Double / Triple Coats: Why They Aren't Meant to be Shaved & Why it is Ineffective for Cooling

Dogs like Australian Shepherds, Malamutes, Huskies, Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Blue Heelers, Corgis, etc. all have double coats (comprised of a topcoat, or guard hairs, and undercoat). Or triple coats (comprised of a topcoat, undercoat, and tertiary hairs).

These dogs all rely on their coats to protect their skin - the coat serves as a first line of defense from things like parasites, bacteria, UV rays, chemicals that you clean your home with, and many more!

The Langerhans cells that are located on the epidermis, are destroyed by the sun when the hair is stripped of the coat, leaving the dog with reduced defense against infection. Sebum, or oil produced by the sebaceous glands, cannot move as easily through the skin when the hair is shaved, resulting in dry, damaged skin.

Unlike humans, dogs do not sweat through their skin. Dogs sweat through their feet, and a tiny portion of the top part of their nose. Their way of cooling themselves down - relies on their hair. When a dog's body temperature rises, the arrector pili muscle controls the raising and lowering of the hair shaft, allowing airflow to reach the skin of the dog. When the coat has been shaved, the arrector pili muscle loses its ability to raise the hair, making the cooling process for the dog ineffective.

Shaving a double or triple coated dog will also result in stunted hair growth. As discussed previously, these dogs have different types of hairs. The Topcoat (or the guard hair) grows slower than the undercoat and tertiary coat do. (This is why most of the shedding you see around your house is the 'fluffy stuff' - it's the undercoat coming out! This is also why it is important for regular brushing to pull out that dead undercoat, so it does not become impacted, and airflow can reach the skin.) When you shave these hairs, they essentially become the same length - disrupting the life cycle of hair, creating irregularity in the coat for the remainer of the pet's life.

Think about it like a forest. When there is a forest fire and the environment has been sabotaged, what is the first thing to grow back? The underbrush, and shrubby plants (undercoat). Then, after time the trees will begin to regrow as they have a longer regenerative cycle (topcoat).

When shaving a double or triple coat, you also risk the idea or post clippering alopecia, or the hair not growing back at all.

"But my dog is hot. He just has so much hair."

Then, Fido needs to be groomed more often! A bath, blowout, and simple trim of the longer, unshapely areas will do wonders for him. These dogs need to be groomed every 4-8 weeks (depending on lifestyle, at home maintenance) for the best results for their skin and coat. A routine deshedding treatment to really stimulate the hair follicle and release dead coat is also necessary. Brushing at home at least 2-3 times a week is also necessary to remove dead coat, and stimulate the hair follicle to produce sebum to keep the skin and coat moisturized.