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Old June 9th, 2008, 07:29 PM
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Hasn't blown coat yet...how to help with heat?

What a messed up year this has been weather wise, it was snowing up here two weeks ago and now it is so hot and humid.

Now Zoe (elkhound/chow mix) hasn't had her normal seasonal blowning of the coat and she is so so hot. She is absolutely miserable and really doesn't want to do much. Even on our daily walks she wants to come home early and try and find a cool place to lay. This is the first year she hasn't had a "spring blow", normally by now she has her nice summer coat and I would still be combating the lingering hair bunnies, but she is still a big puff ball of hair....and oh so cranky.

She is still eating and drinking.....but she paces all night looking for cool spots to lay and during the day she is a blob(and a miserable one at that). I try to keep her outside at night as long as I can........have to keep an eagle eye out for the skunks....but I can't stay up all night and there is no way I am leaving her outside unattended all night long.

She is not a water dog......I have a kiddie pool but she only puts her feet in for a few seconds and then she is done. Is there anything else I can be doing until her body finally figures out that it is time to shed the winter coat?
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Old June 9th, 2008, 09:17 PM
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You could try using a rake to get out as much of her undercoat as you can. Other than that, all you can do is let her keep as still and quiet as she wants and let her have lots of water.

Cindy
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Old June 9th, 2008, 11:08 PM
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Get a fan and put it on the floor where she usually hangs out. My oldest dog is double-coated, and it's fairly long, but the fan makes a huge difference in his comfort level. I ended up putting a few around the house and on hot days he hangs out in front of one a lot of the time. A cool bed would also help if she would use it.
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Old June 10th, 2008, 10:11 AM
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My 4 year old American Eskimo has never blown his coat in the true sense of the word (I have researched this on the specific Eskie board and have seen the bags of Eskie fur and the nearly naked dogs after a blow). Sure we have the normal tumbleweeds and all of my black clothes look like tweed, but other than that - zip. As a result of this, I do have to get him groomed more than I normally would (I am not someone good with dog grooming tools - heck I can't even use a hair dryer on myself properly) - and with the claws of death - and being a white dog who loves mud, in he goes. The groomer always has to get out a lot of mats - actually mats that I can't even see or feel. I do my best around his ears and he does love to be combed by me (my husband brushes too hard), but even then the "underneath" mats sure build up. I would just keep his exposure to heat to a minimum - my guy loves tile floors - and while he LOVES water, he isn't getting a little pool because I would have one constantly wet dog. I hate walking by someone with a hose as he wants to be "hosed".
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Old June 10th, 2008, 01:19 PM
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Thanks for the replies.

Now to try and show her that the fan is a good thing. I went an bought a floor fan....my entire house is filled with ceiling fans but they really do diddly squat for keeping anything cool. She is hiding from the new fan and giving it the intruder eyeballs.......I have got it sort of pointing in a corner so the air circulates around the floor.

I have been running the comb through her but nothing....not one hair is letting go. Hubby and I are arguing over giving her baths, he seems to think that it will keep her cool and possibly start her to shed, and I seem to think we would just be making her more miserable (seeing she doesn't like being wet, plus all the licking she would do to dry herself off). Would multiple baths give her dry skin under all that fur??

Also I had one friend tell me to try the furminator. I have heard not to use it on double coated dogs because it ruins the undercoat because it cuts.....then I have heard that it doesn' cut the hair just pulls it out

Last night I swear you could see the heatwaves coming off the top of her head. I took an ice pack and rubbed her feet, belly, ears and snout with it. She just laid there and panted and grumbled....poor miserable girl.
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Old June 10th, 2008, 03:28 PM
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Do you have a wire crate with one of those bottom pans?

Back in the day when my dad was showing dogs (outside in the summer) he would put ice at the bottom of the crate, then take the bottom pan and turn it upside down, then put a thicker towel down and the dogs (Old English Sheepdogs) would love it. Just make sure the towel or what even you use doesn't move around. You don't want your puppy laying right on the cold metal.
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Old June 10th, 2008, 04:22 PM
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ohhh thanks for the awesome idea Elizabeth Ann.....I do have a wire crate....don't know if she would use it but it is worth a try. When she was small I was trying to crate train her but the cats terrorized her in the crate..one cat on each side smacking puppy so I ditched the crate. I could always use the metal pan and make ice and then just put a towel over it.....now to see how much ice I can jamb in my freezer.

i was watching the weather channel and hope is on the way......I see the thunder clouds building up and it is suppost to go down to 9 degress celcius this evening. Hopefully her system will kick into summer gear and get that darn hair out. I will keep watching for that used sheep skin blanket look she gets just before the blow starts and then start combing like mad.

This is the first summer in four years that she hasn't had a spring/summer blow.......so awful watching her pant and pace. Hopefully she will get a good restful sleep tonight when it cools down.
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Old June 10th, 2008, 06:32 PM
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we just had our AC die... outside its been 38.9, inside no lower than 27.8. while Mister IS blowing his coat now and he DOES like water, to meet a middle ground (instead of raising the humidity in the house any mor ethan we have to) we started misting his groin area. we have also been freezing 2 liter bottles and wrapping them in bath towels to help him cool down. i stick them in his kennel and put him in there for about a half hour at a time. by then he comes out so i can make sure he gets enough water through out the day.

good luck with it!!

-ash
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Old June 10th, 2008, 09:26 PM
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Hasn't

If she isn't shedding yet don't give her a bath as the inner coat will mat and you'll have a hell of a time getting the knots out. The density of her coat will hold the water and soap (like a sheep's wool), she'll be wet for days and that will irritate her skin. Have seen lots of cuts and bald spots with the furminator and some dog's hair hasn't grown back.
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Old June 10th, 2008, 09:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dogcatharmony View Post
Thanks for the replies.


I have been running the comb through her but nothing....not one hair is letting go. Hubby and I are arguing over giving her baths, he seems to think that it will keep her cool and possibly start her to shed, and I seem to think we would just be making her more miserable (seeing she doesn't like being wet, plus all the licking she would do to dry herself off). Would multiple baths give her dry skin under all that fur??

Also I had one friend tell me to try the furminator. I have heard not to use it on double coated dogs because it ruins the undercoat because it cuts.....then I have heard that it doesn' cut the hair just pulls it out

Last night I swear you could see the heatwaves coming off the top of her head. I took an ice pack and rubbed her feet, belly, ears and snout with it. She just laid there and panted and grumbled....poor miserable girl.
A comb isn't going to work well on a double coat. You'll need to get a rake. You're right about the furminator, shouldn't be used on double coated dogs.
Even after my dogs blow their coats you can see heatwaves coming off them. I don't think multiple baths is the answer either, cold water in a pool if she likes to wade around, but no shampoo, it will dry out her skin if you use shampoo that often.
Ours don't like to swim, that heavy coat makes it hard for them I guess, but Bentley loves to wade around in shallow water, so I got one of those shallow storage containers, the kind that you can roll under a bed, it's only 4 or 5 inches deep. Fill it about 3/4 full of cold water every day and Bentley splashes around in it.
Poor thing, she may never really blow her coat. Some of our dogs have every year. Some only every 2 years. We use the rake on them every week winter or summer though to help remove loose bits of that thick undercoat.
It's cooled off here finally, the boys are out with hubby right now enjoying the fresher air. They won't be truly happy until the temps get back down in the single digits again though.

Cindy
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Old June 11th, 2008, 07:15 AM
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I wouldn't use a furminator either. I agree with rake although I do have a metal comb with 2 ends - one having much wider teeth that I bought from groomer. A few people on Eskie board use this comb as well, but the Eskie fur isn't as dense as your pups - or as Cindy's Keeshonds. The Keeshond is also a Spitz but while their colouring is something I so envy, my Eskie's Persian cat fur is easier to care for - but does mat up something awful in the undercoat - especially when he gets wet. Any chance there is a good groomer in your area that could clean up your pup and help him "blow"? This is how I ended up having to do it, since my guy wasn't losing anything except of course on my black clothes. Fortunately, my Eskie's groomer is very good and knows how to groom a double-coated dog so that double coat is still with him. I have seen some very sad things in the open grooming area of a certain large pet store - dogs having by that neck rope while being shaved to the skin - including under the armpits. Not about to happen to my guy. I know they make belly ropes to hold the dogs which would make me feel better because Eskies are jumpers. El's groomer doesn't use the "nooses" to groom.
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Old June 11th, 2008, 07:38 AM
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Nell, our collie has a really thick winter undercoat.I used a long rake to take out some coat and get out any tangles,then used a blower on dry coat to get out more after that washed her using a a rubber curry comb to work in shampoo and loosen more coat after that blower again to dry.Most of the dead coat was out and a week of regular grooming with rake and pin brush solved problem.
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Old June 11th, 2008, 04:14 PM
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Thanks again for the replies.

It got really really cool last night.....so cool my heat kicked on and the themostat is set at 57. She slept like a log....actually she is still sleeping right now. She ate like a little piggy last night too.

Right now I use a rake and a static brush on her, but in between blows she doesn't shed a hair. I have never seen her hair mat up, but like I said she isn't a water dog and she only gets bathed once maybe twice a year if something stinky is involved....I would absolutely not want to deal with mats. The first year she only blew coat once in the spring.....surprised the heck out of me when she started blowing coat the next year at the beginning of winter. I got so worried she would freeze because when it snows you cannot get her to come inside. Since then it has been a twice a year thing until now......guess her body is a bit behind. Even her winter blow was late, it started in mid January and we had such a cold spring.

I just worry, I know how miserable I get when it is that hot. I really could not imagine having a thick winter fur coat on when it is so hot and humid....just watching her made me uncomfortable.

As for groomers, I use to work at a groomers.....I quit a few years ago because the groomer I was employed with was a nasty man. He use to tighten those neck harnesses so tight on some difficult dogs that their front feet wouldn't even touch the table, then pull so hard on the matted fur the poor dog's would scream. Totally disgusting.....he is no longer in business.

Didn't really see any double coated dogs come into there. Lots of the dogs that need regular grooming and hair cuts like poodles and terriers, many many shih tzus and maltese. The biggest dog I ever worked on was a Standard Poodle.....oh my didn't know they made them that big. This is really my first hands on experience with a double coated dog.
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Old June 11th, 2008, 11:02 PM
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Our first kees had a bare belly, not typical of the breed, but he had thyroid issues. It helped to keep him cooler. He would lie on top of the cold tile floor or on top of the air conditioning vent and be quite happy. The last 3 kees however are and Yogi was super wooly all over including their bellies. We have air conditioning so they do sleep on top of the vents, but the vet did suggest to us when we had Baxter and Bentley in last week for their heartworm tests, that shaving their bellies for the summer would help them to keep cooler. We opted not to do that, but it might be something for you to consider as well.

Cindy
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Old June 14th, 2008, 01:05 PM
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Excuse my ignorance about double coats. But why not just take her to the groomer and have her shaved? Or go buy a $12 trimmer at Walmart and do it yourself.

My friend has his longhaired Lab shaved every spring. True the dog does look pretty strange with almost no hair. But for a few weeks afterwards that is one Happy dog
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Old June 14th, 2008, 07:59 PM
t.pettet t.pettet is offline
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Hasn't blown

The worst thing you can do to a double-coated breed is shave it. Without the outer coat the dog would over-heat, get sun burn and the coat would grown in twice as thick with a very coarse texture. Labs are not double coated so although cosmetically unappealing shaving is often favoured especially if dog isn't brushed regularly enough.
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Old June 15th, 2008, 02:00 AM
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Excuse my ignorance about double coats. But why not just take her to the groomer and have her shaved? Or go buy a $12 trimmer at Walmart and do it yourself.

My friend has his longhaired Lab shaved every spring. True the dog does look pretty strange with almost no hair. But for a few weeks afterwards that is one Happy dog
t.pettet is right the Lab is not a double coated breed but you may still end up with the coat not growing back in properly and if not shaved properly ie if done too close, they can have razor burn, hot spots & hematomas

The double coats on all northern breeds protect & insulate them from not only the cold but also from the heat. The coat won't grow back in properly if shaved, and will cause them to shed more the next fall when they blow their coat.

Quote:
From http://www.preciouspawsgrooming.com/...oatedDogs.aspx
Shaving Double-Coated Dogs
Please read and beware of the following:
- Double coats act as insulation from heat as well as cold and without them they are defenseless against the weather.

- Once a double-coated dog has been shaved down, they may require continuous shaving because once the coat comes back in, it may be even thicker than before.

- Dogs that have been shaved down can easily get sun-burned.

- The double coat protects against biting flies and mosquitoes.

- Some dogs get a complex after having their coat taken off.

- The coat sometimes does not grow back in properly, have it's original texture, length or colour, leaving areas of bald spots on the dog with sparse coarse hair covering them.

- Most dogs look "ugly" shaved down (since that is not their natural look).

- Not being used to being "naked", the dog sometimes continue to scratch just as hard as when they had their coat. Then they irritate the already freshly clipped skin, creating hot spots and ear hematomas.
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Old June 16th, 2008, 12:46 PM
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It seems to depend which breed standard you read as to whether Labs are double coated. The CKC says nothing about it. The AKC says they have an undercoat and the UKC says they are double coated. http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/la...abarticle6.htm
My Lab's breeder is enthusiastic about the furminator but I'm reading this thread in hopes of learning more about them before I shell out big bucks. The idea of cutting does scare me off.
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