Golden Retriever Shaving Question

Question
Hi Sharon,

My 6 year old Golden Retriever has a thick coat so I was woundering which is the easiest and best way to go about shaving him. I already purchased an Andis AG-2 pet clipper and have a size 10 blade that came with the clippers but I'm unsure about which blade to buy next. I heard that some use a size 40 blade in combination with a size 1 clip-on comb or a size 3 3/4 blade on its own. I'm just looking for the easiest way to shave him and I'm not really picky when it comes to the length, anywhere from 13 to 20 mm on the entire body (excluding the tail) would be great.

Do you have any suggestions?

Sincerely,

Tanya

Answer
Hello Tanya!
I do not recommend shaving goldens. Dogs with undercoat are not designed to be shaved, therefore it messes up their control of body temperature, and can sometimes leave them hotter than before. As for shedding reasons, they will still shed, just shorter hair everywhere. You run the risk of the hair not growing back properly or if even at all in some spots. But, if you still want to go ahead with shaving, you have a few options.
You could buy a 40 blade and a guard comb, that come in several different lengths, but I'm not sure that a guard comb would go through smoothly on a really thick coat. There is usually a lot of scissoring required with a longer cut using a guard comb.
I would recommend buying either a 3F blade or a 4F blade for grooming your golden. It will leave him on the longer side (those are the longer blades). Sometimes those blades can be slightly choppy on Goldens, so lots of scissoring is sometimes required too. If you want a short smooth looking cut all over, I would recommend using a 7F blade.
Here is a chart I made to tell you the approximate length the blades will leave the fur!
3F = 1 inch long
4F = 5/8 to 3/4 inch long
5F = 1/2 inch long
7F = 1/4 inch long

Make sure you are going WITH  the growth of the hair!
Hopefully this helped you out!