Finally Lui Pics

To be honest, you're really not supposed to shave a spitz-type breed, *even* in the summer.

I see alot of people do it, and they all say, "Oh, well, he matts, or he gets too hot..."

Well, if you take away all of his long guard hairs, he's going to sun burn, because he has no skin protection because all of his guard hairs have been shaved away.

He'll be more easily bothered by insects and environmental problems because, once again, his skin has no protection.

The dog should be blowing out coat any way in the summer, so its not like the undercoat will be there. That's really what keeps a double coated breed warm.

The guard hairs are water proof, harsh protectors, keeping the wooly undercoat free from matts and insects.
Plus, guard hairs take about 2 years to fully grow back out, and the coat will never ever look the same again. Sometimes, it even comes back in curly, darker, or will forever be more sparse.

And, because it takes so long for the guard hairs to come back, his wooly undercoat will matt more easily, because it doesn't have anything to protect it.

Just thought you'd like to know. I have a spitz breed and this information was given to me by the breeder I purchased her from, and the breeder has been showing the dogs in agility and conformation for 30 years, just in case you were wondering where I pulled all of this info.

Hopefully, you won't shave him again.

Ooops--Sarah, I didn't mean I like the clip better. I DEFINITELY like him with a full coat better, lmao! Just saying the clip was quite cute.

LappieLover I know!
We didn't shave him! We took him to the groomers, said he needed a bath and brush because he had a show that weekend. The second picture is what they did, and then we had to completely shave him elsewhere because there was no way to make it look any better!
We knew all about the undercoat overcoat thing and the groomers said they knew what they were doing too, but they didn't.
We would NEVER have shaved him! And I completely understand the double coat thing, with the under acing as the thermos layer keeping him cool or hot depending on time of year etc.
You may have not seen my other thread on bad dog grooming experiences. Of course you might not want to because instead of getting more stories a few people told me about not taking show dogs to breeders etc. A few of those people said it was all my fault which, whilst I made an error in taking him there, I felt horrible and that all just made it worse.
He will never be shaved again! Some people have said he looks better but I love him long coated. Also we got so lucky, and even his breeder said so, in that his coat grew back perfect and he can still show. In fact the same thing happened to the breeder with my dogs sister a few years ago and that grew back fine too.
Just so you know, I'm not snapping or anything, but I do know all of that stuff and even though the groomers assured us they did to it turns out they didn't.
When we got him the breeder gave us all that info and I read about it in books anyway, and I had all that knowledge.
The only time I've ever heard of a Samoyed getting shaved was when it had excema, but other than that it should stay as it is.
And the sunburn thing was a big worry. It was in winter though so he was fine he just got cold, something he'd never really experienced until now!
So yes, I did know of all of that info, except for the 2 years thing, our breeder said about 1, and also how it can grow back worse. I had been told it may grow back in a bad condition, but I had no idea it could get darker. Thanks for mentioning that, and him and his sister both got lucky and are still showing.
So he is never ever ever ever getting shaved again. People may say it's better but when you know the breed like you and I do we know how bad it can be. Thanks for saying that by the way, in easy terms, because some people don't understand why they're not supposed to be shaved.

And yes noludoru, it's fine. It's actually reassuring to know he did suit it! A few people would laugh at him but I didn't think he looked too bad, considering, and it's pretty much fixed now. And I did think he was kind of cute with a short clip, but cuter back to normal nonetheless.

Oh he's so handsome! I love the first pic, the beach looks beautiful!

It is an awesome place to walk! But it's all stones so it's hard to walk on, not that Lui cares! He falls asleep as soon as we get home though, which is so cute!

Now THIS is a spectacular shot! And you should show him off . . . he's gorgeous

His mouth looks weird but I agree he does look good in his beach shots! The waves and that look good actually, now I look properly!
Thank you all for your comments!

He's gorgeous, I like the third picture, he's fur on his legs looks like boots.

Yeah they had to trim the leg hair to even it up, and it does kinda look like boots, I never really noticed though.

I believe he was about 11 or so. I'm not entirely sure, because my dad was his 2nd owner. (Well 3rd technically.) He was a gigantic boy though he wasn't overweight either. He was also pretty tall. He would get mistaken for a Great Pyr sometimes due to his size. I wish I had a picture of him AFTER he got out of the water, he looked like a little stick figure dog.

Lui looks MUCH better with his coat.

Conar did look big, but not overweight, just physically looked larger than Lui.
Lui is kinda little though, his uncle is quite a bit bigger.

And more, some of these show his size a bit better, some are just more of me showing him off, sorry, but I love it!


Another one of our walks. There's a herd of cows that live here, but dogs can still be walked here. This time Lui decided it would be really fun to chase a calf (don't worry the calf was fine) and this cow was so close to attacking him! He just thought it was hilarious though, running off like nothing was wrong!


On our Pukerua Bay walk. Lui's cracked how water bottles work so we don't have to bring bowls with us.


Pukerua Bay again, I think this one shows his size a bit better. As you can see he's a lot smaller than Conar's picture.
This one's awesome because this is what he does at any beach, runs in, sees a wave coming, and tries to escape, but gets soaked! He doesn't like waves.

In your place, I'd be SO MAD! Especially if you show! If his coat is never the same, what will you do?


Did you let them know what they had done wrong? Boy, I would have...

I was told never to take my bitch to a groomer. I was told that they have no idea what they're doing, and nine times out of ten will screw the dog up.

I'm glad you know all of that stuff. Lots of people shave sammys and keesies and eskies and have no idea that its really bad for them.

He's a beautiful boy and you're a lucky mom to have him!

Can't wait for more pictures!!!!! PS- if you show, let us know how you do!! I'm somewhat involved in showing, although I don't show nearly as much as many other people do, and before anyone starts freaking out, no, I don't breed.

i like like him more before the grooming.... ^_^ anyway... he's still adorable ^_^

I have done in the past the odd young handlers class, but in more recent months I've been taking my breeder's dogs in some of their shows, like the odd limits class.
But on the 24th of November (only 1 week!!) I'm taking Lui all by myself in a snow dogs show, with Samoyeds, Malamutes and Huskies. His coat has come back as good as it was (if it hadn't some groomers would be getting some more phone calls/emails) so he's all go! I'm bathing him tomorrow, not sending him off again, so I'm really looking forward to it. My breeder used to do all the showing with him because he's not incredibly obedient and wasn't your perfect show dog, he used to pull a lot so I couldn't show him, but now I'm older the breeder suggested I take him to this and I think he's going to do really well. I'll make a post next week when we get back from it, hopefully with some ribbons!

Our breeder never told us to not take him to a groomer, but she did a couple of years ago and her dog, my boy's sister, got completely shaved, just shows how even the experts still have bad stuff happen.

I can't understand why a person would just begin to shave another persons dog without express permission - boggles the mind!

Well I own a Spitz breed, so I really hope he grows that coat in fast. True, his shave was cute, but its nothing compared to a Samoyed with a full coat--they're gorgeous.

Max has tons of fur too, since he's a Keeshond. We've never shaved him before, not even in the summer, which people find hard to understand.

The not understanding thing has happened to us plenty of times. We'll be walking him in the summer and we get comments like "doesn't he get hot" or "why don't you shave him". Honestly, the amount of times we've had to explain the double coat thing, how it keeps them warm or cool and how he'd get sunburnt etc if it got shaved off.
I do love his full coat, that's a real highlight about Samoyeds, their white, full coat and fluffy mane.

Gosh, I don't know how many times I've explained his double coat If you've never seen a picture of Max, here he is.



His coat is soo thick, the picture doesn't really show it.