In Ghana and most parts of Africa where we are used to high temperatures, most pet owners and groomers have developed a dangerous habit of constantly shaving down the hair or coat of their dogs. Most Pet parents who do this believe, more hair makes their dogs feel hot thus by shaving the hair, it helps lowers dog’s temperatures. Proponents of this school of thought think that just like humans, dogs sweat through their skin but they sweat through their paws thus, a dog can still have high temperature even when you shave it down completely. There is enough evidence to suggest that shaving your dog does more harm than good and unless there is serious health risk such as 2 thirds of the dog hair is matted, it is always advisable not to shave the dog.
The general rule when it comes to dog hair or coat is that, breeds with naturally more hair or double coated breeds have more fragile skin thus the need for more hair to protect the skin, the reverse is also true of short coated breeds.
The following are reasons why you should not develop the habit of shaving your dogs often.
The Epidermis layer of your dog skin contains a cell called Langerhans-Langerhans is an immune response cell which protect your dog’s skin against virus and other bacteria infections. Langerhans also fights off injuries like cuts and scrapes that may accidently arise. However Langerhans are destroyed by sun rays and by cutting off your dog hair, below an inch or or half an inch, the epidermal layer of your dog skin is exposed killing the Langerhans cells.
At the appendage of the epidermis is the sebaceous gland. The sebaceous gland produces sebum, an oily substance which acts as a skin lubricant. This gland is stimulated to produce sebum by regular brushing and the oil acts as a waterproof for both the hair and skin keeping it well nourished while acting as a sheen for your dog coat against any harsh weather condition thus reducing dryness of coat and skin. A dry coat or skin is more prone to injuries. When you cut the dog hair, it prevents the secretion of sebum as this gland is stimulated by regular brushing
The dog skin is the biggest organ and the hair protect it against chemicals and any harsh external environmental factors while also helping pet parent known the emotional state of dogs (a dog hair enables owner know if the dog is afraid or want to bite or defend itself). When hair is cut, pet parent fails to see these signals dogs give us when they are exposed to any uncomfortable situation.
Dogs have arrector pili muscle responsible for lifting the hair of the dog either up or down. For instance, when a dog , feels warm, this muscle will cause the hair to be lifted up to enable air to pass through the skin and when cold, the hair is made to lye flat to keep the dog warm by the help of the arrector pili muscle. When a dog is shaved, it loses this ability to regulate the body’s temperature.
Your dog hair goes through phases of growth namely anagen, catogen and telogen. Anagen is the phase where the dog hair grows, catogen is when the hair growth stops and follicle shortens and the telogen is the resting phase where the hair sits in the follicle before shedding and the process is repeated again. When you develop the habit of cutting your dog hair often, you disturb the cycle of hair growth and can have a condition called post clipping alopecia. This condition does more harm to the dog by either changing the texture of the hair or in some cases permanently damaging the hair especially in heavily matted dogs that were shaved.
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Your dog’s skin and coat can be kept healthy and clean through regularly brushing and grooming with good shampoos and conditioners. Pet Parent and groomers have a responsibility of keeping dogs healthy by taking the necessary steps that will prevent shave downs.
As groomers, we have a greater duty of care to educate pet parents about the role of dog’s hair in protecting the skin and we must execute this with maximum professionalism with the sole objective of preserving the health of the dogs in our care.
Chief Associate, Adanfopa Grooming Services