I am going to take control of my dad’s gigantic lab. He is fed but not much else has been done. I am hoping to get him healthy enough to run with me. So I was wondering if it was a good idea to shave off all his hair in order to see in he has a skin condition of any kind and to help in the deticking and defleaing of the specail friend.
Also has anyone helped a dog loose wieght? I need ideas because I want him thinner before I run with him.
How old is the dog?
About 6 years.
Same as ours.
On the weight, just cut the rations and get more exercise going.
I wouldn’t shave a lab. Just wash it real good with flea shampoo. Give it a good combing. They are real low maintenance dogs.
Best dog God ever made. I’m on my third. A yellow female. What color is yours?
Yes, you should definitely shave the dog. Apparently massage and road abrasions would be deadly with any hair remaining.
Tibsy,
As a proud lab owner - DON’T shave a lab. They have two coats. One is a down coat protection against cold air/water. You live in Texas and climatic conditions are different from Labrador, but shaving can then possibly expose the dog to sunburn and certain other skin conditions.
Getting a dog thinner is not different than with a human. You have to burn more calories than take in. Therefore exercise more and feed less. Get low cal dog food and exercise the dog more. It’s really a no brainer.
With the lab, realize they are not designed for hot climates. I run with my lab on the nature trails in fall/spring and x-country ski with him in winter up here in the Great White North. In summer he basically sleeps around the back yard because it’s too hot for him.
Don’t know about labs living in warm weather climates, but it’s a sin by our Great White North why of thinking to even suggest shaving this kind of dog. Sort of like messing with Texas.
But if you insist, give the local vet a call and ask if it’s OK. Seems to me I read that it shouldn’t be done for the sunburn effect and believe it or not, the down coat has some sort of a warm weather cooling effect.
Can’t you Just tell him, “slow Waaaay down, boy”?
My boy is black. He’s a big squishy pal.
Just take it easy on the exercise until he gets most of the weight off or you might have a cripple instead of a fatty. Labs are not very heat tolerant, so take it easy in the heat. The bigger they are, the less heat tolerance and more likely to have hip problems.
Don’t clip him, unless he actually has an open sore. Then just shave the sore area. Since dogs do not sweat, clipping a dog does not make them cooler. Their coat is insulation for heat, sun and cold.
Support Crew
Tibbs,
I take my doggie to petsmart to get shaved every month in the summertime and he loves it. I never found out of the tick problem untill I had him shaved and he was on a tick care program. He seems to like getting shaved and yes he is a Lab all 130lbs of him.
If you can, walk him near some water for cooling and water fetch sports. We walk our near an irrigation canal. Kind of a doggy tri-swim fetch and run.
you don’t have a dog…why do you want to know really… 
I too have a black lab, she’s a beauty…big, about 88 lbs and not fat…I live in Florida and she is not very heat tolerant…But as lab owners know, they love to play and no matter how much they might be dying from the heat, will keep right on going…I think my dog would run herself to death running with me if I let her…she runs with me in late fall winter and early spring…Over the summer, she’s just a bum!
Ok I got a new boyfriend and he is really hairy…
I saw “I am going to take control of my dad’s gigantic lab” and assumed meth lab.
Take him to the vet, get him cleaned up, and follow the vet’s instructions. I shaved my dog(chow/lab mix) one summer because he had really bad fleas, and he was not happy. Besides that, he looked like a pot-bellied pig.
My lab mix was having knee probs a few years ago and the vet suggested she could lose a few lbs. When I asked the best way to get the weight off the vet’s response was “They can’t scoop the food out themselves”. Needless to say, I got the point…
Actually finding (literally) a second dog has been the best way to keep the weight off of both of them! 
A meth lab? Wat do you think I am white trash? Wait I am. Never mind.
What do you guys feed your dogs?
My golden was a stray when I found her. She was skinny and her fur was patchy and dry. The vet recommended putting her on Eukanuba to get her back to health and then switching to Iams. She’s currently on the iams weight control (I overdid it.)
Puppy was also a flea bag covered in ticks. A combo of Sentinel heartworn medication (with flea control) and Frontline Top Spot works great. Not a flea or tick since.
FWIW - I asked the vet about shaving her, and she advised against it.
I have a siberian husky that also does not like the heat much. But he loves to run, so we run all year long and he can out last anyone (its nothing for him to go for 20+ miles while am training).
I usually strap a dog back pack on him with a water bottle and a foldable water dish. half way through we take a water break and he digs in. I think he gets half in his mouth and half all over himself. either way he quenches his thirst and cools down.
during the summer he gets about 1- 1 1/2 cups of food and in the winter he get 3+ cups. A high quality food is very important to keep him in runnning shape. I think he eats better thank me.