Our golden retriever has been shaved!

We have two golden retrievers in our household, and our oldest (Bailey) is 12 years old. Bailey usually has some skin allergy trouble in the summertime, and this year is no exception. Especially with the hot weather we’ve been having in Oklahoma, this summer has been tough on Bailey. She developed some type of skin rash on her chest which required her to go on a temporary steroid, but our Vet also recommended that we have her hair shaved off. I’ve seen other goldens in the summer who get shaved, but have heard two different things about this: Some people say it’s bad and you should let dogs keep their coats because it helps them regulate their temperature naturally, others say it is better to shave off their coats in the summertime to help them stay cool. In Bailey’s case, she is a house dog and doesn’t spend much time outside, but evidently part of the problem this summer as been when she has gotten wet (which I don’t think is too often) her coat has been so thick she hasn’t been able to completely dry out– and this has given her further skin problems in addition to her apparent allergy to grass.

So, here is a photo of Bailey I snapped with my iPhone this morning before I took her to the Vet for her shave:

This is Bailey just a few minutes ago, post-shave:

She looks so different! Hopefully this will help her FEEL better. It certainly is going to cut WAY down on the dog hair in our house!

I wish Bailey could talk to narrate a “Getting a New Haircut” VoiceThread digital story like Rachel did a couple of years ago. 🙂

Technorati Tags:
hair, haircut, dog, golden, retriever, goldenretriever