zbettyboop

Hi, just joined was wondering if anyone has had any problems with their dogs and the weather.
I have 2 very hairy border collies so I'm quite concerned with the heat as Scotland is cold all the time and they are used to it.
I have been told to cut their hair very short with clippers :scared: but if its the only way for them to feel comfy then it will have to be done.
Any advice

phoenixinoz

Hiya and welcome to the forum

We've brought over our Springer Spaniel from UK [we were in Yorkshire so I know what you mean about it being cold ]

Anyways, we make sure our dog has short hair in summer, not just for the heat..but the fleas and they have dog groomers over here that come toyour house [a fantastic idea!].

The dog groomer pulls up to your house with car and a grooming trailer on the back, plugs into your water supply and then trims, washes and de-fleas your dog...all for around $55 ....and they get perfume [although it's tarts boudoir smellin I'm afraid ]

As for the heat; my dog hasn't had any probs except she does pant a lot when it gets really hot. We keep water available all the time with ice in when it's really hot. She always sits on the tiled areas, legs akimbo like a chicken when it's really hot...and seems to like it as it cools her down.

Other than that, she seems really happy and even goes into the garden,rolls over playing daft, running up and down and wagging her tale.....so I reckon from this she is a happy pommie dog.

The trick is to keep hair short in summer, plenty of water, plenty of shade and somewhere they can cool down. All this makes for a happy dog so don't worry

Good luck!

Timber Floor Au

We brought our whole menagerie of Newfoundland Dogs over with us, and they are kinda MORE hairy than collies lol.

I would recommend getting your pooch a good short back and sides.

The areas Q/teen are more concerned with are:
Heat Exhaustion
Wet Spot
Heart Worm
Ticks

Ours have all grown there hair back now, well theyve been clipped several times, during this last year.

Our Willy who was over 75 kilos when he migrated, was sooo hairy its untrue, we clipped him ourselves, using proper clippers.

Good Luck

Steve

Hunterau

We've got a Bernese Mountain dog (Swiss, black, huge and very hairy) and we see no need to clip her at all. IMO clipping your dog if they haven't been done before can be very traumatic for them. I speak from experience and this may not be true of ALL dogs but I wouldn't do it mine. Our dog was born in Australia but Berners aren't *ideally suited* to this climate. Even so she is happy and playful both summer and winter. Just make sure you always have plenty of water available and you make want to think of building a dog house/shaded area in your garden.

Bordy

One of our neighbours has a Border Collie & it runs about like an idiot, obviously loving the outdoors here.
I don't know where your thinking of going, maybe Darwin or somewhere might be a problem but Melbourne is ideal.

Paul2004

I was concerned about our Max who is a Staffy. They're known (so I was told) to have problems with heat because of their throat or sommit or other so I spoke to a few vets and they said not to worry, he'll adapt!

Simple as that! ...

Anyway, was out there a few months back and I questioned a few Staffy owners I see with their dogs and no one was having a single prob ...

He loves the sun anyway, and will often be caught catching a few rays in the garden! ...

Boomie

our dog had no affect what so eva with the heat...... we have been here 12 months now so this will be our 2nd summer...... the only problem we have with him..... is that he seems to have an alergy with the grasses..... and he licks his feet to much.....

boomie
xx

Bella Donna

We haven't seen too much of our GSD since he came out of quarantine, but he seems to be adapting very well, just as the vet said he would. We weren't advised to clip him and I doubt we would do so. We were told that he would (obviously) drink a lot more water - which he is - and that his softer, downier under-fur, the layer of fur closest to his skin would thin out in time (especially on his belly), leaving the coarser superficial fur in place to protect him. Whether this happens we have yet to see, but he seems to be coping fine so far. We're just going to concentrate on providing plenty of shade and plenty of water, and making sure he doesn't get exercised in the heat of the day.

Sue