Shave Offs & “Coat Funk” Information
Generally, fur can be divided into two groups: Hair Bearing and Fur Bearing
Hair bearing breeds include dogs like the Poodle, Shih Tzu, Lhasa Apso and Yorkshire Terrier, who all need to have their coat cut on a regular basis. These breeds CAN be shaved.
Fur bearing or double coated dogs, include breeds such as the Alaskan Malamute, Keeshon, Siberian Husky, Samoyed, Pomerania, Chow Chow, Labrador and Golden Retriever. These coats grow to one length, and they remain that length. Typically, these breeds will shed much more than hair-bearing breeds. Fur-bearing breeds should NOT be shaved unless there is a medical reason for doing so.
Coat Types
Why should you not shave fur-bearing breeds?
There are a range of skin conditions which fall under the umbrella term “coat funk” which are either caused or triggered by a shave down of the coat. These include:
• The black skin disease
• Alopecia X
• Sebaceous Adenitis
• Post shaving or post clipping alopecia
. Spitz breeds seem to be of particularly high risk of one or multiple of these conditions developing after a coat shave down.
. Whilst some of these conditions are not terribly common, I feel that it is important to thoroughly explain to owners why it is in the best interests of your pet, and therefore it is my policy not to clip these breeds as part of their standard groom.
Coat funk causes the guard coat of affected pets to become dry and brittle, eventually breaking and falling out. (Or, even after it is shaved off, it may not grow back!) The exposed woolly undercoat can then become dry and matted, and may even potentially fall out, which leaves the skin bare in places. Skin which is left exposed for a prolonged period of time can turn black, although this usually does not seem to irritate the pet. Unfortunately, no one is able to tell which pets are likely to be affected by coat funk.
What happens with coat funk?
But my pet seems hot - won’t shaving help them?
Pets who are fur-bearing or double coated will shed their woolly undercoat in order to cope with the heat. It is much better that they reduce the amount of exercise they do whilst in the midst of a hot period, rather than clipping their coat which has specifically adapted to assist in their temperature regulation!
When do we HAVE to shave a pet? “Shave Downs”
Unfortunately, groomers do sometimes have no choice but to “shave down” a pet, regardless of their coat type. This is only when the pet has significant matting which would take longer than 20 minutes to remove through brushing. The marker of 20 minutes is because I work in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which states that this as the maximum amount of time that a pet should be subject to the dematting process. This is because dematting is painful for the pet, and putting them through this procedure for longer than 20 minutes is therefore classed as undue pain and suffering, when we can instead simply shave off their coat.
Small areas of matting (around the size of a 50p coin) are usually manageable without requiring a shave down, and these are commonly found in areas like the armpits or behind ears, and sometimes in the groin area. Anything larger than this will require shaving.
A “shave down” means that I use my clippers to take your pet’s coat short, removing all matts and essentially giving them a fresh start when it comes to making sure their coat does not matt up again. I am more than happy to provide advice on a good grooming routine that you can practice with your pet at home to help ensure they remain matt-free.
As already mentioned, the dematting procedure can be painful for pets because the matts are often tight to the skin, which means they often pull it tightly. A frequent result of pain, is a pet becoming aggressive. If your pet does become too distressed or aggressive for me to fully complete the dematting or shave down procedure, I will stop work and suggest that you take them to their veterinary practice as they may require sedation to complete the shaving as quickly and safely as possible, whilst also reducing their stress and discomfort.
There are some potential problems that come with shaving off a pet’s coat, which include:
Loss of hair growth
Bald patches
Sunburn
Clipper burn
Coat re-growth in a different direction
Hyper pigmentation of the skin (the skin darkens where the coat has not grown back)
“Coat funk” which is explained above