What is a sanitary haircut and why would my dog need it?

A sanitary haircut makes me think of Bubby, one of my in-laws’ dogs. He's a golden retriever and he's got this beautiful long cut. If he has diarrhea or if he gets an upset tummy, though, or even if he just gets in the pool, his hair gets matted. So a sanitary haircut is one in which we would shave the back of the legs and under the tail so that, as the dog defecates, they’re not going to get covered in feces. You could do the same around his genitals, sometimes around the face if they have a lot of long hair so they can't see. You can trim the hair from the eyes and around the mouth.

So by a sanitary haircut, what that means is we're shaving a little path for the pee and poop to come out. So, cleaning up the rear end. Many dogs will get so much hair over their rear that they'll get poop and urine stuck in there. It can cause a skin infection. It can be a mess, and of course, that's uncomfortable for them. So we want to make sure it's a clean, healthy environment in the rear end. So, sanitary trim is just shaving that hair off.

A sanitary haircut involves removing excess hair around a dog's bottom (anus) and, for female dogs, around the vulva. This helps keep these areas clean and prevents matting or soiling of the hair.

A sanitary haircut is where the hair from the rectum down to the male or female parts is trimmed up. This helps prevent any messes from accumulating there when they go to the bathroom.