[TomIsMilo]

I took my Aussie to the groomer today and after specifically saying NOT to shave my dog, guess what? She shaved my dog. I still cannot believe a professional groomer doesn't understand that you NEVER shave Australian Shepherds, but it's too late now and my dog is shaved.

Does anyone know of any techniques that can be used to minimize the damage?

 

[CachetheBC]

Oh gosh!! Sorry this has happened!! Can only imagine how upsetting/frustrating this would be! Unfortunately and disappointingly, not all groomers are well educated in the specific needs for coat care of double coated breeds.

I suspect, unfortunately, you may be pretty much 'stuck' with waiting for the fur to regrow, but supplementing with a balanced Omega oil (said to be good for their skin and coat) may be helpful. However, please consider consulting with your vet as to whether an Omega supplement (or any supplement) is a good choice/appropriate for your dog (his/her diet may be providing the optimal amount of Omegas) - an imbalance of Omega 6 and 3 may cause problems of it's own.

When my vet shaved a large area on my golden mix (who had a thick double coat) for a surgery, it took a good six months for the area to regrow and her coat to return to normal without adding anything to her diet, so it could well take some time before your pup's coat is back to the condition that it was.

 

[PoppyKenna]

Shaving a double coated breed isn't ideal, but it's not the end of the world. It will take a while for the guard hairs to grow back but it will eventually happen.

This is a really interesting article:

To shave or not to shave – a look into the literature about dogs thermal regulation,coat growth and more…… – MY HAIRY UNIVERSE

theeducatedgroomer.com

 

[Schnauzaluv]

Arrrg! That makes me so livid, how do they not understand when you say NOT to shave the dog?

Anyway, I didn't read the whole article linked above, but I thought i'd share what I learned about my double coated pup. I am hand stripping, so I pull the longest guard hairs (because he does not shed them naturally). I rake out the soft undercoat (called carding) with a deshedder tool so i'm left with mostly guard hairs.

It's the undercoat that grows much faster than guard hairs and plugs up the skin retaining heat. When undercoat is combed away, it allows airflow to the skin and a natural cooling effect.

I realise my pup's hair is not the same as aussie fur, but I use the Andis deshedding tool and it works like magic. As I card it encourages the wire hairs to grow in.

They start out all fluffy with a puppy coat, if I was to shave him instead of hand stripping, the hair follicles become damaged and undercoat takes over. If I continued to clipper, the wire would not regenerate and he would have a soft coat. But after one clipper, it's possible to revert back to a wire coat with hand stripping and some care.

 

[Madra Anamchara]

In general, if a border collie or aussie is shaved the hair will never grow back the same again. But there is always room for exceptions, and you never know. Even if it is not the same, it may be nice and you might like it even better...who knows. I would say, just decide that you will like it no matter what, because you love your dog.

At the same time, if that happened to me (and I think it's truly horrifying) I would go out of my way to give that groomer very bad reviews, and to tell people what they did. There's no excuse for that at all, and I would want people to know so it wouldn't keep happening to other dogs.

 

[JoanneF]

Did the groomer give a reason?

Sometimes it's a welfare issue.

 

[Jaciro]

I’m sure that when you don’t want to see that your dog has a problem, and also I think that we who have dogs want to grow them using the best ways and conditions for them, so the best option to have your dog carried is to apply for some courses to have more knowledge about what is the best for your dog and how you have to help him to grow safety. I also used to apply for courses, and I learned to carry about my dog. Now he is happier than before, and me too, because Best Dog Grooming Courses Online helped me a lot. I’m so grateful to have someone who could give me some advice about the importance of having abilities and carrying my lovely dog.