I like to think about the thyroid - coat clipping issue as a which came first problem. Was the dog thyroid off before I started coat clipping or after it? The thyroid is a pretty delicate gland that has it's little chemicals in everything we do including hair growth and cycles. The thyroid is also subject to environmental feedback via the pituitary. So coat stripping is about as unnatural a signal as you can get when I shave a dog head to butt. The result is that the chemicals that tell a dog to regrow it's hair get communicated to run in overdrive. That's why when you shave a IV patch it grows back rather rapidly vs an entire coat shave which tends to grow back uneven, and in different phases which causes the owner to reshave the dog who looks like a fuzzy felted wreck. This time usually the endocrine system has a different less reactive response and this is usually the point the hair just simply doesn't grow back right or at all.

These dogs are usually tested for a mystery thyroid condition which sometimes bear fruit, and sometimes not. This is why I usually tell people once you start shaving that dog, forever a shaved dog.

Very interesting information...thanks for sharing your knowledge, Melissa.

Yes thank you, I never knew shaving a dog could result in this.

I take it ya'll are talking about shaving the coat as opposed to clipping the coat aren't you?

Myself I can't think of one single reason outside of a medical proceedure or the result caused by some complete lack of care for the dogs needs that warrant shaving a dogs coat.

I have dozens of folks that have their dog's coat shaved even after I tell them that it may ruin the coat for life or that it will not do what they want. Half the time they want the dog cooler....and the dog is a walrus with four inches of blubber....but they don't want to put it on a diet...they want me to shave it. Even when I explain that coat insulates to help them too....many still want it shaved. The other is the deluded idea that the dog will shed less. I tell them No it won't and they don't care, they want it shaved. I even have a GSDXlab mix that is taken down to 1/2inch because it helps the husband not be as allergic to her. Mind you they GOT the dog KNOWING he was allergic. You can't tell some people.
I always thought that the thyroid was more of a thyroid was not right and this will display it for you. Never thought of it as being a pressure on the thyroid to shave a dog. Something to read up on.
I do have a couple three clients that have their dogs shaved BECAUSE their thyroid went and the coat was so icky they don't want to have it that way...so they shave it all off. I also have a couple clients that shaved their dogs all their lives and only when the dog has come to it's teens has it's coat gone.

Personally the only cutting I do on a coated dog is tidying. Trim feathering, feet, maybe trim the belly down. Maybe, like the Newf I do regularly that also swims a lot...trim underarms so they don't mat. Well brushed I think they benefit more from having the coat than being naked and sunburning with no skin protection.

That's kinda my question, are we talking about the same consequences with a clipping as a shave.
I would think clipping a dog down to say 1/2 or one inch would have no effect at all aside from maybe having a bad hair cut. It is after all just some dead substance or another you're cutting off isn't it?

Shaving implies very short, like down to the skin. And that, I can see could cause some perhaps ugly and unintended consequences.

Generally speaking you're right. Simply trimming up a dog to what they call the shadow line where the undercoat and guard hair separate isn't usually a problem except in elderly dogs. It's a clip used to shorten dogs like aussies, porties, and goldens but doesn't cut into the undercoat at all and usually leaves the coat at least 1". I would imagine with the guard removal clips there is very little impact, sunlight, or temperature difference felt by the dog vs a sheep shear type clip.

When I worked for the geniuses at Petco I'd often have dogs come in for a #10 shave who were already short coated dogs like labs, chis, and dachshunds. My personal fave was the pug I had to shave because the owner didn't like seeing dog hair on the couch. #10 all over. Sigh....

There is no reason to shave an ACD unless it is going in for surgery. Think about it - these dogs were bred to herd/drove in the hot outback of Australia. The coat insulates the dog. As someone else said, get a baby pool and/or a sprinkler. It routinely gets over a 100 degrees where I live in the summer and my ACDs do just fine. Your dog will thank for not shaving it ;-)

Thanks Melissa,
For some reason I wanted the distinction made between a bad hair cut and a close shave.

It's only splitting hairs but it's good to know. Har har.

How do the Poodles that are shaved in parts as a routine make out?

Poodles don't have fur in the same sense as a GSD. They really do fine and are for the most part very healthy, usually with great skin and fur. If there was ever a group I wondered if we were doing the "right thing" on it would be cocker spaniels. They are notorious for coat and skin issues while at the same time related non clipped breeds like the cavalier don't have nearly the coat and skin issues (albeit they have a litany of other health issues).