Trimming Whiskers

[Justicemom]

Do you think whisker trimming has any adverse effect? The reason I'm asking is that one of our pet dog magazines has run an article about it in response to a statement issued by the UK Kennel Club:
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=3477&d=pg_dtl_art_news&h=240&f=0
It's not commonly carried out on shelties here these days but was done routinely in the past but plenty of other breeds do it. My friends who have breeds with hairy faces don't think it causes a problem and I don't think dog's whiskers are a major sense organ (unless the dog has poor sight in which case they might help). Certainly Revel's are so short and bristly I doubt they would be effective in any case!!

I don't want to stir up controversy, I was just interested if you have noticed any adverse effect following trimming or do the shelties manage as well without whiskers as with?

Nope I have notice no difference at all. Diva has trimmed whiskers right now because she is shown on occ. Justice and Ember, I leave the whiskers alone.

I let Diva's grow out when she is not shown . Does not make a difference. She is the fastest and most agilie of all my dogs. No loss of balance, senses or anything. I really don't think it hurts them. Trust me , Ember and Diva are wimps and they don't move a muscle.

I leave them alone only because I dislike to pokey stage when they grow out and I don't feel like cutting them every week.

 

[BarbV]

I don't trim whiskers.....they don't bother me one way or the other. I honestly can't say what they contribute to modern day dogs, but I tend to think they have whiskers for a reason, so leave them alone.

 

[seashel]

Thanks for your replies, it made interesting reading. A lot of people here thought it odd that a statement needed putting out, but I believe it started with 'research' done by someone for a Newfoundland Club in the US.

My personal feelings are that dogs' whiskers are pretty much superflous now and they have other senses which are much more important, with the whiskers being a back up. In one of the discussions about it, the argument against cutting whiskers was that if you tapped the whiskers, the dog would automatically shut it's eyes. An awful lot of people with different breeds tried it and few said they found this response. I didn't have any response with mine either.

I probably would chose not to trim, not because I thought it would affect the dogs but like others have said, I wouldn't like sharp bristles when they started to regrow! Revel's naturally stubbly whiskers are bad enough!