There is no doubt that the summer months can be brutal for a pet. Like any dog, Goldendoodles need to be continually monitored in the summer months to avoid overheating. Making sure your dog has plenty of water to drink, giving them a shorter haircut, lying on a cooling mat or wearing a cooling shirt are all things that may help your Goldendoodle manage the summer heat better.
It’s important that you do everything you can to make sure your dog is comfortable in the heat of the day or your dog could end up having heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
It gets so hot and humid in the summer making it miserable for dogs and humans alike. It’s often difficult to find relief from the heat on these hot days.
So what are some of the things that can be done to help cool your doodle down?
First of all, always make sure your dog has plenty of water. This should be a no-brainer but it’s easy to let the water bowl run dry without even knowing it. Without enough water, your dog could be at risk of dehydration.
Our dog doesn’t drink water as often as we want her to. Sometimes it seems like she can go a whole day without drinking anything. However, there’s no way we can force her to drink. We have water sitting out for her all day and she knows where it is and she gets it as she wants it.
We have learned after nearly 13 years with her that she will be fine as long as we have her water bowl filled. She will go and get a drink when she feels like it and no sooner.
Do Goldendoodles Need to be Shaved in the Summer?
There are a lot of varying opinions on this one. Some people shave their Goldendoodle or keep their hair really short and some don’t. Some simply don’t want to see their doodle without their Teddy bear fur so they don’t like to get summer cuts.
I don’t believe this is the best idea because I have seen how great a summer cut can be for making the heat more manageable.
With our Mini Goldendoodle, we notice a huge difference when we give her a haircut in the summer. If her hair is long when it gets hot, she struggles throughout the day. She pants and tries to find a cool place on the hardwood floor. She doesn’t feel like playing much and just doesn’t act like herself.
When we give her a short haircut, we nearly shave it on most of her body, with the exception of her head. We generally leave it at 6mm long and you can tell a huge difference once she has this short cut.
She no longer searches for cool spots and is fine laying on the couch. She doesn’t pant and is back to being herself. She plays and acts like the normal dog that we love. In fact, you can actually feel coolness from her skin when she has a short haircut.
Goldendoodles typically do not have double coats so cutting them short in the summertime should be fine. However, one important note is to not cut them too short. If you are unsure, ask your vet or groomer for advice on this.
Their skin is sensitive and can be damaged by the sun if you let them outside. Their hair shouldn’t be so short that their skin is showing. If it is, you may want to consider a using sun shirt until their hair grows back to a longer length and covers the skin.
When our dog is cut short, we use a UV blocking sun shirt in order to protect her skin when she goes out to potty.
How long does it take a shaved Goldendoodle to Grow Back?
In our experience with our dog, once we cut her down to 6mm, her hair will grow back to what we would consider to be perfect length in about six weeks. It will grow out in about 12 weeks to where it’s time to cut it again.
We generally cut her coat down to 6mm three times per year. Sometimes we do some scissor trimming on areas of her body throughout the year between full haircuts.
Every dog will be different so obviously some will grow faster and some will grow out slower.
Can a Goldendoodle be cut too short?
I wouldn’t want to cut their hair to the level to where they are nothing but skin. I feel that this would be too short. Although we have shaved our dog’s body before (excluding her head and face), it is better to leave some length on it.
Our dog has thin, sensitive skin and we don’t like to have her hair cut so short that she could get sunburn or skin damage from the sun while doing her business or going on a walk with us outdoors.
The 6mm guard that we use is as short as we would want to go on our dog.
Can a haircut change a dog’s personality
Well, it really seems like it changes our dog. However, it’s not that her personality is changing, it’s that her fun loving personality is coming out again. It’s like a kid that gets a haircut and then feels hyper and active afterwards. Getting a haircut just makes you feel better all around.
After a haircut, our dog acts silly and playful again after not feeling that way at all with her full coat of fur on. Once we give her a haircut, she’s like a happy little kid that is running around the house again.
So, no, it doesn’t change their personality, it just brings the personality back that you know and love.
Using a cooling bed or pad
A cooling bed or pad can be a great option for dogs in the summer heat. These types of mats are suppose to cool the dog as they lay on them. There are different types of these beds.
- Gel Filled. These are filled with a gel material that is activated by the pressure when your dog lays on them. They can keep your pet cool for up to 3 hours. After use, they recharge on their own and are ready for use again after a short while.
- Water Filled. These beds require you to fill water into them and then the cool water keeps the dog cool for hours. The problem with these can occur when they have a leak or your dog punctures them with a paw or their teeth.
Our dog has never been a fan of these. We bought her a hammock type bed at one point that was supposed to keep her cool but she would never use it. She just didn’t like it and refused to get in it. We ended up selling it at a yard sale.
Using a cooling towel or shirt
Besides keeping our dog’s hair short, this has been our best solution for keeping our Goldendoodle cool in the summer. This is a great solution and perhaps the cheapest solution that you can find.
Cooling shirts work by getting them wet. After they are wet with cold water, you ring them out and then you put them on your dog. They stay damp and cool for hours and can have a great cooling effect on your dog.
It works even better if they have short hair because the coolness is closer to the skin.
The solution we have settled on is actually not even a shirt. It’s a cooling towel that we purchased that is supposed to fit around a human neck. It just so happened to fit perfectly around our dog’s body so that’s where we used it.
We recently took a trip to the beach and the weather was nearing 90 degrees each day. We wrapped the towel around her body and it really helped us to be able to have fun with her out in the heat. The towel we have is also UV blocking so it protects her from the sun as well.
The cooling effect usually lasts for a few hours and then you just need to put water back on it to refresh it and then it’s ready to go again.
This is a great low cost solution that could work well for you and your doodle.
Summary
Keeping your Goldendoodle cool in the summer comes down to using common sense and always taking precautions. It can be summed up by the following.
- Make sure to give your dog enough water throughout the day. Make it a habit to check on their water level on a regular basis.
- Shorter hair may be the best option for your dog. Only you know your dog and each one is different so give it a summer cut a try and see how it works out. Hair will always grow back.
- Keep dogs indoors during the hot days. When you let your dogs outside, make sure they have proper shading and airflow to stay cool.
- Try cooling beds or cooling pads. These can be very effective for some dogs and it’s worth a try if you have a dog that struggles in the warmer months.
- Try a cooling shirt or cooling towel. This has been great for our Goldendoodle and without it, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy the summertime as much.
Don’t just assume that your dog is fine. Always keep an eye on him or her and try different ways to cool them down if you find that they are having a difficult time with the heat.