Can I shave my dog to stop shedding? The answer is NO! Most dog owners believe that shaving their pet can help to stop shedding. However, shaving can cause irreparable damage to your dog’s coat even making it more uncomfortable. Shaving comes with numerous risks hence it is not necessary for your dog’s comfort and health. Some dog breeds such as those with double coats should never be shaved as this procedure may damage their intricately balanced coats besides causing painful bumps or lesions. It is actually a misconception that shaving your dog can stop shedding. While your dog may seem to be shed-free soon after shaving, the dog will later start shedding hair again this time making it even messier since the shed hair is shorter. This makes even cleaning your carpets and upholstery more tedious and difficult.
What are Some Alternatives to Shaving Your Pet?
Shaving your dog is completely unnecessary as it can do more harm than good. Some alternatives to shaving that will help your dog stop or minimize shedding include:
- Regular grooming
- Giving your dog regular baths
- Feeding your dog with higher quality food
- Ensuring the dog drinks enough water regularly
- Using supplements such as omega 3 fatty acids
The overall health of your dog is a major factor that determines how much hair your dog sheds. Keeping your dog well-groomed and healthy can help reduce shedding or stop it altogether. Avoid cheap dog food that is mostly made of fillers that your dog cannot be able to digest such as grains and corn. Instead, go for dog food whose main ingredient is meat. Most of these foods contain healthy nutrients that are easier to digest and absorb.
Pros and Cons of Shaving a Dog
A quick coat trim improves your dogs appearance and also makes it more comfortable but ensure that you only trim the longer and uneven parts of the dog’s coat. Trimming minimizes bulk but avoid removing too much length. Trimming also prevents warm weather parasites such as ticks and fleas from attacking your dog thus making him happier and healthier.
Shaving has its own demerits as the dog’s skin is very sensitive and it often relies on fur coat to block dangerous UV radiation that may cause sunburns. Dogs that are exposed to sunburns are at a higher risk of developing skin cancer among other skin problems. Shaving clippers too can injure your dog causing severe cuts. If your pet is prone to skin conditions such as sensitivity and dryness, shaving will only cause more problems.
The two layers of a double-coated dog do not grow at the same rate. The undercoat is more dense and softer while the guard layer is coarse and long hence shaving off both layers together can damage your dog’s coat permanently. This means that your dog will not get adequate protection and insulation and the coat will also grow back unevenly giving the dog an unkempt and ragged coat texture that is difficult to groom.
This is why it doesn’t help to shave your dog. In fact, shaving is not recommended and is probably a mistake that you might regret later.
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