To LAB cut or NOT LAB cut

[kokopup]

My dog koko is a Lab/Golden mix with coat length about as long a Golden. Koko would be better off comfort wise living in Canada but she is in Alabama. last summer I gave her a lab cut hoping she would be more comfortable in our summer heat. It is hard for me to know if she felt better or not since while outside her tongue was out just as much as it was before.

Maybe some Golden owners can tell me if giving a Lab cut in the summer
is beneficial or not. I want her to be comfortable but prefer the look of her long coat. How much of their cooling comes through the skin and how much through their tongue. If giving her a lab cut will help I will
definately give her one.

[wolf_Q]

Their coats insulate against the heat and the cold. As long as you keep her brushed out well so her skin can breathe, she'll be fine with her long coat. I have three siberian huskies and they survive fine in the summer with their full coats, I would never shave them. Of course they are allowed indoors so they have access to air conditioning, always have cold water, etc. but I'm sure Koko does too. Even if they were outdoor dogs I would not shave them, shaving just exposes the skin to sunburn. Generally they tolerate heat better than our schnauzer who is always shaved short...the sun beats directly down on her skin, with them I can feel their skin underneath the fur and its much cooler.

I'm a groomer and we shave a LOT of dogs like that in the spring/summer months. Many people say it helps keep their dogs cool, and I'm sure for some that is really the case; but I think a lot of the reason people do it is to cut down on the spring/summer shedding. If the dog has a thick coat and the owners aren't going to brush it, or the dog doesn't tolerate brushing, really the dog is better off being shaved then being stuck with a thick coat full of dead undercoat that's going to keep them hot and get filled with fox tails, etc....so we get a lot of "once a year shavedowns" in the spring. (Not saying you are one who wouldn't brush her, I'm sure you do!)

If she were my dog I would trim her, but not a "lab cut." I would just trim up her feathers, feet, belly, tail, etc. to keep her cleaner so when she goes swimming, running in the fields, etc. she doesn't come back with a bunch of stickers and things stuck in her fur. But that is just my personal preference. Do you have any photos of Koko with her long coat and with her summer haircut? :)

[boomersooner]

I'm sorta debating the same thing with Boomer, my English Springer Spaniel. I have a friend who always trims hers, but I just don't know....Like Amy said, it might be best just to clean them up a little.

[kokopup]

Wolf_q I appreciate your response. I try to brush Koko every day to keep out the tangles. I might try just trimming her this year.

We do stay in Air Conditioning a lot but we also go hiking and bike a lot in the summer. She loves the water so when we are at the lake or near any water she is in it Summer or Winter.

If you go to my profile I have an album with several pictures of Koko at different ages. If you click on the picture it tell her age. One at 3.5 years shows her coat before a cut. The picture showing her profile at a distance during our mtn bike race her coat had grown out around 1.5 months. When we gave her the lab cut we left her ears and tail natural.