help they shaved my aussie

Question
Hi I'm sad I took my aussie for his first hair summer trim and they shaved him bald I live in sacramento california so he appears to be comfortable and I know its just hair and it will grfow back hopefully real soon I think it was just a misunderstanding between me and the groomer. Is there aything I can do for the shaved coat I have read several stories good and bad I hope his coat is not ruined he's a blue merle with a beautiful long coat he's  only 15 months old should I bathe and condition the coat more any sugesgtions would be really belpful

Answer
How unfortunate.  The coat may or may not grow back exactly as it was, but it will grow back eventually and look pretty much ok - my Aussie had to have a small section of her butt shaved due to an infection, and now you would never know that it had been touched, so let's keep our fingers crossed:-) You really don't have to bathe or condition the coat any more than usual, but you may want to keep the dog out of the direct sun for a while, as the coat is what would have protected him from the heat and sunburn, and now that protection has been removed.  Likewise, keep him out of harsh plants, grasses and burrs that he now has no protection against.  It's a fallacy that shaving keeps the dog cooler.  Long hair with an undercoat acts as insulation against both heat and cold.  Really, the best way to keep a double coated dog cool in summer is to shed out the excess dead undercoat, and keep up with that.  Your groomer should have known that, and should have questioned you if there was any doubt at all what you meant.  (I was a groomer, and you never shave a dog without first informing the owner what that really means!) The word "trim" is not equivalent to "shave" - and unless a dog is so heavily matted that there is no choice, shaving is not a good option for double coated dogs, but I still see this happening all the time.  I know you didn't do it by choice, though, so I'm sorry it happened to your dog.  Time will, hopefully, get him back to his normal handsome self.