Hasn't blown coat yet...how to help with heat?

[dogcatharmony]

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?

[clm]

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

[satchelp]

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.

[SnowDancer]

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".

[dogcatharmony]

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.

[Elizabeth Ann]

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.

[clm]

Originally Posted by dogcatharmony

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