I agree with you. I saw a chow shaved one time. I felt really bad for it. Makes absolutely no sense at all.

That is really counter-intuitive. I would think it'd make them stay cool getting rid of extra fur. Glad I keep kitties inside with the A/C and never done that. Spoiled babies.

Rob, that extra fur, keeps them cooler in hot weather.

had no clue, seems like it wouldn't. still glad I have never shaved kitties

With certain breeds of dogs with longer hair, if the owner doesn't comb them often and they get really matted, they have to be shaved by the groomer unless the owner wants to spend hours detangling.

Years ago we had a Chow Lab mix, Buffy, she showed up as a stray puppy. Why chows were so popular for awhile in Alabama was beyond me-they are a cold weather breed. Any way she shed 24/7 never shaved her. We brushed her every day & vacuumed every day. She absolutely loved the a/c vents & the winters. Now Great Pyrenees are getting popular here, why is beyond me.

pets can sunburn, right? i could see maybe a "summer" do for poodles or other dogs that kinda need regular hair cuts.

I would like to repost that photo. Could you provide the source?

I’ve never had the need to shave a pet so I never really thought about it. My first thought was like Robs, it would help them cool down so why not? Looks like Mother Nature is smarter than we thought.

We used to have labs. Labs shed like crazy. I could brush her and get a ton of hair off. Brush again in 5 minutes and get another ton.

I would take her to the groomer to have her shaved. Didn't shave her down to the skin, but she got a pretty close hair cut. She didn't suffer. And I didn't have the remnants of dog silhouettes left behind when she got up from where she was sleeping.

Graywings, our local pet store shared this on Facebook. You can just right click the picture, save image as, to your desktop and share it from there.

The Furminator comb gets to the undercoat and removes a lot of hair when brushing. Bud just loves it, Roxie not so much.

Our cats got ringworm once and they were shaved as part of their treatment. Apparently the ringworm resides inside the hairs. One cat acted like "You can shave my fur, but you can never remove my dignity" and acted like nothing was different or wrong.

I really dislike it when people meddle, anyhow. Everything is there for a reason.
That in particular is not overly common where I am though. More common is neglect.

Pets are shaved for a variety of reasons......not to just make a fashion statement. I wouldn't automatically condemn someone with a shaved down pet unless you know the reasons behind the close cut.

Their fur is just like insulation in your home...think of it that way. It doesn't matter if it's hot or cold outside, your home has to be insulated. The fur keeps them cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

In Houston where temps can hover in the high 90s for days on end, many people shave their hairy dogs. My neighbor used to shave a German Shepherd and he seemed so much more comfortable.

We used to keep one of our labs shaved (I’m talking 20+ years ago) during the summer because we thought we were doing good by her. Had I known better I sure would’ve done better, but it was the groomer at the vet’s office who shaved her!

We have our very hairy dog trimmed/shaved in summer. He seems to be more comfortable with the shorter hair. He is black and the sun can be too much. He is an indoor dog and only goes out for potty breaks when it is hot. Still not sure if he is a Pom or a smaller German Spitz. That type of dog came from colder regions and he loves cooler weather and snow.

I agree about not purposely getting a dog that doesn't acclimate as well to his environment. I found him on the side of the road where he was dumped and a warmer climate is the home I have to provide.

Shaving a pet for a reason....that is one thing. I hate to see them shaved to look like a lion or a dragon or something like that. I always think, is that all they have to do???

Do you all remember this saga that i posted about a couple of years ago?https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3845402/local-celebrity-dog-is-impounded?n=21

The latest update was from last summer. A judge ruled that Charlie would not be removed from Painters custody but Painter paid a $1000 fine and is on probation for 2 years. If he violates probation he'll do 6 months in jail. So far, so good. Charlie continues with his mascot duties.

I've had Cavalier King Charles Spaniels now for 34 years. I have never shaved or trimmed them. Their lovely coat is part of their beauty. I do have the hair between their toes trimmed - that is allowed in the show ring. And I have had a "sanitary cut" done on my two very heavily coated bitches - pantaloon fluffiness was causing sanitation problems.

My dog (now down to one) goes to the groomer for a wash/dry every other week. There are many other Cavaliers that go to that shop and mine is the only one that is not shaved down. She doesn't tangle except when shedding and then just behind her ears. I just keep her brush next to the chair where I sit to watch TV and where she often sits with me. It takes about 1 minute to keep her ears brushed.

I've never really understood why one buys a breed with a luxurious coat and then shaves it down. Why not just buy a shorthaired breed?

I get our dog, Chewie, shaved, not down to the skin but all that long hair gets everywhere constantly. It never seems to bother him, he mostly an inside dog and still prefers to sleep on the cold hard floor under the kitchen table instead of the dog bed.

We had an Afghan hound years ago and while I didn't shave her, I gave her a haircut in the summer. I have a Maine Coon who should be shaved on his back but I won't do it. He's matted and won't let me un-mat him.

I have my cat shaved a usually one to two times a year. He is bothered by his thick long fur and pulls it out in clumps. He has allergies and all the picking at his fur seems to compound the problem. He bites at his nipples until they are irritated trying to pull his fur out, shaving him seems to calm all that behavior down. Sometimes his allergies get so bad that he has to have a shot, which is not good for him. I use a variety of techniques to help his allergies. He hasn’t had a shot in a couple of years, due to my diligence. I hope he won’t have to have one again, the vet said the shots would shorten his life if he had too many of them.

We do not shave our American Eskimo either. He is a bear type Eskie with a lot of double-coated hair-like fur - with sensitive pink skin beneath it all.

The hair provides insulation against the cold/heat. The hair would not grow back in properly if he needed to be shaved for medical purposes - which is the only time we would do it.

He does get groomed and looks great according to his admirers on the street. Our groomer cleans him up but leaves him looking like an Eskie.

The shedding of course is wild. We used to have short-haired dogs and while they shed it was a different type of hair/fur. Of course we didn't think of the grooming issues when we got him and our car is black with a black interior! He is now 14, where did the time go?

Girlfriend's long-haired dog ends up looking like an owl when not trimmed for long periods, goes into the water to cool off on walks nearly throughout the year. After being made short-haired each summer it looks much better, is presumably more comfortable.

Trimming, of course, is not the same as shaving. Which is clearing hair away down to the skin.

No shaving for our dogs. My poor Husky Boy had to have his leg from his ankle to up on his hip shaved for surgery and he was not happy about living with it and it itched as it grew back in. It still isn't all back and surgery was Feb. 1st and looks a bit uneven. It will probably be mid summer before it is back to normal.

I have my dog's fur trimmed (not shaved) and he seems much more comfortable. He has black fur and always acted like he was never cool enough.

Regarding the thermal photo, IMO, one area of the body is warmer simply because the fur is gone and body heat is easily read by the thermal sensor. The area covered in fur is probably just as warm, except it has a layer of fur between the skin and the thermal sensor. The cooler area is the temp of the surface of the fur, not the actual skin/body temp, and notice the marker is on the thickest area of the fur. I have difficulty seeing how a full coat creates an overall cooler body temp.

I'm open to other explainations.......... :)