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Summer Mythbuster?

Does shaving a dog in summer make them cooler?

We often hear people say their dog will be shaved for the summer as he/she will feel a lot better. But do they? A dog loses body heat by evaporative cooling(to do with latent heat of water & calories of heat energy) from the respiratory tract by panting. They do not lose heat as sweat directly through the skin as humans & horses do. It would follow therefore that the length or density of the coat should make no difference to the dog’s comfort as regards comfort on hot days. We know the wool tip temperature of a sheep’s fleece out in the paddock on a hot day may be as high as 46 but only about 39 at the skin ie not far from the sheep’s normal body temperature. This is a different subject relating to the insulation efficiency of wool but shows how that species, along with heat loss by rapid respiration, can cope with high ambient temperatures despite their “woolly overcoats” 

We encourage dogs (& cats) to be clipped in summer for different reasons. Washing & drying (eg for fleas) is much easier, grass seeds much less likely to catch on the coat & in cats, knots are easier to control.