Siberian Husky coats insulate them from heat as well as cold to a certain degree. But they can overheat, like humans, and they will need to have access to a cool area like an air conditioned room to cool off as needed. They will need a good supply of cold fresh water and deep shade too.
DO NOT SHAVE YOUR SIBERIAN HUSKY…. DO NOT shave them as some people suggest. This will actually harm them in several ways. A Huskies coat helps protect them from heat as well as cold. Living with a double coated dog means that you must understand that they will shed and “blow” their coat a couple times a year, which also means you will have hair in your house, bed, dinner and clothes among other places. If you don’t like grooming (or dog hair in the house) this is NOT a breed that you want! A Siberian Husky should never be clipped / shaved unless it is for a medical reason. Dogs don’t sweat like humans. Their cooling process is done via panting from the mouth, sweating at the paws and cooling the blood in their ears. Shaving the dog does NOTHING to keep the dog cool. It is just a stupid practice that will just make a human feel better when looking at the coated dog.
The Siberian Husky has very little or no pigmentation in its skin. If you shave a Husky, he will be exposed to the sun with no protection = sunburn! You will now have a dog that could very well come up with a numerous skin problems including skin cancer. Another reason to not clip / shave your Husky is that their coat acts as a protection against insects and parasites. When you remove that protection the dog is exposed to even more insect problems than he would have had if he had been allowed to keep is protective coat. Furthermore, if you clip / shave a Husky it will damage his coat and disturb the proper shedding process. Without that undercoat they can NOT regulate their body temperature so if you don’t know the term heat stroke you better learn it because you just left them highly prone to it by shaving them. With prolonged shaving their fur will be a poor texture (by age 6) and it won’t grow back properly. There are some so called “professional” groomers out there who tell you to shave your Husky. They may even do it without asking your consent! There are vets who will tell you to shave your Husky. These people are TOTALLY unfamiliar with the breed.
Snowdrift Siberians – est. 1992 Siberian Husky Breed Info
KUSA Registered & Accredited Breeders
If your Siberian Husky has an extremely dense and thick coat – you can shave his stomach area ONLY with a # 2 depth hair clipper. This works because the Siberian Husky uses his stomach as his temperature barometer. If a Siberian Husky is cold he will curl up into a tight ball, covering the stomach area to conserve heat. He will also put his nose underneath his tail. If a Siberian Husky is hot, he will lie on his back with his stomach exposed, so as to release heat from his body. Always ensure that your Siberian Husky has: A deeply-shaded place to lie in your garden during summer. A huge plus is if you can give him access to a tiled area indoors that they can escape to in the heat of the day.
Huge water bowls (big plastic baby baths or plastic kiddies swimming pools) that they can get into and splash their stomachs (again using the stomach area to control their body temperature) and wet their feet. If you have outside kenneling – then a great way yet inexpensive way to keep the kennels cool is to lay garden hose with irrigation spouts at 30mm intervals on the roof of the kennels, connect to your water supply and when it is hot – switch your home-made kennel cooling system on.
On very hot summer days (28°C +) hose your Siberian Husky down to the skin. It will make them feel SO much cooler. However, make sure that they dry before the cool of the evening, as a Siberian Husky whose coat does not properly dry can lead to hot spots and other skin irritations. If you are travelling in the heat of summer, wet a towel and let your Siberian Husky lie on the wet towel. Also wet behind their ears on their neck, under their arms and on the stomach area. Always ensure that your Siberian Husky has access to clean, fresh, cool water – changed daily or more often (depending on whether they have a separate drinking bucket to their splash bowl). Exercising your Siberian Husky in the South African summer months.
They are active in the cool hours, and they sleep during the heat of the day. Keeping an eye on temperatures (never higher than 10°C) AS WELL AS the humidity levels a good walk really earning morning (5am) and evening (after dark) will suffice for the summer months. NEVER walk/run your Siberian Husky in the heat of the day (10am – 5pm) during summer. A great alternative is also biking with your dog on the cooler summer days. Here’s a really simple guide to whether or not it is too hot for exercise your Siberian Husky during summer. If you, as the human – can wear a long tracksuit pants, a long-sleeved top as well as a tracksuit top, shoes and socks as well as a head covering and can run/bike without getting hot, then the temperature is OK to exercise your Siberian Husky. If the day is so hot that you cannot wear this amount of clothing, IT IS TOO HOT TO EXERCISE YOUR SIBERIAN HUSKY.
Remember, you can take off excess clothing, they CANNOT!!! During the rest of the day – ensure that the dogs have plenty of shade and fresh water, and they will snooze all day.