1st summer w/out Ginger-Can we shave her ourselves?

[Gingers's mom]

Hello all-

We are still new at caring for our Ginger...had her for 6 months and we are still learning new things about are adorable little Ginger-roo. Like how she attacks the water from the hose as if it were a live snake...round and round she goes...too cute. and how she talks to us....not barking, but mumbling....Anyway- We live in Massachusetts and it was in the low 90's yesterday and today...I can not imagine how hot she must be w/all that hair. So- my question is CAN WE SHAVE HER W/electric hair trimmers? W/3 kids and a doggie, I find it hard to kick up $40 just to shave her. I am not trying to be cheap, but thought I could save that money and do it myself. I posted here a about 1 1/2 months ago when she was in heat and everyone was so helpful. So thank you in advance for any info you may be able to offer me, Oh, one more thing- does anyone else have a cairn that hates stairs? She would rather be carried than go up and down or stairs....just wondering,. oh, I attached a pic of our Ginger who stole an Easter Egg Easter morning...I just dont know how to put it in the message so it appears.,..sorry.

Thanks again-

Happy Memorial Day to all.

[bradl]

I may be alone in believing this, but I believe that the Cairn's double coat with its natural insulation is probably cooler for the dog than being shaved down. I believe it's been proven so in the arctic breeds but I'm only guessing it's also true for our little dogs too. Cairns do seem to add more undercoat in the winter and lose it in the spring, but shaving the outer coat wouldn't have much effect on undercoat. A good raking would probably do as much as anything to help shed any surplus undercoat.

[kjwarnold]

I wouldn't shave her. Like Brad, I don't know for a fact that their coat insulates them against heat and cold, but it seems like if it's true with other dogs, it would be true for Cairns. The other thing about shaving (and I did it with our first Cairn), is that they don't stay as clean and fresh smelling. Our first Cairn, Willie, got groomed and shaved in the summer and we had to bathe him much more frequently, and he still got hot. I use the Mars Coat King on Packy and brush him once in a while and he stays much cleaner, smells good and he doesn't really get all that hot. We live in Central Missouri and the summers get hot (90 - 100 degrees) and humid (90%). Geez, sometimes he actually chooses to lay in the sun on those hot days -- and he looks like he's enjoying it! So, in my experience, not shaving and just using the MCK works the best for us.