Calming Canines

Your dog's double coat does not trap cool air!

🐕DOGS, FUR, PILOERECTION, INSULATION & THERMORGEULATION!🐕

🐶Some common misinterpretations!🐶

Many of you will have seen the images on the left below explaining how a dogs coat, especially a double coat, is supposed to keep it "warm in winter and cool in summer".

This is based on some fallacies. The primary one is that the coat "traps a cool layer of air between the skin and the outside". This could be true, except for ONE MAJOR OMISSION! The fact that the dog is continually producing heat it needs to get rid of. Below ~35°C (ambient) the dogs primary mechanism for heat dissipation (keeping cool) is CONVECTION (loss of heat across the skin surface). Above ~35°C panting becomes dominant.

The second major inconsistency in the "coat keeps them cool" argument is nature itself. In hot weather, the hairs lie flat. In cold weather the hairs are raised (PILOERECTION) to TRAP AIR to IMPROVE INSULATION to keep the dog WARM! They DO NOT RAISE THEIR HAIRS TO KEEP COOL IN HOT WEATHER!

On this page I am sure I am preaching to the converted, but please feel free to SHARE this in dog groups. But be warned, you do risk being BANNED for sharing SCIENCE & COMMON SENSE :)



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Will clipping cause sunburn?

In my previous post, several people expressed concern that my dogs were now more likely to get sunburn than before I clipped them. To address that concern, here is a closer look at the length of fur they now have.

Had I shaved them to the skin, as is often needed for veterinary treatments, then yes, their risk of sunburn would be greatly increased. However, it isn't necessary to completely shave them to reduce the insulative effect of the coat. I used a 6mm comb attachment which, as you can see, leaves plenty of coverage for both UV protection and protection from mechanical damage.

A couple of people have also asked why I left some parts "au naturel". The simple reason is that my dogs were not totally comfortable with the clippers in these areas (around the face and neck, and down the legs). If I were planning on keeping them clipped I'd spend the necessary time to habituate them to having these areas clipped, but I don't. The clips also didn't take a single session, I clipped as much as they were comfortable with (or I had the energy to do as I have Myalgic Encephalomyelitis!) then continued later on. They looked even more ridiculous at that point!

This closer photo also highlights that I have zero grooming skills when it comes to clippers!