First of all, what is a double coated dog? Double coated, refers to the animals that, like Huskies, have two layers of fur. The first layer, or undercoat, are the fine, fluffy hairs that are short and closest to the skin. This is the fur that sheds, the light and soft fur. This layer is made to trap air and insulate the dog, so it essentially keeps them warm.
The second layer is the topcoat that is made up of the tougher guard hairs. These hairs don’t shed and protects your pet from the sun’s harmful rays and bug bites. The second layer actually does the opposite than the first layer and insulates them from the heat. Wondering what exactly this means? Let’s put straight up, do not shave your double coated dog.
You may think you’re helping your animal stay cool, particularly in summer, but evolution has provided them with exactly what they need to survive. You will be stripping them of their natural ability to heat and cool themselves. Essentially, you could be doing more harm than good.
A better way of putting this, dogs do not cool themselves through their skin like we do. They do now even sweat, only the pads of their paws do sweat. A dog’s main mode of cooling comes from panting.
Why would people shave their double coated dogs? A lot people shave their dogs, with the idea that the animal will stop shedding. They need to remember that dogs with undercoats shed, this is just a fact. Even after a shave, while the hair may be shorter, your dog will still shed.
