Advice post shaving please
3 1/2 hours (and two groomers) later he looks like a greyhound! He feels gorgeous though and I knew he would have quite a short shave. The groomer warned me that he would shake his head a lot as it feels strange and light to him and told me that I need to watch out that he doesn't bang his ears together so much when shaking that he causes them to bruise heavily and swell. She warned that in the worst case scenario he may have to visit the vet to have a haematoma in the ear drained. She covered his ears with a section from nylon tights (pantyhose) to stop the flapping when he shakes his head but he keeps pushing these off. Every time he moves around the house he frantically shakes his head and I'm really concerned about the possibility of a haematoma. Has anyone any experience of this head shaking and any ideas how to stop it? He is fine at the moment, lying settled at my feet, but he follows me around the house, so when I move he follows and shakes his head. Also how long will it take roughly for his fur to grow back? Thank you in advance for any advice anyone can offer. |
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| I've never had the problem. My groomer doesn't shave his ears very close even when he gets his summer shave so never noticed him flapping his ears. |
Your groomer is correct - the shaking often will cause a hematoma, and they are a real pain to treat.  It is worth your time and effort to prevent it. Can you do some activities to keep him busy and hopefully tired?? Really tired! Anything to distract him. Time for a trip to a park or long walk/run on some trails. Hair grows about an inch a month, so in a few weeks he'll be looking fuzzy  |
Thank you for your advice. His ears were quite thick and matted so needed to be shaved - I hadn't realised that I needed to brush his ears until it was too late  I'm in the UK and it's 10.15pm and he's pretty settled but I'll certainly try and keep him distracted and well exercised tomorrow. |
| I shave ears as well, but go out of my way to make sure the clipper is cool! A hot clipper will burn the skin and that causes more ear flapping. I'm sure they also pulled hairs from ears, often way too roughly. That hurts as well.....then probably cleaned them with some alcohol cleaner.........another huge ouch! I'd carefully examine the ears, taking a cool moist cloth and gently swapping the inside and outside flap and then dry by pressing, no wiping. There are lotions for the ears, but hopefully not needed. Indeed, you sure don't want balloon ears.......your vet will groan as they are so hard to treat. Try again with the hat. |
Tuesday wrote: Thank you for your advice. His ears were quite thick and matted so needed to be shaved - I hadn't realised that I needed to brush his ears until it was too late I'm in the UK and it's 10.15pm and he's pretty settled but I'll certainly try and keep him distracted and well exercised tomorrow. We had the same thing happen, we were new to sheepies and just didn't think about the ears, so they had to be shaved. Mady shook them too, but she stopped after that first night. We just tried to keep her distracted. Hugs work-they can't shake their heads if they are being hugged. |
| Most will quit after a few hours but if he hasn't he could shake hard & often enough that you will see blood drip out of the bottom of the ear leathers. Now I know this is going to sound stupid but if you can bring his ears up on top of his head & "tape" them together (maybe with vet wrap or something like that) it tends to keep them from shaking. I've only ever had 1 dog shake his ears every much but this worked with him. |
| Thank you everyone for your help and advice. He seems to be shaking his head much less today than he was last night. He's been for a long walk and had lots of attention and cuddles! I've been checking his ears - they seem fine, no cuts and they are not swollen. I'll try and post some before and after pictures - he's half the size he was! |
| Another thing you can use is an antibiotic powder. I have neopredif on hand. It is soothing, dry and stops itching. I have also used medicated powder carefully. Neopredif is a product I got from my vet many years ago for one of my dogs ear infections. I used it inside the ear and and it worked better than any other liquid drops and the ears wer not all greasy. Nancy |
| I guess I've been very lucky. Our first 2 oes got shaved close but we never had the ear flapping problem. Ears can be hard to keep matt free if you don't stay on top of it, I do know that too. I think we're getting luckier, Butchy will be 2 next wk and his coat seems to be getting better but that could change anytime I'm sure. |
| Its not always a case of a hot or too short blade that causes the shaking, but the strange feeling. When i groom a matted dog i take the ears off bitby bit so the dog gets used to the new feeling also ruffaling them each time. If it continues think of maybe wrapping a bandage around the head or a leg warmer. The shaking. should stop tomorrow. Shaking the head is forcing the blood to the bottom of the ears which will eventually burst a blood vessel, if this happenes put the ears above the head like you would if you cut a finger to help ease the blood flow and bandage up. Your groomer has done no wrong, only told you what could happen and how to deal with it. Hope your dog is feeling better tomorrow x Seaside, not brushing as much with an old english equal either pain or a clip off But you cant take the seaside madness away! |
| Thanks again to everyone for their comments and advice. The shaking did stop after a day or so, with no ill effects. I think shaved is the way to go for seaside romps! |
Tuesday wrote: Thanks again to everyone for their comments and advice. The shaking did stop after a day or so, with no ill effects. I think shaved is the way to go for seaside romps! We had to basically shave Dahlia down---well, she wasn't shaved naked, but, very close to it... We did this in the beginning of Sept due to being at the beach a lot and the sand and saltwater was just wicked on her coat. She was also transitioning from some of her puppy coat, so it was just too difficult to manage. Now, a month later, I would say she is about an inch all around. I am looking forward to letting her grow a bit more, although, I will be keeping her in a longer puppy cut year round. This is what I did with my other sheepdog, and it was just so much easier to manage especially through the winter and the snow/ice..... |
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