Shedding. Never ending hair falling everywhere. Furniture, flooring, clothing, bedding, it gets in the smallest places and flies onto anything and everything. Excessive shedding is a good indication that you may have a double coated breed of dog on your hands. It is a natural process for the dogs hair to go through and a very important process for overall health.
To book your dog grooming session, please visit purplebone.com/grooming here. Scroll down slightly to access the booking app. At first asks you will need to choose a grooming location. Once this has been selected, scroll down and click ‘Puppy Welcome Package’. You’ll then be asked to complete the booking process. For new customers a £25 deposit is now required to secure your booking. Visit us in our London dog stores / grooming parlours here.
What is a double coat?
A double coat is a dog with two types of coats, consisting of an ‘undercoat’ and a ‘top coat. The undercoat is the hair closest to the skin, it's thicker, shorter and has a softer texture. It acts a little like a thermal layer, keeping your dog warm during the colder months.
Approaching summer, your dog will ‘blow’ its coat, shedding most of the excess undercoat gained in the winter to get ready for warmer weather to keep them cool. The top coat consists of longer, wiry hairs called ‘guard hairs’. This hair protects the undercoat from getting wet and dirty but also protects the skin against harmful UV sun rays.
These two types of hair are your dogs natural protection, without these coats, it can cause a whole host of problems for your dogs skin and overall health.
Thick coats can trap dirt and heat, making it a breeding ground for bacteria and potential skin irritations.Taking your double coated dog to a groomers is a must. Our grooming staff can take out the undercoat effectively in a short amount of time.
Should I cut or shave my dogs double coat?
Dogs have double coats for a reason, it’s their natural protection intended for the colder seasons. It helps regulate their temperature and protect their skin from the elements. Clipping this coat down short can be detrimental to the overall condition of the coat and protection to the skin.
How we groom dogs with an undercoat at Purplebone
Whilst double coated dogs tend to shed lightly all year round, they will ‘blow’ their coat twice a year. You will know when your dog is ready because your dog will have tufts of fur sticking out of his coat, get ready for a big amount of brushing ahead. The best tool to use is an undercoat rake. It may take a while to get through the coat, but use long, smooth strokes along the hair to pull out the dead undercoat.
It can take up to a week to fully remove the undercoat depending on how your dog reacts to being brushed. If this process is tedious for the dog, feeding small treats every 10-15minutes will rewarding any good behaviour.
Once the shampoo is washed out completely, we use our high powered dryers, to blow out most of the undercoat. Our groomers simply dry and brush the rest of the hair out until smooth and sleek. We finish off with a little tidy trim, nail clipping, a good ear clean and a sweet smelling spritz.
Which grooming service should I choose for my double coat dog?
Our Wash and Tidy would be the best service that we provide for dogs with double coats. This is the ideal choice, since we will be able to give them a good brush during the seasons at which dogs blow their coat and in between. Undercoat removal will take place to reveal a beautiful, sleek coat to be proud of.
To book your dog grooming session, please visit purplebone.com/grooming here. Scroll down slightly to access the booking app. At first asks you will need to choose a grooming location. Once this has been selected, scroll down and click ‘Puppy Welcome Package’. You’ll then be asked to complete the booking process. For new customers a £25 deposit is now required to secure your booking. Visit us in our London dog stores / grooming parlours here.
The Boo Cut…
Pomeranians as seen in our two examples, are a great example of a double coated dog. Seen in the first example, this Pomeranian has grown a beautiful, long, silky coat. Famous American dog, Boo the Pomeranian came to light with a dramatic new haircut, this become known as the ‘Boo cut’, best known for making the dog look a little like a bear. The second Pomeranian as seen in the above and below images, is an example of the Boo cut, groomed in an American parlour.
As cute as you think your dog may look with this cut, the damage done is almost irreversible. Once clipped down to this length, dogs will sport this look for the rest of their life. It may never grow back out to the puffed up traditional style. A Boo Cut will result in a very uneven hair growth, an abnormal growth time and rough textured hair.
Purplebone strongly advises against the Boo Cut, unless the dog has been clipped like this by a previous groomer and now requires maintenance. From our second example above, you can see an uneven growth of the body compared to legs. To give his coat as much help as possible, we will avoid any clipping, trim slightly, wash and brush in the hope that the hair will re-grow eventually even-ing out the length.
Common breeds of double coated dogs
Labrador
Golden Retriever
Samoyed
German/Japanese Spitz
Pomeranian
German Shepherd
Husky
Akita
Collie