Why you shouldn't shave your Husky

[Arooroomom]

Was hoping we could pin this either in General Health or Husky Questions...

When Odin came to live with us he was shaved down from the back of his ears until his tail. Whomever shaved him left about 8 inches of fur on his tail. Other than that, he was totally shaved. We live in a very warm climate in South Florida. The summers can peak just over 100F and humidity at 90-100% the winters here can drop as low as 35F. It is a common misconceptionthat double coated dogs (such as the Siberian Husky) will be very hot and uncomfortable with their fur left the way it's intended as opposed to shaving them down. This isn't true.

As much as it may be a difficult concept to grasp, all that fur that will keep them warm in the winter will ALSO keep them cooler in thesummer. Odin is my 4^th Husky. I have never once thought of shaving the ones prior to him (I'll be honest, mostly for cosmetic reasons) and when I heard that the coat keeps them cool as well as warm, I half believed it. It didn't matter because it's not like I was going to strip my gorgeous dogs of their beautiful fur. When I got Odin it was in October. For most places, that's when the temperatures are beginning to fall. It was probably 85-90F the day he came home. It was hot.

My other 3 had no issue running around playing at the park. We go in the later evening (from around 4/5 pm to 6/7pm) when the sun isn't beating down. We have our water with us and they've all been able to adjust. Odin ran and played for about 5 mintues and then seeked shade underneath a tree and panted for the remainder of our time. How can my fully coated Huskies stand the heat while the shaved one can't take more than 5 minutes?

When the temperatures began to dip (we're talking 60's) my other Huskies would LOVE being outside even more than usual. They would take off out the back door and wouldn't stop running and playing for sometimes 3-4 hours! Where was Odin? SCREAMING at the back door to come in after being outside only 5-10 minutes. He couldn't handle being outside when thetemperatures hit below 70F.

On top of him being unable to take the heat (or the even remotely cold,) his skin was a mess. A normal Huskies skin is very pale and lacks pigmentation. His was black, as if it was burned by the sun. It was dark and unhealthy with some parts being extremely dry. In the beginning I would brush him and along with loose hairs I would always have a brush full of dander, which is a common alergen for people. Although my other Huskies didn'thave this dander, why did he?

A lot of people will often state that they just can't take all the hair. Well, number one Why would you get a dog like a Siberian Husky and not expect hair? And secondly I can't even begin to tell you how much MORE he sheds than my others! When you shave a double coated breed it disrupts theshedding patten for the worse! From day one we began a daily brushing regimine.The amount of fur that came off of Odin daily was INCREDIBLE! And still to thisday, he sheds an attroucious amount! I can't even understand how people think it's better for them (shedding wise) to shave them.

And just some other things that I've noticed about Odin that I don't notice with the others: He gets dirtier faster. I think it's because he doesn't have the guard hairs and top coat which will let dirt and other ickyness just brush off. The undercoat seems to just grab all the grossness and holds it in. He also takes forever to dry. The other Huskies can jump in the pool, shake, and within 10 minutes they're nearly dry. Odin will sit for at least an hour or 2 and his fur is still soaking. The undercoat doesn't allow the water to shake off like the top coat and guard hairs do. His coat gets alot hotter when we're outside. The other Huskies (even the ones with the darker black coats) don't feel even nearly as hot when you touch them. When I touch Odins coat his fur is so hot it practicaly hurts. I think that also has a lot to do with lacking top coat and guard hairs.

Deshedding your Siberian:

Prior to bathing give a good raking with an undercoat rake, brush out well, and then rake again.

Bathe the dog in warm water. You can use a curry comb in the tub on a wet soapy dog to rid more excess fur.

After the bath preferably blow dry with a HV drier or towel dry. Again rake, brush, rake, brush until the majority of loose fur is removed.

Please do not use a furminator.

If you live in a warm climate and are concerned about your Huskies wellbeing please take these tips and use them.

-Provide access to cold water while outside. (Mine LOVEice!)

-If you don't have a pool, invest in a plastic kiddie pool and introduce it's function to your dog. If you have a pool, teach your dog to swim. This may take some time for them to become comfortable with the pool but it IS worth it.

-In the summer time be sure to be brushing your Husky daily.This will help assist them in letting go of a lot of unneeded and dead undercoat. Most will also be shedding more during the summer. Do NOT use afurminator daily (or preferably at all.)

-Schedule longer walks in the early mornings or late evenings. We try to go to the dog park later in the evening.

-When your dogs are outside either in the yard or at a park, try to routiunely douse them in water. Be sure to get around their neck and underneath them.

Generally speaking, most Huskies who are in warmer climates will become less active during the summer. Mine enjoy spending summer days lounging inside on the tile floor with the AC on

If you HAVE a shaved Husky...

- Try to avoid bringing the dog outside when there is direct sunlight. This can really hurt their skin as well as make things extremely uncomfortable. During the first few weeks (until he got a somewhat good covering of fuzz) Odin wore a T-Shirt outside.

-Put your Husky on a good diet. For best results research and begin a raw diet. I feed all my dogs raw and it's been the best and healthiest way to help regrow a coat.

-Supplement the diet with Omega-3 fish oil as well as vitamin E. I put Odin on a "therapeutic" dosage which is 200mg EPA/DHA per 10lbs. That's double the regular dosage. You can also try a coconut oil wrap to help the skin and rejuvenate the growing hair.

-Bath as infrequently as possible!

-Brush them DAILY. Daily brushing will help stimulate the hair follicles and promote growth. One of the biggest issues with shaving is how it disrupts the coat and can create ingrown hairs

-It will take about 6 months for the dog to look sort of "normal" again but don't expect a full looking coat until at least 9-12 months post-shave. It also depends on what part of the shedding cycle the dog was shaved.

UPDATE 4/16/12 Approx. 1.5 years post shave:

Coat is much better and for the most part everything looks normal. People can't tell he was shaved. His coat is still very soft and lacks guard hairs. The ones on his neck have been the first to grow back.

Edited May 26, 2012 by BlueWolf
Fixed text encoding issues

[Tikaani&Aiyana]

Great post Kristina +1

Really interesting to hear about how it has affected Odin x

[HuskyCouture]

great post Kristina +1

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

good post kristina! +1 poor odin

[Arooroomom]

Fixed all the conjoined words as my keyboard doesn't seem to like the spacebar

[loriam]

Great post! Who the eff would shave a husky?!?! Poor Odin! Some people are just absolutely mad.

[Lisa (Fragglebabe)]

Fantastic post Kristina +1

[lebe03]

Great post Kristina +1

[TK_naya]

I was actually curious what to do with Naya outside during the summer. Thanks for the great tips. Def going to get a kiddie pool for her. +1

[jemmer]

+1 from me

[HeatherZeman]

Brilliant post, Kristina! Rep'd!

Some people ask "who would shave a Husky??" but y'all have seen the Poodles that they dye to look like pandas and stuff, right? People are WEIRD.

Is that a before and after shot of Odin? Amazing results! He looks gorgeous with that full coat!

[Arooroomom]

The picture down towards the end is a recent picture. We're about 5-6 months post-shave. Believe it or not that's mostly all undercoat. His topcoat is slowly coming in on his back.

There was a woman at the dog park last weekend who came in with a shaved Husky. I could hear her talking to some people about how she knows people say you shouldn't shave them, but they must not live in Florida! The dog looked a mess and he was not happy about being in the sun. That's what sparked me to write this.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

did yu have a word with her?

[HeatherZeman]

The picture down towards the end is a recent picture. We're about 5-6 months post-shave. Believe it or not that's mostly all undercoat. His topcoat is slowly coming in on his back.

There was a woman at the dog park last weekend who came in with a shaved Husky. I could hear her talking to some people about how she knows people say you shouldn't shave them, but they must not live in Florida! The dog looked a mess and he was not happy about being in the sun. That's what sparked me to write this.

Did you get her email address so you can send her a link to this post?

Or better yet, print it out and post in next to the dog park entrance! Haha.

[Arooroomom]

I told her it was still bad for them regardless of where you live but she really didn't seem to care. The dog had some skin issues too (no doubt from being shaved and put in the sun) she said she had 2 more at home. Some people just don't care no matter what you say.

[Kirbysowner]

Great post!!!

[valhalla]

Poor Odin, maybe her hoover could not cope with the hair, we have a pool type thing that our Odin loves to splash about in, when it actualy might get hot in the UK

[Arooroomom]

Bump! Hoping we can sticky this?

[Sarah]

Bump! Hoping we can sticky this?

Done

[Arooroomom]

Thanks Sarah

[ShtyaRose]

This is amazing information. But I do have a question and hope somebody can please help me cuz I am totally at a loss as to what to do. I have a 7 year old husky that has been getting "hot spots" on her skin in various places. It has been a hot summer for us. Hotter than what shes used to. She is an indoor dog. I was wondering if there are any problems that arise from shaving her so I can bathe her and wash her skin since I cannot get to it with her hair being so thick and have been told by a vet that this could be the reason why shes getting the sores. I was referred to this website to ask a professional in husky care if its ok if I shave her so I can take care of her skin problem as she already has shaved patches on her shoulder blade and groin area from these "hot spots" and the only way I could clean them was by shaving so I can get to the skin. Please help!

[Arooroomom]

Are you sure it's a hot spot? Have you had the area skin scraped and tested?

I would consider shaving her as an absolute last option... if it were my dog i'd take her to a good professional groomer and ask for a good blow/brush out and bath. No shaving, you really should specify. The groomers are pretty good at identifying stuff (such as possible fleas or dry skin.) Also grooming salons have a lot better equipment than our backyard hoses... making it much much easier to get them clean deep down. Are the patches that you've already shaved healed/healing?

[ShtyaRose]

My aunt is a vet and she has looked at it and confirmed its "hot spots". Shtya, my husky had one in her groin area a couple weeks ago. I shaved it, and cleaned the area really good with diluted iodine and gave her benadryl and put a cone on her so she couldn't keep licking it and she hasn't had a problem with it since. But now this one has appeared. And I thought the first one might have been cuz she was in our pond a few days before the 1st problem and she doesn't dry very fast. So I thought it was a yeast infection. But she hasn't been around any water and I groom her daily with brushing. And these spots just pop up. I notice her scratching them and I look and its the same as the last one.....just in a different area.

[ShtyaRose]

If you would like I do have a picture of it.

[Andy]

Great post.