When the season gets hot and the first heat begin to grip the mind, dog owners naturally think: “Who knows how hot my furry dog will be with all that fur!” .
This thought usually follows the idea of shearing the dog to make it feel less hot … Nothing more wrong!
In the vast majority of dogs, instead of being of help, shearing the hair is a great damage that we cause to the animal, especially in summer. Let’s see together why.
HOW DOGS FEEL WARM AND HOW THEY DEFEND IT
Dogs don’t sweat like humans. Their sweat glands are found only on the tips of their paws and in their ears. This is because, Fr.To dissipate excess heat, dogs start panting to increase lung ventilation.
When we see a dog panting with his tongue out, he is therefore protecting himself from excess heat and shedding it.
But this is not the only protection of the animal against heat, and extreme temperatures in general. Another extremely important element that protects the dog from the heat is its coat! The animal’s coat acts as a natural insulator and at the same time as a thermal regulator against high temperatures. This is because between the two layers of fur (topcoat and undercoat) it forms an insulating air cushion, which allows this protection.
Nature has designed the animal to perfection, which self-regulates the amount of its coat and undercoat according to the season through moulting. This phase usually takes place in spring, when the undercoat of the coat thins naturally and then grows back thicker in autumn.
THIS IS WHY SHAPING YOUR DOG IS WRONG!
Therefore, we human beings intervene on the animal to shave its hair, it would compromise this important thermoregulatory function of the coat, already causing a first big damage in our four-legged friend (taking away its best protection).
Furthermore, as further damage, we will expose his extremely delicate skin to the sun’s rays, incurring safe and dangerous burns and burns , which in the dog are very dangerous.
Rather, if we want to be really helpful to him, let’s try to understand how to intervene during the summer to defend our animal from the heat. Eg how to fight the heat through feeding , and in general learn which are the right moves to put in place to defend the animals from the heat .
HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR DOG’S HAIR ALL YEAR ROUND AND DURING THE SUMMER
Our four-legged friend’s coat needs to be groomed and brushed constantly. In fact, the dog tends to lose dead hair throughout the year, and it is our care, by brushing it gently, to allow it to get rid more easily of this excess hair that the dog’s epidermis naturally drops.
During the winter, this action can be performed with a frequency of once or twice a week (also depending on the type of coat and coat of the dog) while in the summer , for almost all breeds, it will be important to brush the animal every day !
In this way we will allow our furry’s coat to form that famous insulating layer of air, which is so useful and important to protect it from both heat and cold.
In addition to this we must be very careful that no knots are formed in the mantle, which in addition to interrupting the thermoregulatory function at that point, make the animal more exposed to attack by parasites. Then lightly thin out the hair at the points where knots tend to form.
One last but important recommendation: if for the ordinary care of the hair we can also solve it independently, if there is some knot to comb and thin out, or our dog falls within one of those few breeds whose fur can be slightly trimmed in the summer because of continuous growth, we always recommend contact a professional groomer. Even better after consulting your veterinarian first, who will be able to tell you if your pet falls into one of those breeds that can be “trimmed” during the summer).
