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Should a shaggy-haired
dog's coat be clipped or plucked during the warmer
seasons of the year?
This is a very common
question. The fact that it is answered in the affirmative
as often as the negative has tended to confuse the
average dog owner. Let us face the issue squarely
with plain, down-to-earth common sense and resolve
the question once and for all.
Plucking refers to the
removal of the hair coat by means of a special hand-manipulated
plucking instrument.
Clipping refers to the
removal of the hair coat by means of a clipping machine.
Most long-haired animals
presented at dog shows are plucked. Plucking is most
often a painful and relatively expensive procedure,
and is commonly performed only on fancy animals that
are owned by people of comfortable economic means.
Dogs are plucked to emphasize the finer points of
their appearance. But since most people cannot afford
to have their dogs plucked, it would be more practical
to confine the discussion here to clipping.
Dogs are clipped:
1/ To improve their
appearance; to make them more comfortable;
2/ To assist in the
treatment of certain skin diseases;
3/ For the benefit
of the owner by cutting down the shedding of hair
so that household cleanliness can be more readily
maintained.
Now and then self-styled
humane agencies will raise quite a fuss by advocating
that dogs should not be clipped. They usually maintain
that dogs will not be made more comfortable by this
process, that the hair coat serves as a protective
and insulating mechanism, and that by removing the
coat the animal will be rendered more prone to disease.
While the people who
make these statements certainly do not have improper
motives, the plain fact is that they simply do not
know what they are talking about. While it is true
that the dog's coat does serve as a protective and
insulatory mechanism, with the ordinary pet this is
only true if the hair is properly and meticulously
combed. If the dog's coat was thoroughly combed out
at all times, clipping would rarely be necessary.
But any veterinarian will tell you that animals presented
for clipping are practically never properly combed.
The result is that the
long hair becomes snarled and matted, and serves as
a receptacle for every conceivable variety of filth.
Thus, rather than serving as a protective and insulatory
mechanism, the matted hair becomes a source of distress
to the animal. The animal is clipped to relieve this
condition.
In regard to the charge
that animals are rendered prone to disease by clipping,
this, too, is based on a misconception. It is commonly
stated that irritations of the skin may result from
clipping.
The fact is that clipping
is done with a machine. The machine is run by a motor.
In the process of clipping, the motor gets hot. If
the excessively hot machine is applied to the animal's
skin, naturally the skin will get burned.
If the clipping machine
is dull, the skin will become scratched. It is therefore
clear that if careful, competent, professional work
is done on the animal, these difficulties will not
be encountered. They are the result of unprofessional
carelessness, negligence, and incompetence.
If clipping is advisable,
how often should an animal be clipped?
Well, I would suggest,
as often as you think your pet needs it or as often
as you can afford it. Be guided by the same reasoning
that you would use when you consider going to a barber
or a hairdresser.
Dogs may be clipped
throughout the year without endangering their health.
Ordinarily, dogs are clipped when they get too shaggy.
Clipping not only improves the animal's appearance,
but it makes the hair easier to manage, is comforting
to the animal and the lack of shedding will be a godsend
to the housewife.
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