Storm gets a bad skin infection during the summer. He swims every day and never dry's. I talked to my groomer and we have decided to shave him at the end of april so he has some hair for the summer.

has anyone shaved their berners? I heard you shouldn't and was wondering why? Can anyone help with this please?

We have never shaved Riley ALL the way down...but we usually use the the clippers and take it down to proably 2 inches or so. He LOVES it. lol I think the reason they say not to is that the fur actually helps them stay cool. Riley is never left out in the heat for any period of time, so I have never worried about that. Another plus...is that it really cuts down on all the FUR in the house.

thank you. I was worried but I also feel this is better for him. Storm is never left in the heat. the door is open for him to come and go as he pleases.

I don't want him to go through that skin infection again. Its like diaper rash but worse. and he does love to swim.

Poor Storm... Riley gets hots spots really quick (or so it seems to us ) I just think when his fur is short he is more comfortable, and doesnt scratch or itch as much. They look soooo cute too when they get a hair cut! ( my opinion ) I am sure there are a lot of people that wouldnt dare shave or cut the hair. But for us it has been great. And AGAIN....it really helps with the fur. ANyone that has a Berner knows what I am talking about! lol

Holy smokes! I must calm down before I reply to your posts.....I believe Berners must NEVER be shaved! The Berner's thick fur insulates them from cold, but also protects them from the heat; shaving their fur can cause them great harm, like sunburn and excess over-heating. You must brush them at least every 2nd day when they are blowing their coats or "excessive matting of the undercoat can lead to severe discomfort or skin problems for the animal.The coat of a Bernese mountain dog should be trimmed only slightly."(BMDCC) We brush our dogs daily when blowing their coats, and in summer, about every 2nd or 3rd day. We let them sleep on our deck where it is cool or in the air-conditioned bedroom, but, in all the time I've had with Berners, I've never heard of any one shearing, shaving or otherwise clipping exess hair off a Berner to keep them comfortable, rather, I've heard that doing so can cause much trouble for the dog. In my experience, (3 Berners), and having had to deal with extremely hot summers (on & off) in the past 10 years, we took our dogs for their walks at 5 or 5: 30 a.m. (depending on weather forecast) and then would let them lay on a cool concrete floor in the basement, under a shady tree, in the garage, or wherever it is coolest with plenty of water, ice cubes for chewing, and never had troubles with them. I truly believe you should not ever trim or cut off their fur. But, please, do research and see for yourself! Our dogs do not have any hot spots, it may be an issue with their food? We feed our dogs grain free super-premium food.

I really don't want to shave Storm, I love his coat. Storm in the summer swims every day. It is his therapy and exercise. He loves water, loves it. The problem is he does not dry. He is wet all the time. He has a wading pool and is wet again. He comes and goes when he wants outside. He is never in the sun, he always ops for the garage or the shade of the big trees.

I'm not doing it for "cool"

Sorry, I thought you were going to shave Storm right to the skin. I bet it's his thick fur being damp causing his rash but what are you gonna do when you have a Berner who likes swimming? Our dogs will only get their paws wet - I have always thought that was too bad because we have a large natural pond where they could easily cool off, but they never go in past their knees. THe neighbours 3 labs sometimes come over for a swim and our dogs look at them like they are nuts when they head straight for the water. But, maybe it's not such a bad thing after all! When we had to do water therapy with Shady (she had to walk on a treadmill in water twice a week for 8 weeks after her 2nd surgery) I had to be right there in front of her feeding her little bits of ham and cheese to get her to relax enough to do the therapy. Hopefully thinning Storm's coat will help him dry out sooner and lessen the chance of a rash reappearing. Storm sounds like a real character! Not very many Berners like swimming!

He is a character and he is my baby. I only asked the question because of the "growing back" issue. I had heard the hair didn't grow back the same.

I have to think of him and what is better for him. He needs this swimming and he LOVES it. When he had his elbow surgery they almost didn't do it because of the skin infection. It took 3 weeks of meds to clear it up. I don't want him to go through it again and the vet said he would if I didn't shave him or thin him out.

I've talked to the groomer that is at the vets and she does a great job. She knows I don't want to lose the hair but it is for him.

He is watched very closely for heat exhaustion and will be watched for sun burn. It shouldn't be that close of a cut though.

I don't have kids, he is my kid and my companion. what is done is for his benefit, not mine. Right now I have to sweep the floors 2x a day because he goes swimming and gets all the sand in his coat, he then comes in and spreads it all over the house. This is something he can do so I won't take that away from him. Just don't take your shoes off in my house.

I laughed out loud about your twice/day floor sweeping. I also have to constantly sweep, vacuum and wash floors even though I get the dogs to wash their paws in a tub outside the back door and towel them off. But, I also leave the door unlatched and they push it open and come in more often than not before I've had the chance to clean paws. Usually just after I've washed the floors and are expecting company! Thank goodness we have wood and tile floors!
When Shady had her knee surgeries, they had to shave the entire leg right up her back and that fur grew back quite wavy and where it feathers on her back legs, it is very coarse, more like the fur on her tail. It looks like she has bad split ends there, if you know what I mean. It used to be silken feathering type fur there.
Have you tried giving Storm oil for his skin? Shady used to have dandruff from dry skin and our vet suggested we give her a tsp of olive oil/day in her food. We eventually changed that to 2 wild salmon oil pills 2xday; we're doing that for her joints, but she and Leo have unbelievably shiny fur and no skin troubles. Our vet said the dose of salmon oil is probably not really high enough to make a huge difference to her joints (though he said to keep doing it!) but that that was the reason their fur gleams. I wonder if it would help Storm's skin by making it more oily and therefore, more water friendly.

Ya I do the oil thing with storm. his fur is so black and glossy!!!

what he gets is a skin infection. He gets this rash and it is all body. and it is infected. It is the worse smelly thing in the world!!!

I can not keep him out of water. Right now he is in the ponds and swamps on our walks. He lays in mud puddles. He loves water!!! You would think he is all lab, but he isn't. He lays and rolls in it. He has a wading pool that he lays in in the summer. We go to the lake every day for his exercise.

This infection is bad, very bad. The vet was the one that suggested it. She has a newfie she has to do it.