IMHO it’s a waste of time.
I have seen it done, it’s like most things in keep, and you want to establish and maintain consistency. If you are going to shave him/her the day of the race, it makes since to do it through the keep. So you know if you are shaving 3 ounces vs a half pound off the poor dog. I am pretty damn sure, you could shave a bulldog down from his head to his nuts and never get close to a half pound of one.

People develop their own methods and superstitions, some steeped in experince other in tradition. Six in one half dozen in the other, at the end of the day, I don’t think it hurts anything other than his pride.

I am just not going to look at my dog looking like he got ahold of my hair clippers. Really if it’s the very hair on his back that keeps him on the end of a chain, I am thinking I have bigger fish to fry.

Overheating is ALLWAYS a function of conditioning. It is going to happen; it is more of a function of when. Words to the wise athletes make a HARD distinction between “conditioning” and “training”….