Every year, as soon as we get a proper warm spell, the requests start coming in. A worried owner arrives with a panting, fluffy dog and asks us to shave the coat right down to help them cope with the heat. It comes from a good place, the same instinct that has us reaching for shorts and t-shirts the moment the sun appears. But for a large group of breeds, shaving the coat in summer is one of the most well-intentioned mistakes an owner can make, and it can leave the dog hotter, more uncomfortable, and more at risk than before.
The breeds in question are the double-coated ones, and understanding how their coat works is the key to keeping them happy and safe in summer.
A double-coated dog has two distinct layers of fur. The outer layer is made up of longer, coarser guard hairs. Beneath that sits a soft, dense undercoat. Together they form a remarkably clever, self-regulating system. Plenty of popular breeds are double-coated, including Border Collies, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Huskies, Pomeranians, Samoyeds, Corgis, and many spitz-type and herding breeds. If your dog is fluffy and sheds heavily in clumps, especially a couple of times a year, there is a good chance they are double-coated.
The two layers do different jobs. The undercoat is the insulation, trapping a layer of air close to the body. The guard hairs sit over the top, shielding the skin from sun, water, and dirt, and helping to repel the worst of our British weather.
Here is the part that surprises most owners. We think of fur as something that only keeps a dog warm, so removing it in summer seems logical. But that trapped layer of air created by the undercoat does not only hold heat in during winter, it also slows heat coming in during summer. It works rather like the insulation in a house, which keeps the warmth in during the cold months and helps keep the inside cooler when it is hot outside.
A healthy, well-maintained double coat is a temperature-regulating system that works in both directions. The dog sheds out much of the dense undercoat as the weather warms, naturally lightening the coat for summer, while the guard hairs stay to shield the skin from the sun. The dog is, in effect, wearing exactly the protection it was designed to wear.
When you shave a double coat down to the skin, you dismantle that whole system. Three problems follow. First, you remove the guard hairs that shield the skin from direct sunlight, leaving the dog exposed to sunburn and, over time, an increased risk of skin damage and skin cancer, particularly in dogs with pale skin. Second, you lose the insulating air layer that was helping to keep heat out, so a shaved dog can actually end up hotter in the sun than an unshaved one, with no buffer between the sun and the skin.
Third, and this one is permanent in some dogs, shaving a double coat can ruin the way it grows back. The soft undercoat tends to grow back faster than the coarse guard hairs, and it can crowd them out. The result is a patchy, woolly, often discoloured coat that never quite regains its original texture or its protective qualities. This is sometimes called coat funk or clipper alopecia, and once it happens there may be no going back. Many an owner has shaved a beautiful Golden Retriever or Husky for summer only to find the coat never looks the same again.
If shaving is off the table, how do you keep a double-coated dog comfortable in the heat? The answer is good grooming rather than less coat. The single most effective thing is regular, thorough de-shedding to remove the dead undercoat. It is the trapped, loose, dead undercoat that causes overheating, not the coat itself. A professional de-shed strips out that excess insulation while leaving the protective structure intact, so the coat can breathe and do its job.
In the salon we use specialist tools and a proper bath-and-blow-out process to lift out enormous amounts of loose undercoat. The difference in how light and airy the coat feels afterwards is remarkable, and it makes a real difference to a dog's comfort. Regular brushing at home between visits keeps on top of it, daily during the heavy moulting periods of spring and autumn and a few times a week the rest of the time.
A few other simple measures help enormously. A light tidy of the fur around the paw pads, belly, and sanitary areas can aid cooling without touching the protective topcoat. Beyond grooming, the basics of hot-weather care matter just as much: plenty of fresh water, shade, walks in the cooler parts of the day rather than the midday heat, and never, ever leaving a dog in a parked car. Cooling mats and paddling pools are a lovely bonus on the hottest days.
It would be wrong to suggest clipping is never appropriate. For a single-coated breed, such as a Poodle or a Shih Tzu, clipping is completely normal and necessary, because they do not have that double-layer system to protect. And occasionally, for a severely matted double coat, clipping becomes the only humane option, because matting destroys the coat's function entirely and is far worse for the dog than a clip. In that situation the priority is the dog's welfare, and we will always talk it through with you honestly.
The point is not that scissors and clippers are the enemy. It is that shaving a healthy double coat for the sake of summer cooling usually does more harm than good, and there is a better way to achieve the same goal.
It feels counterintuitive, but the kindest thing you can do for a fluffy, double-coated dog in summer is to leave the coat structure alone and keep it well maintained instead. Regular de-shedding, good brushing, and sensible hot-weather management will keep your dog cooler and safer than any shave ever could, and will protect that lovely coat for years to come.
If your double-coated dog is struggling in the heat, book in for a de-shedding treatment rather than reaching for the clippers. We will strip out all that excess undercoat, leave the protective coat doing its job, and send home a noticeably more comfortable dog. If you are ever unsure whether your dog is double-coated, bring them in and we will show you exactly what is going on in that coat.
Coat care is only one part of keeping a dog safe in summer, and it is worth knowing the warning signs of overheating regardless of breed. Dogs do not sweat the way we do; they cool themselves mainly by panting, which becomes far less effective on hot, humid days. Early signs of trouble include heavy, frantic panting, excessive drooling, a bright red tongue and gums, and a dog who seems restless or distressed. As it worsens you may see wobbliness, vomiting, or collapse, and at that point it is a genuine emergency requiring an immediate vet. Flat-faced breeds such as Bulldogs, Pugs, and French Bulldogs are at especially high risk because their airways make panting less efficient, as are overweight, very young, elderly, and thick-coated dogs. Prevention is simple but vital: walk in the cool of early morning or evening, carry water, seek shade, never leave a dog in a parked car even for a moment, and on the hottest days be willing to skip the walk altogether. A missed walk has never harmed a dog; a hot car or a midday heatwave walk can be fatal.
How do I know if my dog has a double coat? Double-coated dogs are typically fluffy and shed heavily in clumps, often a couple of times a year. If you part the fur you will find a soft, dense underlayer beneath the longer, coarser top hairs. Breeds like Border Collies, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Huskies, and spitz types are double-coated. If you are unsure, we can show you the coat structure in person.
Will shaving really make my dog hotter? It can, yes. The coat's trapped layer of air slows heat coming in as well as going out, so removing it leaves the skin exposed to direct sun with no buffer. A shaved double-coated dog can end up hotter outdoors than an unshaved one, as well as at risk of sunburn.
My dog was shaved once and the coat never looked the same. Why does that happen? Shaving a double coat can disrupt how it regrows. The soft undercoat tends to grow back faster than the coarse guard hairs and can crowd them out, leaving a patchy, woolly, often discoloured coat that never fully regains its original texture. This is sometimes called coat funk, and unfortunately it can be permanent.
What is the best way to keep a double-coated dog cool? Regular, thorough de-shedding to remove the dead undercoat is the single most effective thing, as it is the trapped dead hair that causes overheating. Add good brushing at home, a light tidy of paws and belly, plenty of water and shade, and walks in the cooler parts of the day.
Are there any dogs I can shave for summer? Yes. Single-coated breeds such as Poodles and Shih Tzus do not have the double-layer system and are routinely clipped without harm. Clipping is also sometimes the only humane option for a severely matted double coat, where the matting has already destroyed the coat's function.
