About Sharon Expertise I can answer most dog grooming questions that you have. I am experienced with many breeds and I have been grooming for 10 years.
Experience
Education/Credentials Dog Groomer for 10 years. Went through corporate training, and certified through them.
Expert: Sharon Date: 3/20/2008 Subject: What to use to cut my dogs hair
Question Hi. I have a medium size dog with long thick hair. She is an outside dog and gets so hot in the summer. Last year I decided to cut her hair. I tried my "people" clippers but the motor bogged down and just wouldn't do it. I borrowed a friend's clipper that is for dog trimming but it did the same thing. I ended up using scissors which made it look all choppy and funny. What should I use to give her a nice short hair cut? Someone suggested I buy myself some shears. What do you think?
Answer Hello Rhonda.
ok, so depending on the type of dog you have, these are my reccomendations. If your dogs hair is more like a say a shetland sheepdog (with lots of undercoat) I would not reccomend shaving the dog AT ALL! You run a huge risk of the hair not growing back properly. Also, the undercoat hair is used as protection from the sun, so that the sun is not directly on the skin, therefore if you shave it, it defeats the purpose of the hair cut. You run the risk of clipper burn, sun burn, and a very unhappy dog. What I would reccomend for a dog with a coat like this, is to make sure that you are brushing frequently to get all the loose undercoat that will make the dog warmer. You can shave the belly, so that if the dog has a cool cement pad to lay on, it will help control the body temperature.
If the dogs coat is more like that of a cocker spaniel, then I would reccomend shaving it, because the coat will grow back normal, and there is no loose undercoat in there to keep the dog too warm, just lots of hair! Also (im sure you are aware of this...but) make sure any dog has plenty of water in the summer and lots of shade.
If you do plan to shave your dog, I'll let you know that for clippers, you get what you pay for. Using a clipper that is $80 is not going to work on a dog with a thick coat. you need a 2 speed clipper, and the one that I would reccomend is the Andis Super 2-Speed AGC.
Here is a picture.. http://www.ryanspet.com/ryanspet/productList.asp?categoryCode=1008&startItemCnt=...
Those clippers have never let me down! Make sure you are doing proper blade maintenance and clipper care!
Good Luck to you, hopefully that helps you out!
