I have trimmed small growth from my fig trees in the summer, and they appeared not to be damaged. It might be better for the tree to wait until December or January, but it will not kill the tree if you prune it now. For my trees, August was the end of the fruit season.

Can't tell what kind of fig it is without seeing the fruit. Can you post pictures of cut fruit plus whole ripe fruit? How does the fruit taste?

Here is a picture of the fruit..... It is super sweet with nice texture....never really ate figs before but they are delicious....

It is hard to ID a fig without a picture of the dominant leaf form. Can you send a photo of the leaf with the most common shape? I never think twice about pruning my figs anytime of the year (unless there are figs I'd loose) but I live in Virginia and do not have trees anywhere close to that size, nor do I have any idea what pests, bacteria, viruses, etc. you have up there in Stanford country.

Figs are difficult to identify, and what I had in Venice was supposed to be a "Texas Red", but I think that was just the name that the nursery gave it.

Yours appear to be a black or purple variety with an open eye and a very thin skin. Mine were similar except that they had a thicker skin and a closed eye, as I remember. You definitely do not have a dwarf! The good thing about a tall, large tree is that the birds will eat their fill at the top of the tree and leave the lower branches untouched, and those are easier for you to reach.

It is good to thin out the interior of the tree so that it can get better air flow, and this will make picking the figs easier as well.