Dawn of a New Day

                               Hot dogs and Summer !

The hot and muggy days of summer are finally here and my golden retriever is not happy! I need to have him shaved for the summer. I mean, I peel off layers of my clothing for comfort, so I do the same for my best friend.

While this makes sense for us, it is not a good idea for our furry friends and can, in fact, be dangerous. While shaving a single-coat dog is acceptable and may provide some relief, shaving a double-coat dog will actually have the opposite effect and, in fact, may result in sunburns and even lead to skin cancer. Repeated exposure to sun rays stimulates Melanin production in human skin giving use a tanned complexion. Unfortunately, dog's skin cannot tan and Melanin production is used mainly for skin and hair coloration. A limited Melanin production (photo-blocking agent) combined with the shaving/clipping of the protective coats may be the perfect recipe for sunburns, skin cancer and heat exhaustion. The undercoat is the insulator and the topcoat/guard-coat acts as a light diffuser, breaking up the sun's rays as they bear down on the fur.

In addition, the topcoat prevents the undercoat from matting excessively. Clipping/shaving the topcoat can permantly compremise the quality of the re-growth of this layer of fur, while clipping/shaving the undercoat stimulates it's growth; leading to more shedding, to a reduced heat/UV-radiation protection and ultimately compromises the coat's quality in both appearance and health. A properly maintained double-coat dog should have a lustrous and free-floating top-coat without any appearance of bulk.

All of this brings us back to the question - what to do about the dogs as they face another heat wave ? One could have the belly area thinned out. This would allow the dog to find a cool surface to lie on and soak up the coolness without the risk of sun exposure, while ensuring that the rest fo their body still has its insulation coat and guard-coat. People of the deserts do not walkabout in T-shirts and shorts, they have layered clothing to protect them from the heat/UV-radiation and the cold.

A sensible solution to summer heat is a good de-shedding session by a professional groomer. Groomers can thin out the dense and often matted undercoat. They can execute a meticulous brush-out that will remove the old hairs from the guard-coat, while breaking the matted hairs, thinning and removing excessive undercoat hairs. All this, followed by a warm cleansing shower with a pressurized professionnal shampoo, a high velocity drying session executed by a trained technician and the groomer's final trims. A professionnal pet styling session that will transform any double-coat dog into a cool looking show dog.

We can ascertain that you will see a big difference, in quantity of shedding in your household and, best of all, your pet will feel cooler. A properly maintained double-coat dog will have an optimal heat/UV-radiation protection, a healthy & matt free undercoat and shinny topcoat. Finally, drying time after a cool summer swim will be greatly shorten while avoiding the onset of unpleasant odors and skin irritations (hot-spots) due to dense and often matted undercoat that can take days to dry out.

Here at Dawn of a New Day, we can't control the weather, but we can guarantee that our professional groomers will have your pet(s) looking and feeling good all summer long. We wish all pets lovers a safe summer !