Members of the fluffy dog club... are they too warm under there?

Maybe I'm being a paranoid momma but I feel like Merlin is too warm. Like just now he was in bed and panting... and he tends to mouth breathe A LOT (he is 100% healthy though)
do you guys think there's something I should be doing with his coat to keep him cool?

- Do you guys have a brushing routine? He gets bathed regularly... I have an undercoat rake and a zoom groom

- Grooming? (right now he just gets sanitary clips around his junk.)

- Indoor dog bed that is extra cool? He likes tile mostly and hardwood...but something maybe extra cool?

He has one of those kool collars

I really would hate to shave him as much as I joke about it...but I don't want him to be too hot this summer. Is it 100% certain his coat is keeping him cool? I just tend to anthropomorphize with him a bit and I see all that coat and I'm like AHHH ARENT YOU HOT

I don't know much about double coated dogs, but I would think the best thing is to definitely get all that undercoat out. My uncles Husky used to see the groomer every so often and she would and feel sooo much better afterward because they would do a really good cleaning/bath and just get ALL that hair out from underneath.

As she got older, they did just start to shave her because she would get terrible knots and was so old and arthritic at that point it hurt her to get groomed, so the shaving just made her last 2 years of life easier. Her coat always came back fine but I know they say not to do that.

Feist is pretty fluffy, nothing like Merlin though, ha.

She does get hot when outdoors, just because she's black. I don't have a very good grooming routine with her, because I haven't gotten her to like brushing and her fur always stays clean anyway. I did brush a bunch of her fur out the other day, huzzah. Basically I just give her a ton of water, drag the kiddie pool out when it gets hot and she'll go and lie down in it. Summer is gonna be a shocker for her. On the shaving point, yeah, it's better for him to have his full coat so he can regulate his body temperature.

My helpful suggestion is to strap icepacks to his groin area. :rofl1:

Happy gets pretty hot in the warmer months. She pants all the time anyway so I can't really judge by that, but she doesn't like being outside when it's "warm" and she likes to sleep in the basement or on tiled flooring.

I try to routinely brush her out with the undercoat rake, but otherwise I don't really give it much thought or do anything extra.

I plan on buying a cooling bed for Journey this year. She gets hot so quickly. Dance would probably like one too. But otherwise, I haven't come up with a solution. I rake undercoat out in the summer if they have too much cost, but I can't tell if it helps much. Cooling coats might help. I would like to buy one of those as well.

Merlin and bandit have similar coats. Bandit gets really overheated in the summer BUT shaving him seemed to be a way worse option. His skin got burnt and he was still overheated.

Aren't you moving to the uk?

Seriously. Not hot here.

I know GSD people who use cool coats in the hot months and it definitely seems to help. Carm gets about as hot as my other GSD's have but I will be investing in a cool coat anyways.

Our summer activity always includes water. Hiking alongside a river, filling a kiddie pool in the back yard, or driving 30 minutes across town to the dog park with water access.

She goes every 6ish weeks to the groomer to get brushed out, because I'm not goof enough at it.

In her crate at agility, she has a cooling mat (semi helpful, though sometimes I've put it in the fridge and it gets cooler) and a massive riobi fan.

On days when it's 90+ and 90% humidity though, we just stay inside. Black and fluffy is no good for intense heat.

I'm of no help, because the only fluffy dog I've ever owned I ended up shaving. Lol

When Chloe's undercoat developed, I didn't want to shave her, but I did want to decrease the amount of coat she had. I ended up "taking a comb to her", as my groomer said. Basically, there is an attachment that goes on the blade (a comb) that determines the length of coat. I can't remember what length I used on her, but it made her shorter and thinned her out while still maintaining the integrity of her coat. I never noticed a coat texture change the entire time I had her in that haircut. I loved it, actually. If I ever own a coated dog like that again I will probably do a similar cut, especially in the summer.

Then I got even more lazy and started shaving her with a #4. I DID notice a coat texture change when I shaved her, even though it was a "long" shave...I just didn't care anymore because she hates getting groomed/brushed so much I was going for extreme simplicity.

Typically, doing a close shave isn't going to help the dog keep cool unless the dog already can't utilize it's coat (ie, it's extremely matted). I think lessening the top coat length (but still retaining it) and getting as much dead undercoat out as you can is the best way to help.

I always thought that their undercoat actually protects them from the heat too, and that it's worse to shave them... Am I wrong?

You're not wrong. Double coat works like insulation on a house. It keeps the temperature from changing too rapidly. So when it's cold out, it prevents heat loss. When it's hot, it prevents internal temps from rising too rapidly.

I'm probably going to get one of the cooling coats for Hudson this year. I don't think he'd have such a problem if he wasn't black, but when we're outside in the heat of summer and you put your hand on him, he is very warm.

Like Merlin, he prefers laying on the hardwood, or the exposed brick to keep cool. I've also thought about getting one of those mesh beds that are a few inches off the floor, for added air flow, but since we don't have AC, I'm not sure how well it would work.

I have a few collars with little ice packs in them, and we keep several fans going, we try to go on our walks in shaded areas and if we find a small body of water, BONUS.

One thing to keep in mind is even if his top coat feels warm, his undercoat may still be cool and he may not be as warm as you think. Although I'm sure a cooling coat would be helpful regardless.

I highly recommend the Saratoga Horseworks coats for dark dogs. Both of my dogs can be almost painfully hot to the touch if they are out in the sun. Even dry, the coat keeps them so much cooler feeling. I tend to dunk mine a couple times a day to keep it damp as well, but just the white reflective color does so much.

He is also seeking out any bit of shade he can find, so I'm sure he is also feeling hot

That's the one I was leaning towards, based on your posts last year

I have Chows in Arizona and they do fine.

My Finkies did just fine in TX. I didn't like take them for walks/training at the hottest parts of the day in summer or anything, but they were quite content hanging outside whenever I was out there no matter what the time. And the only one that will step foot in water is Kimma so I didn't even have that option for the others

Another vote for cooling coats.

Honestly, I've noticed black hair to be the worst. Trey was a shaded sable and mostly black and he'd heat up like crazy. Mia's head is mostly black and it does the same thing.

It's 100 almost today so we are just hanging inside. I hate the summer because almost every day is pushing 100. Hang inside and exercise with water in the morning if at all. Sucks.

I wet my dogs down almost every day in the summer. That's why about half my photos of them with green grass they are wet.