use clippers, what is the longest i can leave her with clippers and is there anything i should specifcally ask them not to do. Pictures would be great of a great summer cut :)

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

If she isn't matted and is brushed out very well, they can use comb attachments on the clippers to keep the length longer. In the summer I just use a #3 blade on them (no comb attachment) and Cubbie ends up feeling like crushed velvet.  If you go with a short body, have the groomer leave the head longer and don't shave the muzzle and she will still keep her "look".  I also scissor cut the legs and leave them longer than the body.

 

 

[Michelle Motorola]

beautiful!  so this is a #3?

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

yes, I used a #3F blade which leaves about 1/2 inch of hair.  Cubbie my fleece doodle always seems to look longer than Ollie my wooly doodle though.

[Michelle Motorola]

if i asked for a 1/2 inch for body but wanted the legs longer, what exactly should i ask for? 1 inch for legs?

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I just looked at Cubbie and he is now about an inch on his body (but it looks shorter because he tends to curl more when he is short and not blow dried straight) and his legs are probably about 1.5 -2 inches but the hair is less curly on his legs and I just trimmed up his legs this weekend.  the key would be to make sure the groomer blends the body and the legs together so that the transition is gradual.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We have our dogs scissor cut and it leaves a shaggier look.  Some people swear that their dogs get very hot in the summer, but mine seem to be fine without 'shaving ' them down, so needing to go really short may be dog specific.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

Cubbie will sit there and pant in the summer no matter what length his coat is at.  I just go shorter in the summer because it is so much less work for me.  Cubbie likes to play in his pool and roll in the grass and dirt and doing all that with a long coat is a pain for me  :) 

[Christine & Camus]

I don't have to have Camus groomed since he is a shedding Labradoodle with short hair, however I did have a dog, Einstein, that was a shedding long-haired mix that I had groomed to a short cut every summer.  He would pant so badly during the summer months that I would hose him down every day to help him cool down, then one day when he was 4, I took him to the groomer and had him groomed (one-inch length) and he was so happy.  He began playing like a puppy.  I guess what I am trying to say is it all depends on the individual dog and what makes them comfortable, more than the way we prefer they look.  I continued to have him groomed every summer, even though he looked somewhat silly he was so happy.

[Michelle Motorola]

ive decided to just get it done, whether or not it will help i have no idea, i still havent figured out what kind of coat she has right now but it is starting to shed into the brush not sure if thats the norm or not. I just want her to still look like a puppy! so im going to bring in lots of pictures including the one amy cubbie and ollie gave me.

[Michelle Motorola]

this is what her coat looks like right now

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

I have a les pooche brush that I use on both of my doods and I always (except when they are really short) get all kinds of hair caught in the brush and have to remove several times during each grooming session, yet they don't shed hair when you pet them or anything.