Eeek! Shaving!!! Help!

Topics, guidelines and tips for coat and skin care and grooming Chow Chows.

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Songbird428
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Eeek! Shaving!!! Help!

Post by Songbird428 »

Ok! Before anyone says anything, I KNOW it's bad to shave a double coated dog. That being said, I have a senior Chow Chow that we adopted last summer. The couple we got her from were young, irresponsible, and rarely groomed her! She was in pretty bad condition then, and with all the mats, we had to have her shaved down. (After which I found out that was a bad idea.) But it grew back in fine and everything was good, until I had to go back to school. I would brush her and clean her when I was home, and while my family loves her dearly, no one else seems to want to take the time to groom her properly. She has some pretty bad matting again behind her ears and in her "armpits" etc. And now she also has some dark, scaly, flaky skin on one side. =( I've been doing my best to brush it out, care for her, etc, but I think it's past the point of no return. Should I just shave her down again and hope it grows in again? What else can I do when the mats are so tight? Is there any products to help protect her skin once the fur is short? Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated. And please don't tell me how bad shaving is; trust me, I know! But she "survived" it once and I'm hoping this will be the last time it every has to happen. Thanks in advance!
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Ursa's daddy
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Re: Eeek! Shaving!!! Help!

Post by Ursa's daddy »

Chows need regular grooming. Ok, I've said that. If their coat is badly matter, have the dog clipped. It will grow back. We clip our chows, and we clipped our Husky. You don't have to clip it that short, just enough to solve the problem with the mats and whatever is necessary to give the dog a neat appearance.
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Rio
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Re: Eeek! Shaving!!! Help!

Post by Rio »

Not that I have any experience in 'clipping' dogs I do have quite a lot of experience in matting fur in semi-long-haired cats, it is rarely the top coat that matts but the offender is usually the undercoat as it is far denser than the top coat. I have found that regular (every day) grooming paying attention to the areas that seem to always get missed (under the front legs (armpits) and down the back legs where fur gets flattened from big bottoms!) Under the chin sometimes gets a bit knotty but not matted,we use a furminator on our Ragdoll cats but have yet to use it on Rio (Chow) as yet as he still has puppy wool,we ( or rather I) use a pin brush and a soft bristled brush (just for massaging after initial brush).
If you really have to have the areas clipped then beware of the sun,dogs skin burns very easily.
Good Luck and I hope you can resolve your problem.
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