Hoping someone can offer some experience - I have 3 german spitz mittel - Koda neutered boy 8, Lunar 6 year old bitch and Buffy 3 yr old bitch - Lunar is currently at the height of her season and Buffy is about to come in - Koda although neutered still likes his girls and is stressing over them - problem is in this heat he is really suffering - he's black/has a typical neutered coat and its 31c in the house even with fans and wet towels he is starting to struggle :( I am seriously considering clipping him off completely as I am very worried but have always been told not to clip as the coat insulates both in heat and cold - what to do? To complicate things we are on holiday next week - my mum is staying over with them and I know she will be very worried about him

Hello kasshyk,
I am a Professional dog groomer and would like to advise you NOT to clip your German spitz! The best thing for your dog is to visit a groomers and get they're undercoat taken out and a good blow out and brush out and a trim here and there if that is what you require. Double coated breeds can naturally cool themselves down so no need to shave. People also think that if they are shaved they will moult less and this also isn't true they will still moult. But please please take my advice and don't shave your spitz. Like I said just take him to a professional groomers to remove his undercoat. This will help cool him down. I hope this helps, if you need any more info just let me know :)

Not worried about moulting having 3 spitz at the minute and upto 7 in the past lol :) I strip his undercoat out everyday - and he's blasted/feet trimmed & tidied up every couple of weeks by me but it was not making the blind bit of difference to his comfort levels - I have taken the advise of others on this forum and other spitz breeders/exhibitors and clipped him underneath last night and he seems better today I'm pleased to say :)

The trouble is, he is hanging on to his coat and not dropping it, by the sound of it.  A problem I've seen in neutered male Shelties, and other coated breeds.   This makes the coat much thicker than it would be in an entire dog, and often there's little moulting too.

In a breed like a Sheltie, I would use a Coat King, or Furminator, depending on the coat, to help reduce the amount of coat.   I've never tried this on a spitz though, not sure if it would strip out too much coat. 

If you would like to try a Coat King, the people at HUB international would be able to advise which size to go for.    Remember, that it must be used in the direction of the growth and lie of the coat or it will cut topcoat instead of removing undercoat ;)

Definitely don't clip.  :)

If the undercoat is all groomed out then clipping a tummy strip as you've done is the answer.  It doesn't show but give the option of lying on a cool floor/spot in the garden and feeling the benefit.

Thats exactly it dill, the nuetered ones don't seem to have a full moult, just casting a little all the time. Bathing often seems to be the obly solution with my yuki.

I have to be honest, I find myself these days leaning more towards 'clip' - and I say that as an ex-groomer.  A friend of mine on FB has just clipped off a german spitz - he'd collapsed from heatstroke (while indoors and out of the heat), and she was given all the arguments about the coat cooling the dog and so on.

Nothing was working, so she shaved him and he is now MUCH happier.  He's been able to play without overheating, he hasn't gotten hotter.  And he's by no means the first such dog I'm hearing the same thing about - all with coats that supposedly help cool the dog.  So personally, I'm not convinced.  I've also trimmed my own border collie Phoebe short yesterday (not very well I must admit, she looks awful atm but she's terrified of clippers so I'm having to do it with scissors), she's been struggling despite having a lovely, top quality double coat, not going in full sun and being hosed down etc, not even being run (she doesn't get walked but normally gets ball play in the garden) but now she's short she's much more comfortable and not panting half as much.

Of course, there are long hairs dogs that manage just fine but if they are really struggling, then I say clip.

I think partly your correct, it all depends on how good the coat is, all the ones with th good coats of mine are fine in the heat but the ones who have woolier coats affected by hormones etc do seem to struggle more in the heat.

Well back from our holiday in Cornwall :) - Koda is much more comfortable now it's cooler helped by his belly clip I'm sure - The other 2 have no difficulty in the heat - neither neutered and moult their coats fully, Koda however has never moulted since being done, he has always needed grooming out I would take a lot of convincing before neutering a spitz again

What would you say to a relative who thinks a dog should be shaved for summer? I've had a Shih Tzu for 12 years in full coat and he copes well with the heat, and I've got a Spitz who will be a year old in September, again in full coat. In fact my Shih Tzu loves the heat, he goes out to the conservatory on warm days to sit in the heat.

Not that I've any intention of getting the shaver out :)

What would you say to a relative who thinks a dog should be shaved for summer?

I would say that short coated dogs like Boxers and Dobs struggle in the heat as well and that lack of coat is likely to make a dog worse and not better than a well groomed coat.

Shade is what dogs need (just like us!) in hot weather, not their protection and insulation removed. :)

Shade is what dogs need (just like us!) in hot weather, not their protection and insulation removed.

Amen to that

I see far too many dogs with both short hair and long/big coats being dragged around in the heat of the day, dancing because their feet are burning, and gasping as they can't pant any harder :-(

The owners should be forced to wear a full length fur coat and run bare foot for a mile or two on pavement - on a leash, no slacking, in the same heat.     Campaigners would declare it inhumane, but it seems it's ok for dogs :-(

And these same people would consider a few minutes in the show ring cruel. 

On hot days in larger classes considerate judges allow the dogs to find shade or even leave the ring for a while while each is judged individually so that they spend the minimum time standing in the heat.

Yes I know there are idiots among exhibitors too.