Less hair may keep humans cooler, but this isn’t necessarily the care for your long-furred dogs. In some cases, their coats actually work to keep the heat off their skin and allow them to stay cooler in warmer weather. Shaving this coat off can be detrimental.
This may not seem straightforward, but generations of breeding have led certain breeds (and their mixes) to have this trait. Keep reading to learn what a double coat is, how it helps regulate body temperature, and why many groomers will not shave them down.
What is a Double Coat?
A double coat refers to a fur that features a coat of longer, coarse guard hairs over a denser undercoat of soft secondary hairs. You often see these on purpose-bred breeds or their mixes, as they’ve been developed to withstand certain conditions, like water, wind, extreme cold or heat, UV rays, or trekking through brush.
Not all dogs with long fur have a double coat; it’s usually the ones you think of when you picture a dog that “blows” its coat. The AKS splits these breeds into four double coat categories:
- Short Double Coats: (Labradors, corgis) coats protect from cold weather and dense brush
- Medium Double Coats: (Collies, Australian Shepherds) herding breeds needing coats to protect from northern weather
- Long Double Coats: (Bernese Mountain Dogs, Great Pyrenees, Saint Bernards) sleeker, flatter water-resistant topcoats with dense undercoats to protect from inclement weather
- Triple or Arctic Coats: (Pomeranians, Samoyeds, Huskies) feature an extra wooly undercoat to help survive severe cold temperatures
The key to the double coat is its insulator features, allowing your dog to stay both warm and cool when properly maintained.
How Double Coats Work to Keep Dogs Cool
This study published in the Journal of Thermal Biology indicates that short-haired dogs exhibit a more drastic increase in body temperature than other dogs. This disproves the human inclination that “fewer layers decrease temperature”, but why?
While a double coat may keep your pet warmer in the winter, its insulator capabilities can also keep them cool. The warmer summer weather triggers your dog to blow its undercoat, reducing its bulk, but they don’t get rid of it completely.
The undercoat traps the air closer to the skin, keeping it closer to the desired temperature, and serving as a barrier from the heat at the surface. The air barrier slows the transfer of heat to the body, protecting your pet from rapid temperature changes.
Keep in mind that this only works correctly with a properly maintained coat. Many dogs need help getting rid of their undercoat, but shaving is rarely the answer.
The Problem with Shaving a Double Coat
Shaving a dog is generally a controversial choice, regardless of coat type.
When you shave a double coated dog, you interfere with their natural biological processes. Their genetic instructions tell them to shed when they detect a certain temperature and to regrow their undercoat on the other end of the spectrum; shaving their coat manipulates this timeline.
A shaved double coat usually grows back incorrectly. It may have different textures as the coarse guard hairs and soft undercoat grow disproportionately. Hair may take longer to grow back, wrongly assuming it’s hotter than it is, or it may not grow back at all.
Some breeds, like Golden Retrievers, may develop post-clipping alopecia, leaving bald patches and discoloration on their body with little hope of growing that fur back.
Because their body is designed to exist with the coat as intended, shaving it down makes them more susceptible to sunburn and overheating. Even if they’re not shaved to the skin, they lack the previous level of protection from UV rays and do not have their intended method of regulating temperature to rely on.
This doesn’t stop shedding, either. In fact, shaving a double coated dog may worsen shedding. Dogs may shed more in an attempt to regulate temperature, and the hairs they shed are usually shorter and more difficult to clean up than the soft tufts of undercoat.
Is it Ever Okay to Shave a Double Coat?
There are a few instances when you may need to shave a double coat, but these are reserved for medical necessity like skin disease (i.e. dermatitis) or wound cleaning. Your veterinarian will let you know if the benefits of shaving your double coated dog outweigh the risks, and instruct you on how you should proceed.
Double coated dogs with severe matting may also need to be shaved down to prevent secondary issues due to infection, restricted air flow, or cut off circulation. Groomers do everything they can to demat without shaving a dog down, but, again, the benefits may outweigh the risks.
How to Better Care for a Double Coat
In almost all cases, caring for a double coat is superior to shaving it. Anyone with a double coated breed should be prepared for their increased grooming demands and meet regularly with a professional grooming for more thorough care.
At the very least, double coated dogs should be bathed and brushed out every 4 to 6 weeks. This gives the undercoat plenty of opportunities to escape, allowing the skin to breath and limiting any extra trapped heat, debris, or moisture. Bathing more than once a week is not recommended as it strips the coat of necessary oils.
Most breeds, like huskies or collies, require daily brushing to prevent matting. Choosing the right grooming tools, like a wide tooth comb and slicker brush, make a world of difference when you’re doing this every day. Avoid “deshedding” tools like the Furminatory; these may work well on single coat breeds, but they can damage a double coat and cause the issues mentioned before.
If you’re not confident in your grooming abilities, ask your groomer if you can schedule a time for them to walk you through what you should do daily. Most will be happy that you’re taking an interest in making their job easier, keeping your dog healthy and happy, and preventing the need for the dreaded shave down in the future.
