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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on February 2, 2012 at 1:05pm

If only dogs could tell us.  Remember that their cooling system is very different from ours.  They cannot sweat through their skin.  Their only evaporative cooling is from their mouth.  Biologists speculate that we may have lost our fur in exchange for more effective cooling from our bare sweaty skin.

Western Washington state is not a hot place, but my dogs visibly wilt in summer sun above timberline.  They seek any shade they can find.  I wet them, bury them in snow.  I love the black tri coat, but I would consider a pale dog for this reason alone.

I cautiously recommend the Chillybuddy cooling vest.  The Medium size fits Al well-enough, but a perfect fit would require a custom size ($15 extra), probably a Small girth with a Medium length.   I do believe it helps our black dogs in hot sun.  Breathable woven space-blanket mylar with a cotton liner, which must be kept wet.  I've exchanged emails with the inventor, who put a lot of thought into this, and he seemed to think that shaving is a no-brainer, go for it.

http://www.chillybuddy.com/index/cooling.html

http://www.mycorgi.com/photo/al-in-his-chillybuddy-cooling-vest-on-...

I would not shave because our wet climate is more like Wales, and keeping warm and dry is usually the problem.  Mountain storms develop fast. 

Also, bugs are a big issue, and the corgi coat protects all but the face; the dogs seem unperturbed by insects that are almost literally maddening to humans.

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Permalink Reply by Lois B. Allen on February 2, 2012 at 2:40pm

Casee,  Look at my pics and you can see Randy in his "Summer Do" from last year.  I had him clipped fairly short.  Since he is a fluff it is moderately long and makes him even hotter.  I will clip him about in April and then once more later in the summer.  Further, it grows very quickly and if you don't do a good job, the shortest grows the fastest and it soon evens out.

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