taking care of your dog

Alaskan Malamute, American Eskimo, Bernese, Border Collie, Chow Chow, Collie, Golden Retriever, Keeshond, Pomeranian, Pyrenees, Samoyed, Sheltie

It is not a good idea of shave a these dog’s body to the length of his head.  Its coat can actually be ruined by shaving it down to the skin. In some cases, only the fuzzy undercoat will grow back, robbing the breed of its beautiful and protective topcoat.

If you brush your dog thoroughly once or twice a week, starting at the same point each time and doing what we call “line brushing” – holding a section of the coat in one hand and using your slicker brush to work the area from where the skin is visible downward – you will remove the packed undercoat that makes your pet suffer from the heat. Use this technique to systematically work your way around the dog, brushing only a small section at a time. You need not put a lot of force into the brushing. When your brush glides through the area you are working on, move on to the next section. Once you have finished, check your work with a comb to make sure you have not left any knots behind.

A dog does not need to be shaved down to be cool. If the coat is not packed with undercoat or matted, the hair “lofts” as the dog moves, cooling him to the skin.

If you find a long coat to be too much work, have your groomer do a “thin and trim,” to get rid of some length while still preserving the dog’s profile and his topcoat.