All this talk of shaving dogs... Pit got shaved!

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#1
I'm a bit concerned. All this talk of how shaving double coated breeds being bad and how the coat won't grow back normally again has me a little upset about Pit's coat. I love his fur; it is sleek, soft, shiny, healthy and just plain purdy, but he had surgery recently and had his whole bum and a big patch of fur on his lower back shaved right down to his pink skin.

I'm confident his bum fur will be OK as it's more profuse than the rest of his coat anyways, but his back might not?

For those who HAVE shaved their dogs or have had their dogs shaved for surgeries, what can be done, if anything, to encourage the coat to come back somewhat normally? I've been brushing him daily with a pin brush to hopefully stimulate the follicles or something, but I don't know if it's actually doing any good.
 

Dekka

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#2
Personally I don't buy it. Now things could change in a dog's life at the same time that might make the coat grow back funny.. but that doesn't make clipping the issue.

Dogs completely shed and regrow new hair, that can take a few years to completely change a coat. BUT unless clipping somehow changes the gene expression (age, diet, and hormones can.. not sure how clipping could as those are all internal issues) eventually the coat will be back to what it was.

Dekka was clipped last year, her coat is back to normal this year. We clip Kaiden every year and he grows back normal every year.
 

Fran101

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#3
PLENTY of dogs in my family get shaved over the summer. From german shepherds to labs.. and all their coats grow back just fine :) undercoat and texture and all..and they do seem A LOT cooler in the summer months. (I doubt that whole undercoat insulation system really works fast enough in the stale heat of south florida..)
Our Bichon gets shaved all the time. He is groomed in all kinds of ways (blowdried. shaved. cut. dyed who knows lol) and we do nothing special for his coat.

Fish oil and a zoom groom/brush massage will do good for ANY coat and I suspect will help in general with growth. but I'm sure his coat will grow back fine (after a bit of an awkward in between stage, as with all hair cuts) :)

Oh and maybe a bit of dog friendly sunscreen in the mean time!! I know sometimes shaved dogs get some sunburn.. their skin really has been covered all this time lol
 

LauraLeigh

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#4
I have shaved Mindy down for years....

Her coat always grows back as harsh and perfect as can be, it is a great broken coat that 13 years of shaving has never affected...

I think, in JRT's anyways, a good coat will always bounce back...
 
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#6
Alright, feeling a bit better about this now, ha ha. I'm so vain when it comes to my dog sometimes, it's a bit sad.

Oh and maybe a bit of dog friendly sunscreen in the mean time!! I know sometimes shaved dogs get some sunburn.. their skin really has been covered all this time lol
I'll say! My redheaded dog is just as bad as his human counterparts. He sat on the porch and burned something fierce on his bald patches. Sunscreen every day since.

I have no advice on the fur, but what happened to Pit? Is he ok?
Oh yes, he's very much fine now. After his years of bad history with mysterious rupturing anal gland abcesses, I finally found a vet who agreed removing them was a good idea. It was an ugly recovery, but he powered through it like a champ. I made a detailed "diary" of sorts documenting the whole thing as I couldn't find any personal experiences about the surgery and recovery online and had planned on posting it somewhere for anybody else wondering about the whole thing. I'm a massive ball of wreck and worry about my dog when it comes to surgeries, and going into it without any advice or reassurance nearly killed me, I tell ya!
 

Gypsydals

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#7
It should grow back fine. The thing I find chances the coat texture more than shaving is neutering and maybe diet changes. I know Peewee has been shaved before and every few months gets his pants shaved down(totally different texture than the rest of him) and its comes back just as thick as before.
 
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#8
I have shaved Lacey twice, the second shave being a couple months ago. The first time it grew back fine & it is growing back fine this time too.

I hope he heals up fast!
 

momto8

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#9
Roxy my pyr and Ace my aussie have been shaved down before and they grew back perfectly normal :) We haven't done it since..been about 2 yrs, but I never noticed it come back different or bad.
 
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#10
It will probably grow back fine. Due to the one time shaving.

Most problems with shaving a dog is shaving them often. yes it does ruin coat. I see it daily with poms, GSDS, shelties ect. Normally dogs who are shaved common will have alot of issues. Most dogs who are shaved once in a blue moon generally grow back just fine.

We have alot of once a year shaves. all their coats grow back for the most part fine.

Most people dont know how to properly groom their dogs. We always have people bringing them in, saying they are so hot. And they probably are. due to all the undercoat stuck in their coat. If the undercoat is traped, how will the coat work for it?

I never get people who want to shave labs, aussies, newfies ect. Since all these breeds were "made" on this continent. So they are fine for or weather.

I shaved a lab the other day. My god. i thought it was the stupidest thing ever, aside from the dalmation I shaved 3 weeks ago.
 

yoko

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#11
Yoshi is pretty furry and she got both arms shaved when she bloated.

It did grow back weird and I could tell a difference and so could most people who saw her. It did go back to normal but took about 2 years with her going through her normal shedding cycles before it looked normal again.

If you look at my sig she's got kind of terrierish looking fur. The softer fur grew back but the longer lighter colored took a long time to get back to normal.
 

Barbara!

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#12
I want to know the science behind the logic that shaving ruins the coat...it doesn't make sense to me as to HOW it does that.
 

Red Chrome

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#13
I can tell you as a groomer that repeated shaving of double coated breeds will ruin coats. Sometimes..bit you never know.
 

MericoX

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#15
I know with schnauzers/some terriers that if you repeatedly shave them they'll lose their wire coat. Both mine are now soft. It took a lot longer for Stryder's to go soft, but that's probably because he wasn't neutered until he was 2.5.
 

sillysally

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#17
Jack has been shaved for surgeries and hot spots before. Each time the coat grew back wonky at first. It looked like it was filled in completely but there was a clear line where the regular hair ended and the previously shaved hair began. Eventually it went back to normal, but it took a while.
 

JacksonsMom

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#18
Our Dachshund/Spaniel mix dog's hair changed a lot after being shaved. His hair now always has to be shaved to look nice, or it just grows out all poofy and frizzy-looking. I do think he looks cuter shaved, actually, but yeah IMO it definitely ruined his coat.

This was him in the shelter when we adopted him:



Now:

(he's also fatter, lol).

Here is right after a haircut (which I do think looks cuter):
 
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#20
As far as I can tell, his guard hairs have started to grow (albeit super slowly) and assuming because I'm brushing him very frequently, his undercoat isn't growing in like a weed and overpowering the guard hairs or anything. I've got high hopes, but this is going to take a lifetime to grow out!

I feel terrible for anyone who has a stylishly coated dog like a puli with cords that gets shaved in patches for surgery - that has got to be a pain to fix.
 

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