To have pretended not to notice the shaved dog?

[SmellyToilet]

PIL are extremely attention seeking. They believe they are practically celebrities in their local area but the truth is they’re largely unliked. I have had many comments along the lines of “poor you, having to put up with those two as in laws” etc

One thing FIL loves to do is get his long haired border collie completely shaved twice a year. He makes out he does it for the dog’s comfort but it’s clearly for attention as he suddenly walks the dog more after it has being shaved and practically invites comments on it. The dog looks ridiculous.

The first time I saw the dog shaved I was horrified and asked what had happened (assumed dog had been shaved by a vet or something). He was grinning from ear to ear and said it was dog’s summer outfit.

The second time I told him border collies are not meant to be shaved. He (again grinning and loving the attention) said “it’s my dog, I’ll do what I want with my dog.” Fair enough. Around this time other people were asking me what on earth he’d done to his dog. I suggested they not ask him about it as he was looking for attention, they agreed with me.

A few weeks ago I popped in and dog was totally shaved again. I patted her on the head and didn’t mention it. FIL then said “have you noticed anything different?” I said “no, what?” And he grinned and pointed to the dog. I looked at the dog and said “no, I don’t see anything different”. He said “how can you not see it! She’s got her summer outfit on!” I replied “oh right, no I never noticed” and changed the subject. He went in a right mood over it and is still bringing it up now saying stuff like “toilet won’t notice our new sofa, she doesn’t notice stuff” etc

Someone in shop came to me laughing asking how I’d managed to upset FIL as apparently he’s been in there fuming about me.

DH is now saying “can’t you just play along and tell him the dog looks great, or stupid or anything just to show him you noticed, just to keep the peace?”

AIBU to carry on not noticing?? The bloke drives me insane.

Well done, your response has exposed him for the attention seeking toddler that he is.

The dog isn’t bald, I’d say in human hair shaving it’s shaved on a number 2 if that makes sense?

Well done making about you and your dislike of the father in law. What about the dog? What an insane thread

What more could she have done, then? I mean, she can try reporting to the RSPCA but I can tell you now they won't be interested unless OP can prove the dog is at real risk of harm.

I'd be leaning into this stupidity.

'Shaved? You can't tell they've done anything DFIL. I'd go ask for money back. You've been done'

This is ignoring the blatant issues that certain animals shouldn't be clipped.

What a wally!

I’d find out which groomers he uses as that’s recommended for that breed. Fur is insulation.

*not recommended

Poor dog and how utterly tedious having to deal with this knob man child .

FIL then said “have you noticed anything different?” I said “no, what?” And he grinned and pointed to the dog. I looked at the dog and said “no, I don’t see anything different”.

Should have looked at the dog and "Nothing different, you're still using your poor dog to be an attention seeking fuckwit"

You would be unreasonable

A professional dog groomer would surely know if this is right or not, and refuse to do it if it would be harmful for the animal?

You would be unreasonable NOT to keep doing this. Keep not noticing stuff, it annoys them and it's funny.

Poor dog. Not because of the aesthetics but because their coat has a function. And in this heat! What a fucking idiot.

Send him info about it. And stupid groomers for doing it.

Not feeding the attention seeking makes it more likely that he'll stop this ridiculous practice.

Tactical ignoring can be very potent and more useful than drawing attention to the behaviour.

That's a Smiths song from 1989 Isn't it?

My god, he sounds like such an arse.

He sounds like a dick. Please go on not noticing.

I suggest contacting your local RSPCA and/or Dog's Trust. The dog in question will have no way of regulating its body heat and in current heat, will risk sunburn and/or heat stroke.

I hate it when people do things to their pets purely for their own entertainment. I've seen this with people taking hamsters to hamster shows on public transport when the hamsters obviously are not going to get anything from going to the show apart from stressed out.

Your FIL sounds like a dick.

However there is now quite a bit of research going around debunking the long coats keeping dogs cool myth.

I had not realised shaving double coated breeds was a possibility until the recent heatwave. I follow an equine scientist, David marlin on Facebook, he sometimes posts stuff on dogs too as a lot of equestrians have dogs too.

He recommended the following article, written by a vet nurse and groomer weighing up the pros and cons for shaving a double coated breed. The article includes references to multiple academic studies looking at heat dissipation/insulation in long haired/double coated dogs.

theeducatedgroomer.com/shaving-double-coated-breeds/?fbclid=IwAR3rGZQKTMKmpGBVSR5xrtClfIjCU_1Iec0cFPQlPvu83Jpe4OhitezCa0M&fs=e&s=cl

*The TLDR version seemed to be, yes clipping the coat can make a dog look daft, partly depending on where in the growth cycle the guard hairs are, they can take a very long time to grow back. Shaving can reveal issues hidden by a long coat (eg patchiness due to age/thyroid problems), but won’t actually damage the coat.

However, dogs are definitely cooler with less coat. Under the coat the dog is warmer than the outside temperature. Don’t scalp your dog as they need some short hair to protect it from sun/external damage.*

Thank heavens someone said it. So much misunderstanding about how dogs thermoregulate on the internet. I probably would've chosen a less contentious source than Marlin, but the point remains.

The commonly circulated thermal imaging scan of a lion clipped dog, which people use to support the "don't clip" argument, just demonstrates that most people don't understand how thermal imaging works.

No decent groomer would shave a collie.It’s their way of regulating their own body heat.Tell that to your ignorant FIL.

The RSPCA didn't give a fuck about a dying animal in My garden. Kept nagging me to take it to the vets. They won't give a toss about this.

Please keep ignoring the dumb shit, this is clearly giving him the rage so is the perfect response to his attention seeking!!