Summer Heat Exposure and Bobtail Coats
Quote: our summers are not nearly as hot as some members locations, who also keep their oes in full coat. Their coats protect them against the sun just as much as against the cold
While it is not a concern for most forum members for several more months (yes I'm optomistic even in frozen Ontario) I felt complelled to start this thread. The above quote was pulled from a grooming forum thread and represents a widely held belief about long coats protecting our Bobtails from summer heat. As both an engineer and a Bobtail dad I feel an obligation to the dogs to review this as it's "common" misunderstanding could cost lives. Apologies ahead of time if I "step on toes" or "put noses out of joint". Fundamental laws of thermodynamics tell us that heat will always flow from a hot substance to a cold (or less hot) substance. Heat NEVER flows the other way! Insulating materials, and a Bobtail's coat is certainly an insulating material, serve to reduce the rate of heat flow between the hot and cold substances. Heat flow rates are measured in terms of energy per unit surface area, eg calories per square inch of body skin. Reducing the rate of heat flow is a function of both the insulating properties of the material and the amount of insulating material present between the hot and cold substances. The second critical factor in heat flow rates is the temperature differential between the hot substance and the cold substance, ie hot temperature minus cold temperature. The greater this temperature differential then the greater the heat flow no matter how good or extensive the insulation. Again heat flowing from hot substance to cold. In the case of our OES the coat, especially one which still has the undercoat, is a very good insulator. In the winter the coat protects the dog from hypothermia (excessive loss of body heat and lowered body temperature) by reducing how much heat is lost from each square inch of skin. The colder the outside temperature gets however, the more heat the dog looses and eventually even heavily and long coated dogs will chill. Left out long enough or in sufficiently cold weather hypothermia will set in. This, I think, is self evident and almost everyone is easily able to understand how the coat protects against cold winter air/wind. What is apparently less well understood is heat flow and body cooling on warmer days and ultimately on hot summer days. While a dog's normal body temperature is a bit higher than that of an "average" human the dog still needs to loose heat to prevent heat prostration. (The body is constantly burning fuel (food) to liberate the energy necessary for sustaining life - heart beating, breathing, digestion, moving etc., but an inevitable byproduct of this fuel burning is heat. Heat which if not removed would cause the body temperature to quickly climb to fatal levels.) This "normal" cooling is accomplished because of the temperature differential between the dog's body temperature and it's surrounding environment - ie the air and often the surface upon which he/she is laying. Heat leaves the dog's body because of it's contact with cool air, both on the dog's surface and through contact with the tongue, mouth membranes and lung alveoli during breathing and often the surface on which the dog is laying. As the surrounding environment warms to, say, within 15 degrees F of the dogs body temperature the dog's ability to cool itself becomes more and more compromised. Now that gorgeous double coat is becoming a liability to the dog! Heat flow is reduced by the lower temperature differential and is further reduced by the insulating properties of the coat. At this point cooling is predominantly accomplished by panting. Panting passes the slightly cooler air over the hot, blood-rich tongue and mouth membranes and the lung alveoli allowing heat to pass from the blood via the mouth and lung membranes to the air thus cooling the blood so that when it returns to the body core it adsorbs core heat and eventually returns to the tongue/mouth and lungs repeating the cooling cycle. This "forced convective" cooling is substantially supplemeted by evaporation of the dog's saliva. As the dog's breath passes over the saliva it warms the saliva causing evaporation and hence gives up the "latent heat of evaporation". This is a lot of energy and the breath cools allowing it to further cool the blood-rich tongue and augments the overall cooling process. This can probably be sustained indefinetely if water is available but is very fatiguing to the dog. Now let's consider what happens when the surrounding temperature matches the dog's body temperature. At this point the dog cannot cool himself/herself by rejecting heat through the skin/coat, nor from "convective panting" as the air passing over the tongue is the same as the body temperature. The only cooling that can be accomplished is through the saliva evaporation described above. While this is becoming serious the evaporation of saliva removes a lot of heat and the dog can survive, albeit uncomfortably, for several hours without fatal distress as long as water is available to prevent dehydration. As the temperature continues to rise and exceeds the dog's body temperature things quickly become critical. Saliva evaporation due to panting is less effective in rejecting body heat and worse yet this is now accompanied by heat flow through the coat reversing. Heat from the environment is now flowing into the "relativly cooler" body of the dog causing it to rise above it's normal level. The coat's insulating properties are slowing how fast that heat flows into the dog but nevertheless the overall energy balance is that heat is flowing into the dog forcing it's body temperature up. The dog is now in a nasty, potentially fatal, escalating spiral; saliva evaporation is less effective - heat is flowing into the dog requiring more cooling - the dog has to pant more to cool but panting burns more fuel (food) which causes more internal heat driving the temperature up yet more - saliva evaporation is yet less effective...... As the surrounding temperture continues to rise there will come a point when the heat load entering the body exceeds that being rejected through panting-induced saliva evaporation and the dogs temperature then soars and can quickly become fatal. High humidity levels exacerbate all of this as it reduces the amount of moisture that can be evaporated and how quickly the evaporation can occur. Thus in high temperatures and high humidity situations the overheating mechanisms occur even more quickly than in arid conditions. Your Bobtail's coat will not prevent him/her from suffering heat prostration in the summer. Please don't sucumb to the "...the coat protects from heat as well as cold ... " mindset. It could easily be a fatal to your child. Always limit your dog's heat exposure and monitor him/her constantly for any distress and take remidial action as soon as any discomfort is noticed. I strongly recommend against working or exercising your dogs in summer temperatures exceeding 85 degrees F or 30 degrees C. Cheers Carl |
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| As always - amazingly informative! Thanks Carl!
Kristen |
| Excellent post Carl.
It is truly a horrible thing to see a dog with heat stroke. Working at the vets, I've seen too many dogs brought in almost dead from being overheated with no way to cool off. Sometimes it was people leaving a dog in the car, for just a minute they say, and sometimes tragically the dog was thought to have shade or a dog house available, but got tangled on something and couldn't get to water or shade. While the coat certainly wouldn't help with the heat, some coat, as you said at least an inch, can protect against sunburn and some of the direct heat. A properly groomed coat is the best bet to allow for proper air circulation, which can do wonders to keeping the dog cooler and more confortable. |
| Carl, that is amazingly similar to what I wrote to someone last night:
Ron wrote: Hi xxxxxx, I think that the theory about keeping a dog in full coat "insulates them from the heat" may not be appropriate information. I think over the years, the message has gotten a little "garbled". Quote: Make sure long-coated pets are either shaved (to a one-inch length) or groomed regularly. “It’s an urban myth that a thick coat is insulating and that if the animal is shaved, he will get heat stroke,” Dr. Wright says. source: http://www.tulsaspca.org/articles/summer_heat.html Quote: Long coats hold in body heat - Black dogs absorb the sun's rays, so they get hot more quickly than lighter-colored dogs. Clipping the dog's coat a little shorter for summer will also help to keep the dog cooler, but DO NOT shave the dog. That can lead to sunburn. Source: http://www.doginfomat.com/springsummer.htm Quote: [Don't] shave your dog. His coat protects him from the heat of the sun and prevents sunburn. Source: http://www.1888pets911.org/forthedogs/dosanddonts.php While technically true that a full coat insulates a dog from the outside air temperature, this may not be the desired effect at all. Normally, a dog's coat prevents transfer of heat from the body to the environment, and this remains true until temperatures in the environment exceed the dog's body temperature. This is just pure thermodynamics. This effect is enhanced by wind, as still air itself is a fairly effective insulator. (Insulation in your house is mainly trapped and immobilized air -- fiberglass insulation, for example, merely traps air and prevents it from circulating, the convection transfers heat.) So at 100 degrees outside in the shade, a dog is better served by having no coat than any coat. This transfer of heat becomes less and less efficient as the environmental temperature increases -- the difference in temp between outside air and body is lower, so the respiratory cooling system has to be much more effective in removing heat from the body. If a dog were to walk outside in say, 110 degree temps, for a minute or two they might be cooler with a coat than without, as the insulation indeed has some cooler air trapped in it. But in very short order, as the temperature equalizes in the coat and the body is no longer able to lose any heat to the environment, heat will build. If the respiratory cooling system is unable to keep the dog cool enough, the dog will surely over heat. But why would anybody bring their dog outside in 105 degree temps for long periods of time anyway? A dog's body generates heat and regulates itsef to over 101 degrees. If the dog is completely insulated, and not allowed to lose heat (through the skin, by panting, etc.) the heat will build up very quickly. Dogs lose heat through their skin quite readily. You can test this for yourself -- does the inner thigh of your dog normally feel warm? Of course it does. This means that the dog is losing heat through the skin. If summer heat regulation were the only concern, when the environmental temperature is less than 101+ degrees, a dog would be better served in terms of heat transfer away from the body by being completely shaved to 1/32". BUT, a dog does need a little bit of its coat to provide shade from the sun -- to protect, for a very short period, from the sun beating down on him/her, and to prevent sunburn. These are the competing problems, so what to do? We have to find a coat length that provides shade from the sun, yet allows for thermal heat transfer to prevent body heat build up. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of a single long-coated animal that naturally lives in an equatorial region... all the coats are short. No wooly mammoths in Africa... All of this information is difficult to convey in a manner in which the average dog owner cares to assimilate it into their daily lives. So what advice should be offered? Here are my suggestions... what do you think? I'm particularly conflicted about the temperature guidlines. I am also considering asking a vet or two for their advice in this. Bad Ideas: (ie things that shouldn't be said) 1) A long coat insulates the dog from the heat. (While technically true as described above, this will lead to people believing that it's ok to leave a dog out in the heat in a long coat.) 2) Shaving a dog is good (Sunburn, especially on the white hair/pink skin areas of our sheepies) Good Ideas: 1) If you want a more care-free dog, keeping you dog in a puppy cut will provide shade from the sun, and provide ventilation from heat buildup. Never have your dog out in extremely hot weather (105+) Never exercise your dog in weather above 95 degrees. 2) If you want or need to have your dog in long coat, never have your dog out in very hot weather (100+) Never exercise your dog in weather over 90. This whole message could be much better written and laid out, but I've already spent more time in writing this that I actually have to spend at the moment... just wanted to get this off today. |
| Ron,
More succinct than my post but in amazingly close agreement. Even the recommended temperatures for limiting exercise and exposure are quite close (I'm always conservative when it comes to my boy's health and comfort). Technically the coat always insulates, ie reduces heat flow. However as you and your references have stated that isn't always a benefit. Air circulation from wind or even their own "walk-induced" breeze in high temperatures is amazingly effective when the coat is well groomed and will readily "part". In this case "wind chill" is a godsend but don't try selling that in the middle of an Ontario winter! Cheers Carl |
| Hi,
I'm around Atlanta, Ga and when I moved here 11 years ago we had folks down the road with 3 OES. They had them clipped somewhat and outside in a very large shaded area with large outdoor sheds and plenty of water. They had also fenced in about 2+ acres for them to run. They looked around 3 to 7 in age, two females and a male I believe. I stopped in to visit with them and met all of their dogs. 9 months later they were all dead from heat stroke. Pretty sad. Zach |
| Not sure I understood all that but did get the gist!!!! Tasker get's a "puppy cut" every spring, in fact he just went to the groomer this weekend for the annual shedding of the fur. I've had many "discussions" with folks who put forth the "fur as protection" argument. I may not understand thermodynamics but I do know that Tasker is a MUCH happier pup with a puppy cut when the mercury starts to climb!! |
| Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! for this thread.
I would like to put a permanent link to it on our Groomers Forum at: http://www.groomers.net/cgi-bin/discus/ ... i?91/48103 Where we have been discussing this very subject  |
| Excellent analysis, Carl and Ron. I find it interesting that just watching Maggie (puppy cut) and Barney ("full coat" for 9 months) confirm your conclusions about temp. If temp is 90° or more, neither one wants to stay out any longer than necessary to do their business. They may take a minute to bark at something, or sniff around, but they know whats best. As for walks early in the morning, when the temp approaches 85, Barney slows down after about 10 minutes. Over 80 and walks last only about 15 minutes. One only needs to pay attention to the dog; they's let you know if they're uncomfortable.
For the last month before I got her, Maggie was out 24/7, with the lady "caring" for her; which might also explain why she seems somewhat apprehensive and nervous in her new environment - like she's really not sure we love her; and even the slightest bit of attention sends the old bottom wiggling! 
Thanks to both of you for the timely post. Ron maybe we ought to have a special link to something like "Top ten tips for OES and prospective OES owners" |
| I have three long hair dogs,Auggie my oes the youngest,My boys are puppy cut as soon as it's hot weather,They love it and I enjoy the few months with less grooming. |
| I'm new here, but I'm an experienced OES owner/parent. My first 2 dogs were always kept in long coat, partly because I had heard the same thing about long hair acting as an insulator. I live in MN, but we do get hot weather in the summer. During the warmer months, longer walks (more than 10-15 minutes) are limited to early am and pm after it begins to cool down. Always, we keep an eye on the dogs to see how they are handling the head, ensure plenty of access to water, and inside, they have access to a cool basement. Actually, I use the dogs as an excuse to turn on the air.
Now, we have 2 puppies, and with one older dog (our first passed away in January, just 2 months short of his 14th birthday), I have considered for the first time doing a puppy cut, in the interest of grooming time, really. But our winters are very cold and the coat is a definite benefit. So, my question is, how long does it take to grow out the coat again after the summer haircut? |
| We shave ours down at the beginning of June and by Oct or Nov we have almost a full coat again. But we do not show our dogs. |
| The coat grows about 1 inch per month. |
| I have a question. Is it necessary to keep fur over the eyes?? When I was a teen we had an OES and my mom always had him cut that way. I always thought it looked strange but she said it was necessary to protect the eyes. Now when we got our pup the mommy had her fur cut that way. I dont really like that type of cut, is it really needed?? |
| No. They have normal dog eyes. If the hair is really long, it should be pulled out of their eyes so they can see.
Go ahead and trim/style your dog the way you like . |
| I was warned by my MIL (who owned a sheepie for years) that they don't have pigment around their eyes, and it can get sunburnt. Is that not true? Or is it only true with sheepdogs who have white fur around their eyes? |
| If i shave my OES, would the fur will come back as it was before??? My groomer told me that the fur would make more knots... Is it true?? |
| The coat will come in just as before. |
| Shave them or puppy cut every Spring...and they will be wolly by Winter. My dogs always seemed so happy when it was done. |
| Thanks again to Carl and Ron for your expert advice. I just hated to even think about clipping Sadie since it has taken 1 1/2 yrs to get to her beautiful fur coat, but she truly is more comfortable in her new puppy cut! Arkansas summer's and this years high rain/high humidity really made it necessary. She is still beautiful and thankfully, doesn't look at all like when she was rescued. Sadie seems proud of her new hair doo and is strutting her stuff! |
| I would treat your dog how you treat yourself. I have blue eyes like my dog, and if I'm uncomfortable (too much heat/light) I know Jasper will be. But I'd rather just guide him into more comfy areas and let him see with no hair in his eyes. Plus I hate it when groomers leave that poodle fluff thing. Sometimes I think it's more a style thing for groomers than an actual need (they really get offended if you don't want the poodle look). I found a groomer that does what I want - it's your dog, you should get what you request or go else where. My Mom's Oes groomer actually gets mad when my mom trims her dog in one area or another (going against the grain of the imposed poodle look). LOL It's kind of funny in a way. Same as a human hair dresser - they get offended if you alter what they did or cheat on them and go to another hair dresser, or dare to cut it yourself...
Same for the coat and heat. Treat your dog the way you'd treat yourself. Would you go out in a mink coat in 90 degrees? Well that's how a OES in full coat feels on a day like that with 6 inch long hair - groomed or not, that's some heavy, thick warm fur. I can tell just by Jasper's body language his comfort level in relation to his hair length. The longer it is, he pants constantly and tires more quickly when playing hard. The shorter it is, the longer he plays without panting nonstop, drooling and getting tired. Drooling heavy is also a sign of heat exhaustion. I don't want to test fate, so I get him cut down every 4 months or so. It's very anti-show, but he's not a show-dog. Hope that helps. |
| I think Jasper's hair comes in just as thick, but it's totally matt-free until about 3 inches and then micro matts start showing up. I never brush him. He doesn't really shed. But 3-4 inches is as long as he gets because I'm a lazy brushing type. I don't know where groomer's get their info sometimes. |
zach wrote: Hi,
I'm around Atlanta, Ga and when I moved here 11 years ago we had folks down the road with 3 OES. They had them clipped somewhat and outside in a very large shaded area with large outdoor sheds and plenty of water. They had also fenced in about 2+ acres for them to run. They looked around 3 to 7 in age, two females and a male I believe. I stopped in to visit with them and met all of their dogs. 9 months later they were all dead from heat stroke. Pretty sad. Zach After reading the post from Zach I know of a similar case where a working and clipped OES suffered heat stroke although through some good luck this sheepie did not die. As a show person I travel a lot and my OES's are kept in full coat, a lot off the shows take me to Southern France, Spain, Gibraltar etc. where in summer it can get very warm, fact is the heat has never bothered my dogs, Carl you are looking at things from a technical point of view but the sheepie is not a piece of machinary rather flesh and blood, if you take a sheepie for a walk when it is hot of coarse they slow down they are not stupid they regulate their pace according to the outside conditions When I am out with my dogs in for example Spain we have sometimes over 40° C people ask me if the dogs are sweating, although on top the coat is hot when you lift it and feel the skin it is cool, the undercoat protects both ways like insulation, in winter keeps in the body heat and in summer protects from the sun. There are many things in life we do not understand and then "brainy" people try to find an scientific or technical explanation, this is one of these uncanny things in life. I am really thankful it was not humans who created the earth we are only there to destroy it. Regarding black, I was in Iran last year in July, we had over 50° C and 85% humidity, a lot of the people there as well in other arabic countries wear black, according to this way of reasoning they must all be suffering from heat stroke. If the sheepie is kept well groomed and it is not over exposed to the sun then there is nothing to worry about, as long as the sheepie is not left outside for hours in the sun or kept locked up in a car without protection the dog will enjoy the warm weather as much as we do. Sheer the sheepie and he no longer has this protection which his coat gives him, result he can get sun burn. Ron you remark the coat grows about 1" per month this varies from sheepie to sheepie, and believe me they do not feel better without a coat in summer rather they feel more exposed. A famous saying "only maddogs and englishmen go out in the midday sun" this is correct. Lastly why are all the experts warning us about the sun and not to sit to long in it without protection, this doesn't apply to dogs? of course it does they need protection from the sun as well and they get it from their coat. We are one of the only breed owners who clip their dogs, sit down and ask yourselves why, it baffels me. |
| You may be right! So let's look at the evidence we have.
None of the long bushy haired animals live in the hot hot desert they all seem to have minimal fur or even hairless bodies like the hippo, elephant, giraffe, zebra, camel, giselle, apes, humans. None of those have a dense fur. Where are the dense coats like llamas, mastodons, wooly mammoths, polar bears in the desert? Yes I think some hair is needed to protect from the sun as was said, but in my observation a thick dense fur is not normal in hot climates on mammals. Remember, man invented our dog breeds. As far as them feeling better or not my two dogs have told me they prefer to be clipped down by their actions, but it is a small sample. |
Ron wrote: You may be right! So let's look at the evidence we have.
None of the long bushy haired animals live in the hot hot desert they all seem to have minimal fur or even hairless bodies like the hippo, elephant, giraffe, zebra, camel, giselle, apes, humans. None of those have a dense fur. Where are the dense coats like llamas, mastodons, wooly mammoths, polar bears in the desert? Yes I think some hair is needed to protect from the sun as was said, but in my observation a thick dense fur is not normal in hot climates on mammals. Remember, man invented our dog breeds. As far as them feeling better or not my two dogs have told me they prefer to be clipped down by their actions, but it is a small sample. As far I believe not many of the forum members live in a desert, okay maybe in America or Australia, but again how many of them have sheepies, lets take polar bears for an example, they are kept in zoo's in a lot of different countries and I have never seen one clipped yet, most of the animals you mention do not have a coat instead they have hide or skin, this also being the case with homo sapiens (and in some cases even today a man / woman can be hairy). We have been through a few evolutions over the history of the earth and these will no doubt continue, through our recent actions we have created a green house effect which if we do not change our way of thinking soon could become un-reversable. Man however did not invent our dog breeds we have bred and changed various breeds to suit our needs as with the sheepie and so is with this magnificent working dog we have turned it into a pet, he who likes to herd is now a family pet lying at our feet. Ron you say your two dogs have told you they feel better for being clipped down by their actions, I assume that they play, run and have fun in summer. A question could it be you are misinterpratating these actions?, then a sheepie who is clipped will be more active in hot weather where as the sheepie with a coat will look for shade during the day and become active in the evening. I still stand by my opinion the coat is there to protect, clipping a dog in May and kept short until September, will not have a full coat by the time winter comes, the undercoat is also partly determined in its density by the length of coat available. Furthermore show people let there dogs play and we also enjoy walking with them and they are not clipped, we have to adapt, we go to shows in summer which are held outside in the sun for hours on end, but I suppose we will now be accussed of being cruel. I have never heard of a sheepie dying at a show because of being shown in hot weather although I have seen enough people having to be treated by paramedics because of sun stroke, if you watch our dogs they are alway lying in the shade when they are not being judged. It happens that idiots leave their dogs in a car in the sun with no shade at shows and these dogs die from sun stroke in this case it wouldn't matter if the dog was clipped or not. This is a subject where opinions will always differ and this discussion is important, although I would rather see discussions taking place on the general health of the breed and what we can do to improve it. |
gallatea wrote: I would treat your dog how you treat yourself. I have blue eyes like my dog, and if I'm uncomfortable (too much heat/light) I know Jasper will be.. Yes as an owner you have to take care of your pet. gallatea wrote: I can tell just by Jasper's body language his comfort level in relation to his hair length. The longer it is, he pants constantly and tires more quickly when playing hard. The shorter it is, the longer he plays without panting nonstop, drooling and getting tired. Drooling heavy is also a sign of heat exhaustion. I don't want to test fate, so I get him cut down every 4 months or so. It's very anti-show, but he's not a show-dog.
Yes the dog pants when its warm this is his way of getting his body heat down just like we sweat, although he should not play hard on hot days, a dog with no coat will play and there will be no stopping them because they do not get the warning signals given through the coat, it would be nice to have a comparrison of how many dogs get treated or die of heat stroke because of a long coat or how many have to be treated or die from heat exhaustion because of playing in the heat. A vet I know in Spain could write articles about this because he treats a lot of tourists dogs that have been clipped (poodles, sheepies, bearded collies etc) for heat exhaustion year for year and unfortunately many of the die. As far is drooling is concerned mine must suffer from heat exhaustion every evening about 5 when I am getting their dinner ready then they flood the place out. How many owners of other breeds which now live in hot climates clip their dogs, then I have only once seen a Husky clipped and his coat is much thicker, in our breed it is seen as normal but in my opinion it is not, of coarse we don't go out in summer with a fur coat on, but we don't go out naked either, we assume the OES originates from the UK and we have warm summers there too, my uncle used one on his farm in Devon and never clipped the dog and it worked in all weathers. Because the sheepie does not shed we assume they do not change their coat, then watch them very closely and take note of the amount of coat which you remove in early spring and again in the fall. If you do not show the dog it doesn't really matter, but for health reason please leave the coat on. |
dairymaid wrote: As far I believe not many of the forum members live in a desert[/color]
I do! I do! The Sonoran Desert, to be specific. And I don't have one blade of grass - the house is fully desert landscaped. Bailey simply refuses to go out in high summer. He'll go out in the morning before the sun is fully up, then he'll go out after the sun goes down. It doesn't matter whether is coat is long or short, he dislikes the heat and direct sunlight during that time of year. I have to agree with Ron - Bailey's behavior indicates that he enjoys a close haircut during those summer months. He has more energy on our early morning walks and during his evening romps in the yard. When his coat is long, he's not up for chasing the tennis ball or a long hike. Just one dog's opinion  |
Thanks for the info. We live in the heat Phoenix, AZ. We cut all 3 dogs in Every May for not only the heat reason, but because they love to swim and get wet. Easier to get them dried off and into the air conditioned house faster.  |
Willowsprite wrote: Excellent post Carl. It is truly a horrible thing to see a dog with heat stroke. Working at the vets, I've seen too many dogs brought in almost dead from being overheated with no way to cool off. Sometimes it was people leaving a dog in the car, for just a minute they say, and sometimes tragically the dog was thought to have shade or a dog house available, but got tangled on something and couldn't get to water or shade. While the coat certainly wouldn't help with the heat, some coat, as you said at least an inch, can protect against sunburn and some of the direct heat. A properly groomed coat is the best bet to allow for proper air circulation, which can do wonders to keeping the dog cooler and more confortable. They can and do get sunburn even through a short coat. You can spray a little sun screen on the pink skin if you're going to be out and worried about it. A fur coat of any length does not "protect" against direct heat though. It acts like an insulator, holding in heat. Further if the coat is darker (the gray) it absorbs more heat. Just touch the back of a black dog in the sun. Grooming is good, but they still need more like water, a spritzed coat before a walk in heat, or just cut them short for summer, they do grow back. And fast! |
Ron wrote: Carl, that is amazingly similar to what I wrote to someone last night: Ron wrote: Hi xxxxxx, I think that the theory about keeping a dog in full coat "insulates them from the heat" may not be appropriate information. I think over the years, the message has gotten a little "garbled". Quote: Make sure long-coated pets are either shaved (to a one-inch length) or groomed regularly. “It’s an urban myth that a thick coat is insulating and that if the animal is shaved, he will get heat stroke,” Dr. Wright says. source: http://www.tulsaspca.org/articles/summer_heat.html Quote: Long coats hold in body heat - Black dogs absorb the sun's rays, so they get hot more quickly than lighter-colored dogs. Clipping the dog's coat a little shorter for summer will also help to keep the dog cooler, but DO NOT shave the dog. That can lead to sunburn. Source: http://www.doginfomat.com/springsummer.htm Quote: [Don't] shave your dog. His coat protects him from the heat of the sun and prevents sunburn. Source: http://www.1888pets911.org/forthedogs/dosanddonts.php While technically true that a full coat insulates a dog from the outside air temperature, this may not be the desired effect at all. Normally, a dog's coat prevents transfer of heat from the body to the environment, and this remains true until temperatures in the environment exceed the dog's body temperature. This is just pure thermodynamics. This effect is enhanced by wind, as still air itself is a fairly effective insulator. (Insulation in your house is mainly trapped and immobilized air -- fiberglass insulation, for example, merely traps air and prevents it from circulating, the convection transfers heat.) So at 100 degrees outside in the shade, a dog is better served by having no coat than any coat. This transfer of heat becomes less and less efficient as the environmental temperature increases -- the difference in temp between outside air and body is lower, so the respiratory cooling system has to be much more effective in removing heat from the body. If a dog were to walk outside in say, 110 degree temps, for a minute or two they might be cooler with a coat than without, as the insulation indeed has some cooler air trapped in it. But in very short order, as the temperature equalizes in the coat and the body is no longer able to lose any heat to the environment, heat will build. If the respiratory cooling system is unable to keep the dog cool enough, the dog will surely over heat. But why would anybody bring their dog outside in 105 degree temps for long periods of time anyway? A dog's body generates heat and regulates itsef to over 101 degrees. If the dog is completely insulated, and not allowed to lose heat (through the skin, by panting, etc.) the heat will build up very quickly. Dogs lose heat through their skin quite readily. You can test this for yourself -- does the inner thigh of your dog normally feel warm? Of course it does. This means that the dog is losing heat through the skin. If summer heat regulation were the only concern, when the environmental temperature is less than 101+ degrees, a dog would be better served in terms of heat transfer away from the body by being completely shaved to 1/32". BUT, a dog does need a little bit of its coat to provide shade from the sun -- to protect, for a very short period, from the sun beating down on him/her, and to prevent sunburn. These are the competing problems, so what to do? We have to find a coat length that provides shade from the sun, yet allows for thermal heat transfer to prevent body heat build up. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of a single long-coated animal that naturally lives in an equatorial region... all the coats are short. No wooly mammoths in Africa... All of this information is difficult to convey in a manner in which the average dog owner cares to assimilate it into their daily lives. So what advice should be offered? Here are my suggestions... what do you think? I'm particularly conflicted about the temperature guidlines. I am also considering asking a vet or two for their advice in this. Bad Ideas: (ie things that shouldn't be said) 1) A long coat insulates the dog from the heat. (While technically true as described above, this will lead to people believing that it's ok to leave a dog out in the heat in a long coat.) 2) Shaving a dog is good (Sunburn, especially on the white hair/pink skin areas of our sheepies) Good Ideas: 1) If you want a more care-free dog, keeping you dog in a puppy cut will provide shade from the sun, and provide ventilation from heat buildup. Never have your dog out in extremely hot weather (105+) Never exercise your dog in weather above 95 degrees. 2) If you want or need to have your dog in long coat, never have your dog out in very hot weather (100+) Never exercise your dog in weather over 90. This whole message could be much better written and laid out, but I've already spent more time in writing this that I actually have to spend at the moment... just wanted to get this off today. No one "shaves" their dog - it's called shearing, and drover's dogs used to get sheared down with the sheep every year. I do this for my dog in spring. His fur is so thick that simply shearing him does not in anyway "expose" all his bare skin. I don't think anyone takes a Bic razor to make their dog bald. That would be exposing their skin. The only vulnerable area is on top his nose where the fur is very very thin, then I can use sun screen if necessary, but our yard is entirely shaded and he's a house dog - so we can choose to exercise him in the AM or evening when it's cooler or just go to places with shade in summer. But I do think it's a great idea to shear them. My dog actually comes to life like an athlete without that big coat. His activity goes through the roof and it's like he's 1 year old again. A lot to be said for that. Even if he does look like a Weimaraner for a month. Also, there are many dogs with a naturally short coat (Vizslas etc.) that are shorter than when I do a shearing. And they don't get sunburns. A quarter inch of fur laying flat protects their skin. And many are used to hunt and go for very long hikes all day. I think people just really get too emotionally attached to that fur so they freak out about a shearing. A puppy cut 3 inches long still makes my dog way too hot in July. |
| My understanding is that under a sheepdogs' white hair their skin is pink and is albino and has no protection from the sun other than their hair. The black skin is pigmented and is fine. Ya just gotta leave a little covering; nobody is talking about 3 inches of hair. More like 3/8ths over the pink skin. I wouldn't clip all the way down with a #10, I think you'd wanna be with a #4 blade in the white areas. That's all that's being said about "not shaving". |
| This is a subject that concerned me a little. While researching about OES found the heat stroke to be a serious health issue. I say a litlle because I lived in North Europe and during the summer (June-September) if we have 4 week of warm weather we are considered to be blessed. And temperature on the hottest day will never go higher than 34°C/93F normally hot day is 30°C/86F and still it never last longer than 2-3 days in a row. Nevertheless I want the best for my dog health and wellbeing so what you all suggest is when the summer arrives to trim off some hair right? Say what 2-3 inches or more? Because good weather is such a rarity here we like to go to the park. We always bring his water with us. If we have plenty of water and find a place where he can be by the shade are we ok? ( We also avoid the hours of more heat 1pm-4pm.) Does spraying him with cold water helps anything? |
| Hi Everyone: I have a 2 yr old OES male named Jessy. I've posted here several times bt have been absent for awhile. I'm a critical care Nurse Practitioner and work in a busy Emergency Dept. I cannot tell you what the summer heat and extreme humidity is like in New York and the patient population that suffers from the varying heat problems. Many deaths are seen by negligent parents leaving kids in cars.......many elder adults dying from hot apartments with no way to cool down [and dehydration from same]. Please care for your sheepies. I f longer coats are preferred, please keep well groomed and MAT FREE to allow air to circulate.Pay attention to their bellies as a mat free pup can cool down while lying on a tiled bathroom/kitchen floor. If you prefer a puppy cut, please leave at least a 11/4 in length. They are so easily sunburned. Have a great summer....... Ellen,Jessy and Ozzie [the cocker spaniel] Much thanks to Carl that put it all out there whether we like it or not. I LOVE it. Very smart man...listen to him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| This is so so informative. Our dog trainer mentioned the "coat protects from heat and cold," which just did not make sense to me for the same thermodynamic reasons you mentioned. Thank you for validating what seemed instinctual. We have no intention of ever letting Rufus grow a full coat - he's 65lbs at 6 mos, and looks adorable in his puppy cut...but, it's still good information to file away. Thanks, again! |
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