Thinning coat?

[Hagar]

Renny is 4 years old and is the picture of health. Last year I took a 2 week vacation in late July, and Renny was in a pet resort. He was overdue for a grooming, so I left instructions to groom him a day or so before my return. They clipped him very short, and I hardly recognized him when I picked him up.

It has taken almost a full year for his coat to return to normal with the help of a decent groomer. During last Winter, Renny was a lot more sensitive to the cold weather than in the past probably due to the lack of a full coat.

Now I'm noticing that he seems to be affected by the recent 90-95 degree heat more than in the past. I do shorten our walks when it's hot and make sure he has plenty of fresh water when we get home.

Now that the background is out of the way, I guess my question is, is there a way to thin his coat without clipping him close?

I have never stripped his coat since he is a pet/companion and not a show dog. I'm not sure I fully understand exactly what stripping is and what the benefit for the dog is even after reading a lot of posts here about stripping. Is stripping just another way of saying "thinning the coat", or should I do something else for warm weather? It's too late for this year as Fall is just around the corner, and I want him to have his full coat for the coming Winter, but should I plan to have him stripped in the Spring to help him deal with the warmer weather better?

Any suggestions appreciated.

[kjwarnold]

We have two Cairns and they each have different coats. Kirby has a nice coarse outer coat, but has virtually no undercoat. He gets hot very quickly in the summer and we keep a careful eye on him. Packy has a frizzy outer coat and a dense undercoat. Neither hot weather nor cold weather affect him at all. He can stay out for hours in either one. I think that dense undercoat provides a good source of insulation for him in any weather. Since Kirby doesn't have much undercoat, he doesn't have that and is affected more. At least, that's what we're assuming.

So my advice wouldn't be to thin out Renny's coat, but just keep it in good condition. You might want to invest in a Mars Coat King, which lets you do most of the grooming easily without clipping him. It pulls the dead hair (with just a little cutting of the coat) and keeps him in better condition than clipping. He won't be show quality, but he'll look good. If you think his undercoat is excessively thick, you could use a Furminator to thin it out a little.

I'm sure you'll get all kinds of answers soon.