Can you shave a husky? (Never & here’s why!)

Many owners message in asking whether they can shave their husky. In this article, I’ll explain why it’s particularly important not to shave a husky, what happens if they are shaved, and some additional tips to keep their coat healthy.

You should never shave a husky’s coat unless needed for medical reasons. A husky’s coat plays an important role to keep him healthy and safe. Shaving it could lead to significant health issues.

4 Reasons Why Huskies Should Not Be Shaved

There are key reasons why you should not be reaching for the clippers. Check them out below:

1) Shaving Affects Temperature Regulation

Your husky’s body temperature is nearly completely controlled by his coat. His double-coat plays an extremely important role in keeping him warm during winter and cool during the summer.

It’s easy to think that his thick coat will cause him to be too hot in the summer, but it’s quite the opposite. The undercoat sheds, creating a lot of air circulation and space. At the same time, the topcoat acts as a blocker for UV rays as well as direct heat.

Shaving his hair off will completely disrupt his temperature control and effectively contribute to overheating.

2) Their Coat Stop Insects and Dirt

Your husky will be an adventurous soul, he’ll love to roam around in the yard, on walks and hikes, and he will often come back dirty.

His strong topcoat plays an important role in keeping his skin clean. It blocks most dirt from reaching his skin and it also provides an effective barrier against many bugs and insects.

If you live somewhere hot, this is particularly helpful and will stop many biting insects from reaching his skin. If you shave your husky, you will be taking away this protective layer.

3) Shaving Does Not Help With Shedding

With double-coated dogs, comes a lot of heavy shedding and a lot of dog owners dread this time of year. Usually twice per year, your double-coated dog will need to blow his coat.

This will undoubtedly give your house a new fur carpet. Shaving doesn’t stop this. There is no way to stop this type of breed shedding.

The only thing you can do is control shedding. I have an in-depth article on the best way to control husky shedding here.

4) Shaving Could Ruin Their Coat For a Long Time

Single coated breeds’ hair grows back normally. Double coated is a little different… for double-coated breeds, the undercoat grows faster than the topcoat (if the topcoat grows back at all!)

This leads to the new coat coming through to be of a rough texture; a mixed undercoat with topcoat situation will likely happen.

For the unfortunate huskies who have had this done to them, the owners reported the coat to grow back “sticky” or “velcro” like. This texture doesn’t allow for any airflow at all, and once again will cause health issues.

Does Husky Fur/Hair Grow Back?

In most cases for young healthy huskies, their fur/coat will grow back if shaven. But this isn’t always the case for seniors or for those already with health conditions.

However, as explained above, even if the coat does grow back, there’s a strong chance of it growing back matted or with a sticky texture.

Maintaining Your Husky’s Coat Without Shaving

Proper grooming is required for all breeds, but especially those with double coats. It’s important to develop a good brushing routine and be consistent with it.

Consistent grooming helps to remove the dead hairs from the coat and allows for better air circulation throughout. It also stimulates the skin and distributes essential oils around the coat, keeping it strong, shiny, and healthy.

It’s much easier and more effective to groom little and often than one time for a long time. (10-15 minutes per day than 1-hour once a week). This kind of brushing routine will keep your husky’s coat perfect.

Popular Articles on My Happy Husky:
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Tips To Keep Your Husky’s Coat Healthy

Asides from regular grooming there are other ways for you to ensure your husky has a healthy coat.

Ensure protein is high

A lot like human hair, a dog’s coat is made up of around 90% protein, so when there’s a lack of protein, the hair will suffer significantly. Your husky’s diet plays a big part in their overall health and well-being as well as their coat.

Learn what type of allergies your breed is susceptible

Huskies, in particular, can suffer from various allergies, which can really affect their skin and coat. This goes for other breeds too. Things like diet and environmental factors usually cause the most allergies.

Essential fatty acid, vitamins, and minerals

Getting the right micronutrients is just as important for our fluffy friends as they are for us. Omega-3 and 6, vitamins and minerals play a big part in skin health and coat health so make sure your husky is getting enough.

Although there are supplements, it’s generally preferred to get these nutrients through a healthy, balanced diet containing many vegetables. And use only natural dog shampoo!

Exercise

Exercise is a huge contributor to overall health and well-being. Though it may not show instant benefits to the skin and fur like grooming would, it is still very important. If your fluffy friend has good overall health, it’s likely their skin and coat will reflect that.

Huskies need more than the average recommended amount of 1 hour per day. Ideally, your husky should be receiving a total of 2 hours per day of intensive physical exercise.

Summary

So there you have it, now you know why you can’t shave your husky, and you have further tips on maintaining a strong healthy coat.

If you have any grooming tips, we would love to hear them! Drop a comment below 🙂