[tewecm]

We've been doing this since we got him two years ago from a shelter. When we got him he had all these mats by his eyes, on his feet, and on his belly. Not to mention the white stripe on his backside wasn't so white anymore... So the first shave was almost a necessity! Now we shave him down to about two inches long mainly because we don't know what else to do to keep him from matting in every place imaginable. We brush him, but we live in the desert and his coat holds so much dust and dirt. He's also mostly black so when he's outside I feel horrible for him in the sun! Any help?

[Graco22]

I don't consider 2 inches long a shave myself. Thats still alot of coat. There are different opinions on shaving double coated breeds. You can take a look at some of the threads about shaving huskies, etc. and gain some info there. Many people think its worse for the dog, I personally, feel that pets do just fine in shorter cuts that are easier for the owners to maintain. I shave many doublecoated breeds in my salon per owner requests, and have never had an owner have a problem because of it. Others will have the opposite opinions though.