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Reasons to Skip the Summer Clip


bradl

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An interesting post from a blog of the Albert North Veterinary Clinic:  Shaving Your Dog's Coat — Should You or Shouldn't You?

 

 

 

 

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Bottom line?

The ideal situation: Keep the hair brushed, remove all the undercoat and allow the dog to remain with their natural ability to keep themselves cool and protected from the sun and some bug bites in the summer and warm and dry in the winter.

 

The logic in this post makes sense to me and is consistent with my own observations of Cairns as double-coated dogs. Nature tends to shed the undercoat in hot weather anyway, and helping it along a bit seems far more effective than mowing down the protective harsh outer coat. 

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CRCTC: Columbia River Cairn Terrier Club 

 

 

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Agree completely. I've had double coated dogs of several breeds including Angus. They have all shed most or all of their undercoat in the summer. Lets air get to the skin and as you point out outer coat remains to protect against weather and bugs.

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Agree! We groomed and clipped our first Cairn but now I strip Packy and Kirby myself. I'm not saying I do it well, but I think their coats are in better condition, they look more like a natural Cairn, they stay MUCH cleaner and I think they tolerate the change in weather conditions much better. That undercoat sure helps insulate them from hot weather and cold weather. Why else could Packy lay in the hot sun on burning concrete and smile at me in pure bliss? And in winter, play outside in the freezing cold as long as I'll take him out?

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Jandy and my Cairns, Kirby & Phinney 
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  • 1 month later...

This is great information. My Mother has a Cairn and this year she shaved him and frankly I knew it was a mistake. I could look in Tigers eyes and tell he was not happy. He had a great coat this past winter and it is slowly coming back. Tiger is 8 years old and I don't think he has been groomed correctly his whole life. My Mother can no longer care for Tiger and I will gladly take on the responsibility and want to groom him correctly.

Will his coat grow back full? Will I be able to start hand stripping him or am I starting too late in his life? What tools do you recommend.

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@dcmay3 Welcome to the forum.  To answer your question the fur should grow back fine, but it will take a long time. I rescued one about that age April 1, 2013 and her fur is finally long enough to strip. Now if I can do it with out getting bit is another question.

 It is never to late to groom a Cairn properly. You will laugh but, the only tools I use are rubber gloves the tight ones like are used by doctors, they help to grip the fur. I also use a pumice stone in areas that are not as sensitive and I can pull several strands at one time. When using the tools like the pumice stone or stripping knives be careful not to cause the curly ribbon effect. Good luck and have fun.

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Most likely his coat will grow back fine. It may take an extra cycle since the clipped coat may be dead at the base. It's possible he might sort of grow out a dead coat which can then also be pulled out, after which a very nice coat will likely reemerge. This could take a while.

Eight is not too late, particularly if you use an easygoing mix of finger plucking and something like a Mars Coat King or Andis deshedding rake. (There are photos of both in assorted topics).

The tools I mostly use are a metal greyhound comb, a pin brush, a slicker brush, a coat king (16), thinning shears, blunt-tip scissors for feet and delicate areas, and finger cots to improve grip when plucking. And something for nail trimming: I use a Dremel Stylus but some do fine with clippers or even a file. (The thinning shears are probably not all that necessary but I like the way they soften trim lines.)

For our girl with the terrible soft coat or geriatrics I go ahead and use clippers. But we try to keep a shaped coat and not a buzz-cut :P

Edit: or what Lynn said. I type slow on an ipad :lol:

CAIRNTALK: Questions? Need help? → Support Forum Please do not use PMs for tech support
CRCTC: Columbia River Cairn Terrier Club 

 

 

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