Should your dog get a summer cut? For some, it's the worst thing you can do

The southeaster is back, the beach parking is full by nine, and somewhere in Table View a Shih Tzu is lying flat on the kitchen tiles looking personally betrayed by the weather. It's tempting to grab the clippers and take everything off. For some dogs that's exactly right. For others it's the worst thing you can do.

The difference comes down to what kind of coat your dog actually has.

The dogs who love a summer cut

Some coats just keep growing. Think Shih Tzus, Maltese, poodles and their many crosses, Yorkies, and the wiry lot like Schnauzers. Left alone, that hair gets longer, holds sand and salt after every walk, and knots up behind the ears and under the legs where you don't look often.

For these dogs a shorter summer trim is a genuine kindness. It's easier to keep clean, it dries faster after a swim or a hosepipe rinse, and you can actually see the skin to check for ticks and grass seeds. Short, not bald, is the goal: enough coat left to keep the sun off the skin.

The dogs who need to keep it

Then there are the double coats. Huskies, German Shepherds, Chow Chows. These dogs have a soft undercoat beneath longer guard hairs, and that system works as insulation in both directions, against the cold in July and against the sun in January.

Shave it off and you take away the shade. The coat can also grow back patchy and odd. What these dogs need in summer is the loose undercoat brushed out, so air can move through what's left. That's a de-shedding job, not a haircut.

If you're not sure which camp your dog is in, part the fur at the shoulder. A dense, woolly layer underneath the top hair means double coat. Leave the clippers in the drawer.

Whatever the coat, a few summer habits help

• Walk early or late, and test the pavement with the back of your hand first.
• Rinse off salt water after the beach, it dries the coat and the skin.
• Keep fresh water and shade available all day, not just at lunch.
• If your dog is panting hard, wobbly or won't settle after heat, call your vet straight away.

Where we come in

The Grand Fontein includes a seasonal cut, done at your house in the van, so a hot dog isn't sitting in a car on the way to a salon. It's R345 for a small dog, R395 medium, R445 large and R495 for the giants, and coat type never changes the price. If your dog only needs the face, legs and nether areas tidied, The Signature Pamper does a hygiene trim: R310 small, R345 medium, R415 large and R465 giant.

As a DoggyFontein customer once put it, "Came in feral, left like he was off to a job interview." Summer suits that look. When the tiles stop being enough, book a summer groom here.