Dog grooming question?

I have two labs, yellow and chocolate. The yellow has a beautiful coat, super soft and he stays nice and clean. The chocolate though has this super thick coat. DH gave her a bath last night and the undercoat is shedding all over. I brushed her for awhile this morning and got a bagful of hair off her- you would never even know it! So I called a local groomer to see if they can give her a good brushing and she suggested buzzing her for the summer. DH thinks she is going to be embarrased if we shave her I think that is ridiculous and she will be nice and cool for the summer!! So has anyone ever have their lab (or other short-haired dog) buzzed? What do they look like buzzed? I can't even picture it!

Re: Dog grooming question?

I saw two yellow labs in a place I used to go for doggie day care that were shaved. I only noticed because they looked like they had dark patches on their backs. I was told that their owner was a breeder of show dogs, and that's why they did it.

I've since asked my vet and people who are professional show dog handlers and they all say phooey.

My vet explained that Labs have a double coat and when you mess around with the undercoat, it affects their skin and the way they cool themselves. They run the risk of sunburn, sun stroke, etc.

From reading multiple sources, we have two grooming techniques that work for us. We use an undercoat rake (Furminator) very gently and only once a month since it can scratch skin and give the fur split ends.

Once a week we use the Zoom Groom which is just a rubber hand thing with soft plastic spikes on it. Doesn't look like much. But it does a pretty great job.

We never bathe him. At most, we hose him down if he's been at the beach, in mud, etc. Ours is just finishing blowing his coat and I've noticed a big difference in the past few weeks with the shedding.

Also, we give him fish oil and vitamin e supplements for better skin & coat.

Hope this helps!

Re: Dog grooming question?

Posted by greenfreak

I saw two yellow labs in a place I used to go for doggie day care that were shaved. I only noticed because they looked like they had dark patches on their backs. I was told that their owner was a breeder of show dogs, and that's why they did it.

I've since asked my vet and people who are professional show dog handlers and they all say phooey.

My vet explained that Labs have a double coat and when you mess around with the undercoat, it affects their skin and the way they cool themselves. They run the risk of sunburn, sun stroke, etc.

From reading multiple sources, we have two grooming techniques that work for us. We use an undercoat rake (Furminator) very gently and only once a month since it can scratch skin and give the fur split ends.

Once a week we use the Zoom Groom which is just a rubber hand thing with soft plastic spikes on it. Doesn't look like much. But it does a pretty great job.

We never bathe him. At most, we hose him down if he's been at the beach, in mud, etc. Ours is just finishing blowing his coat and I've noticed a big difference in the past few weeks with the shedding.

Also, we give him fish oil and vitamin e supplements for better skin & coat.

Hope this helps!

Re: Dog grooming question?

I would NOT shave your labs.

Re: Dog grooming question?

do NOT do it! i used to be a groomer and i never recommended shaving a lab! it's not good for their skin and fur and it just looks terrible. I recommend getting this thing called a "zoom broom" made by kong. it's like 8 bucks at any pet store. it seriously works wonders. certain types of hair, it works 100 times better than the furminator treatment! that's another option (the furminator) but i would go with the zoom broom first. do it before you bathe the dog and after! you'll get alot more hair out that way.

Re: Dog grooming question?

Have you ever tried Furminator? It helps with shedding. My dog buddy sheds like theres no tomorrow but we wash him and leave the shampoo on and repeat and it helps so much with the shedding.