Do Golden Retrievers Need Haircuts?
Your Golden Retriever is a great dog to have in the home.
They are known for their long hair and how beautiful it will look when they run around.
As a responsible dog owner, you want to make sure that you are giving your Golden Retriever the love and attention that they need all the time.
This may lead you to ask, does my Golden Retriever need a haircut?
Do Golden Retrievers Need Haircuts?
Golden Retrievers do not need a full haircut. You should never try to cut it all the way down to the skin or you can risk damaging the hair, causing irritation, and ruining the look of this dog. A simple trim will suffice to make sure that the hair will not become unruly or get tangles inside of it.
But cutting off just a bit of the top layer will be plenty.
Do not shave the dog or cut the hair too short.
A simple haircut can be a great way to take care of your dog and make sure that they are looking their best.
But you never want to cut the hair off completely.
Let’s take a closer look at how you should cut the hair of your Golden Retriever and when is a good time to give a Golden Retriever puppy their first haircut.
Golden Retrievers will need a haircut at some points in their lives, but not as much as some pet owners think.
This is a type of dog that is known for having that flowing, golden fur that follows them all around.
If you give them a close haircut that is not thought through, you will end up with a dog that does not look like the Golden Retriever.
You want to keep the fur longer than you would with some other dog breeds.
This is the signature look of the dog. But a short trim will be fine for your dog.
This helps make sure that the coat does not get too long that the dog will slip and helps to keep some of the tangles and other problems out of the way.
But only cut off a few inches of the hair at the most.
There are several problems that could come up if you cut the hair too short.
If you shave all the way down to the undercoat, there is the potential problem that the ingrown hair will be uncomfortable and hard on the dog to handle.
They will struggle with having the hair grow in and may itch and not feel good.
If you cut the hair too short, it may not grow in the same way again.
In most cases, unless there is something else wrong with the hair or skin of the dog, the hair will grow in again if you do shave it.
But there is no guarantee that you will get the nice flowing locks that are characteristic of this type of dog.
It is best to just leave the work to a trim rather than a full cut.
Long hair is natural for this type of dog.
While other dogs look good with shorter hair and you can trim that down more, this is not true with the Golden Retriever.
Giving the Golden Retriever a small cut, with the help of a dog groomer if you need it, will keep the hair healthy and strong without causing potential damage when you decide to shave the hair all the way off.
How Do I Give My Golden Retriever a Haircut?
If you have decided that it is time to give your dog a haircut, there are a few steps that you should take to make sure it turns out nicely.
You first need to decide if you would like to do the work yourself or use a groomer.
A groomer will cost a bit of money, but they know how to take care of the hair and can make sure you do not have to deal with the hassle on your own.
Doing the haircut on your own will save money and can be a good option if you do not live close to a professional groomer.
Some of the steps that you can use when it is time to give your Golden Retriever the haircut that they need includes:
- Give them a bath: Make sure to use a dog approved shampoo and conditioner to make the hair nice and soft.
- Finish drying: They need to be dry when you get this started to help you maintain the evenness and not have any problems along the way.
- Remove the dead coat: This is the time when you take away the dead coat and work to detangle it all. you should use both an undercoat rake and a slicker brush to move through the coat. This gets all the tangles out and remove the dead coat before you start.
- Do the rest of the grooming: Take the time to work through all the other grooming aspects before you start. Clip the nails and use a #30 blade to clip the pads of the feet.
- Start the haircut :When you are ready, start with the body. Use a “0” snap-on comb to help clip the entire body of the dog. Leave the legs because you will need to use scissors for those. You can use a carding knife to help blend the clipper lines that show up.
- Using a pair of scissors, you will need to work on the tail, legs, and hocks until the hair looks nice.
After you have gone through this a few times, you will find that the process is not as hard to complete as it may have seemed in the beginning.
It takes a little bit of work, but it is a process that you will become familiar with over time.
Will the Hair Grow Back?
In some cases, you may need to shave some of the hair off your Golden Retriever.
This can be an accident or it may be done for some medical reasons.
While it is best to avoid doing this kind of shaving at all, the hair will grow back over time.
Keep in mind that it will take awhile for this growth to happen.
For most Golden Retrievers, it will take between three to four months for the hair to get back to its normal length.
To avoid harming the dog, you should avoid shaving them at all.
They may look a little silly for a bit after shaving and a simple haircut is going to be enough to make them look great.
If you try to do any more than that, you are going to end up with a mess on your hands that could take months to rectify.
If some shaving is necessary, it is best to let a professional do it to ensure the coat will grow back well.
When Do Golden Retriever Puppies Need Their First Haircut?
You will want to wait a bit before you give the Golden Retriever their first haircut.
They need to have time to grow their new coats in and the coat that they have as an adult is not going to be the same as the one they had when they were a puppy.
Cutting the coat when they are too young can cause damage and may make it hard for the new coat to come in well.
It is usually best to wait until the dog has gotten the undercoat and the feathery top coat. They will often be at least a year old before this happens.
If you are concerned about the length of the coat before that time, talk to your vet or a grooming professional to see what you can do.
Since the puppy fur is often going to be the undercoat in the adult dog, you need to be careful about how much you cut off.
You can still work through some of the grooming that the dog will need over that first year or more.
A good bath every few weeks to once a month will be a good idea and will allow the dog to really have good health, even before you get to the first haircut that you want to give them.
Giving Your Golden Retriever the Proper Grooming
Many pet owners want to make sure that their dog is getting the best attention and will have all the right grooming along the way.
This provides the dog with some of the good health that they need along the way.
This dog will need a haircut, but it is important that it is done In the right way to not ruin their coat and that the pet owner waits until the dog is actually ready to get the haircut done.
When the dog is ready, the haircut can be added into some of the routine grooming that you do for your Golden Retriever.
