# Anyone succeeded in reducing how much your dog sheds?



## Guest (May 4, 2014)

Now, I understand dogs have to shed. But do they Really need a whole new coat every week?!? I feel like that's exactly what mine are doing:/

They are a husky mix and a border collie mix (go figure). I do get them to the groomer's regularly where they get washed and furminated. I don't brush them at home too often because it just creates so much mess and takes so much time that it's more economical for me to take them to the groomers.

Other that the brushing, I've tried switching their food to raw because I heard it may reduce shedding. It's second month, and no change. Has that worked for anyone? 
Or, does anyone have a link to a study or at least a trial that showed a correlation between a diet and shedding?

Tired of fighting dog hair evrrrrwhere!

Thank you!!!


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## Sarah~ (Oct 12, 2013)

I think there is a furminator you can buy and use at home, but I'm not positive and I've never used it. I have a GSD, I brush him outside 3x a week and as long as I am consistent it really isn't so bad.


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## Guest (May 4, 2014)

Hi Sarah!
Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of a yard right now, so I have to brush them indoors:/ we have a furminator brush that attaches to the vacuum. Do you use a regular, hand-held brush? If so, what kind?


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## Sarah~ (Oct 12, 2013)

Oh, that makes brushing a bit harder if you have to do it inside. I use a shedding blade, a pin brush and a slicker brush (I'm pretty sure that's what it's called, it's like a pin brush with smaller pins and a lot more of them). I also like to use a flea comb after all of that, it's time consuming for a large dog but I like to make sure there aren't any mats on my GSD. I have heard a lot of people having a lot of success with an undercoat rake as well.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

While I've seen diet make a big difference in EXCESSIVE shedding, a BC mix and a Husky mix are gonna shed heavily reguardless, the only way your gonna be able to keep it down is by brushing them regularly at home too. I have a comb called a hair buster, its a normal comb with a rubber sleeve on it, I love it because it pulls out the hair and catches it in the sleeve so I can just pull the fur off the comb in a klumps and not have the hair flying all over the place. 

The hair buster is made for rabbits and cats, but I love it for my dogs


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## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

One odd thing I found helped a bit (though it doesn't slow down the shedding, it prevents it from getting on the floor so much), try to teach your dog to take some vacuuming. I only ever managed a thorough dog-vacuum with our foster Diesel, and a bit with Dexter (odd, since Caeda has the least issues....she just hates the vacuum!). There is a Dyson vacuum attachment out there that apparently is specifically for grooming/vacuuming your pets, I've never blown the cash on it though. A good brushing and a vacuuming though seemed to help minimize the tumbleweeds though!


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## Sarah~ (Oct 12, 2013)

I wish Eko would take vacuuming, but he and the vacuum are mortal enemies. He tries to rip it out of my hands!


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## WonderBreadDots (Jun 26, 2012)

I have a Bernese Mountain Dog. She sheds a lot, but to cut down on the amount of tumbleweeds in the house I give her a quick brush every morning when I take her out for her first potty. I use an undercoat rake with teeth that spin. To empty the brush all you have to do is flick your hand like your shaking off water, and it's outside!

If giving a quick brush every morning isn't an option what about a good brushing once a week, even if you have to do it inside? Tula is blowing her coat right now so I am vacuuming twice a day, but every other day I brush her out at night while watching tv then vacuum it up right away.


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## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

Sarah~ said:


> I wish Eko would take vacuuming, but he and the vacuum are mortal enemies. He tries to rip it out of my hands!


I know what that is like...Caeda used to be like that, and she'll still get pretty annoyed if we don't ask her to move if we are vacuuming around where she is (I think she figures we're taunting her with it). We did do some work on her to get her to the point she doesn't automatically try to kill the vacuum though lol, which is good. Luckily being short haired and blowing her coat twice a year, the vacuuming isn't too necessary for her. Dexter took a little bit of work, but is SO food driven, it went quick. Diesel on the other hand pretty much threw himself under the shop vac when I was vacuuming the basement when he was down there with me...it actually took some work to be able to vacuum the floor without him in the way lol. He loved it (thankfully! he was a BIG shedder).


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

If you stroke then clean the tool with the other hand and stuff into an old clean yogurt/margarine tub with a hole cut into the lid most of the fur is caught. Just vacuum after and things shouldn't be too awful. I'd get a shedding rake. It looks like a tiny metal garden rake with teeth at right angles to a straight back attached to the handle. Bet whatever brush you have isn't getting down and really cleaning out old undercoat.

Do you bathe the dogs between grooming sessions? I have found that brushing the dogs dry during the course of a walk after a bath does wonders. I don't have the technique or the great dryers groomers have but this works as least as well as my little dryer which is powerful enough to spray water and send a lot of dead hair flying. Faster too and rather than having my dogs be bored standing still we are going for a walk at the same time! This treatment stopped Sassy's lab type hair for a week or so but made no difference with Max's ever dropping spaniel type coat. I can wash them outside in warm water by attaching the garden hose to the kitchen sink. No hair in house, no wet towels, no wet dog smell, wet dog zoomies are outside so they don't slip on the tile. Win win! I collect the hair as there is so much of it the neighbors would be irritated about the globs of fur left on their property!

Max was on raw for 6 years and his coat improved tremendously but no improvement in hair in the house. He doesn't shed, he loses coat continuously throughout the year. We do get less Max hair in food though, it doesn't seem to float as long anyway. Little Ginger has been here nearly 10 months and she sheds plenty as well on raw. Her coat is medium length with some undercoat and flat to the body with a fringed belly, neck and legs and ridiculously long feathering on rear end and tail. I don't know yet whether her coat is like Max's or going to blow like Sassy's. I suspect if dry skin is the problem then raw is likely to help but dogs have a lot of hair and it needs to come out once a year.

One wonderful year Sassy went with us on a 3 week long camping trip and shed out completely. She lost clumps of hair that we removed during frequent grooming sessions and once home there was zero Sassy hair on the floor until next spring. Heaven. Light period has a lot to do with how dogs shed. Great excuse to go for a long trip!


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## doggiepop (Feb 27, 2014)

i don't think you should try to stop or slow down the shedding. take your dogs outside and brush them often.
i brush my dog 3 to 4 times a week. my dog started shedding heavy within the last few days. today i
brushed him in the morning and again around 4:00 pm.

if you're in a position where you can leave the hair laying around after you brush your dog do it.
the birds will collect it and use it for their nests.


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## doggiepop (Feb 27, 2014)

i just read where you said you don't have a yard. you don't need a yard to brush
a dog outside. if you can't brush them outside brush them in the bathroom and close 
the door. do you have a basement? put them in the car and drive somewhere where
you can brush them.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Birds don't use the fur from my dogs. Spoiled rich California birds apparently.


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## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

Ranger just started 'blowing' his coat this week (he's not got a huge coat, but definitely notice a difference). I take him outside to give him a good furminator brushing because the hair goes everywhere (If you don't have a backyard, then your could always bring the brush with you while you're going for a walk and stop for a break at a park/etc). I use the furnimator to start and after so long will give him a run over with this:










It collects the loose hair that didn't get caught in the furminator teeth. Both brushes are used lightly to prevent discomfort. Once I am done he gets a brush over with one of these:










which takes off more loose hair. As a final touch he is wiped over with a hand towel which spreads any oils, picks up dander/loose hair/etc and shines him up. 

He's bathed when he's dirty or every month-ish. During the summer he's in water a lot and gets hosed down if he's dirty, hot, or salty from the ocean. I find a good omega supplement also helps immensely.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Raw could help depending on what you were feeding. Usually increasing omega-3 intake and feeding them high quality meat will help a lot.

I have a pom-x so he is a seasonal shedder... but he does not shed much besides the one or two weeks where he is losing his coat. Once he was on raw, and I saw less hairs falling throughout the year (at the shelter I used to get several strands from just petting him).

During the times when he is shedding heavily (like right now), I just use a slicker and brush him about twice a week instead of once every couple of weeks. I know most pom owners suggest brushing twice a week, but it was never necessary with my guy (he never gets mats and he doesn't shed that much).

I hope that helps


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## LuvMyAngels (May 24, 2009)

Frequent brushing is the only thing that seems to work here. I go over Buster with an undercoat rake, then a comb and finally a flea comb. The more loose, dead coat that comes out while brushing means less on my floors. 

Outside is best but if you're going to brush indoors mist the coat lightly with plain water and you'll have less flying through the air.


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## melundie (Aug 2, 2011)

I use a slicker brush on Colby. We use a comb on Ace. Frequent brushing is the only thing that makes a big difference. Both dogs also get an Omega 3 supplement in the spring/summer which is not only supposed to help with allergies, but with shedding as well. I've never actually calculated the amount of hair that comes off them from year to year, so I have no idea if it actually works for shedding. It does help with allergies though!


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## TheOtherCorgi (Sep 18, 2013)

Yes. 

I switched to a high quality fish based grain free foot. 

Started supplementing with Salmon Oil. 

Started giving Nupro every day. 

After about a month, I started seeing HUGE improvements on shedding. 

I've heard people say, "Oh, it's hormonal." And, to a certain extent, that is true. Like when they just blow coat. 

But, IMHO, excess shedding can be cut down drastically AND there are ways to grow hair on a door knob and keep a dog or bitch that would otherwise be out of coat in a show-ready state. I think that alot of dogs who shed an excess of coat could do with more oil in their diet, and an animal based oil is best. 

The last show I went to, we took the point, AND I got lots of compliments on my girls coat.


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## Guest (May 6, 2014)

Wow, thank you all for comments and pictures! Definitely going brush shopping soon! I'll try brushing me after we run on a trail, when they are tired and submissive and, who knows, may be the "rich spoiled California birds" will find use for the mounds of fur we leave by the trail


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Ranger's brushes are for a short haired dog. You need to get under the undercoat and pull it out, get a rake of some variety of this. And please don't leave the dog hair on the trail, that is littering.
http://www.petsmart.com/dog/brushes-combs-blow-dryers/top-paw-dog-shedding-rake-zid36-12170/cat-36-catid-100097


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## doggiepop (Feb 27, 2014)

1 >>>>> ahh, i think you should brush the dogs.

2 >>>>> you could teach your dogs to stand and lay on their sides when being groomed.



Elana said:


> Wow, thank you all for comments and pictures! Definitely going brush shopping soon!
> 
> 1 >>>>> I'll try brushing me after we run on a trail, <<<<<
> 
> ...


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## titiaamor (Nov 17, 2011)

I use a furminator (no vacuum attachment) at home. It's awesome! Gets the undercoat off.


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## Joseph Watson (May 13, 2014)

You should remember that the natural development and growth of new hair is accompanied by the shedding of old hair. Shedding may be abnormal (excessive) if it results in obvious loss of the hair coat and bald spots. Abnormal shedding may be caused by bacterial infection. However, if the shedding is not accompanied by bald patches or symmetric hair loss, it is likely the shedding is just a stage in the natural replacement of the hair coat.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs (Jun 3, 2007)

I don't like the furminator for any coat longer than a Lab. It can cut the top coat, and it leave it looking/feeling dead. 

I bathe and blowdry (I work at a groomer, so I have access that others don't, but there are also DIY dog wash stations at some pet stores) my dog as much as she will tolerate. I give a quick brush with a slicker brush, then use an undercoat rake, slicker again.


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## workerant (Feb 28, 2011)

Elana said:


> Hi Sarah!
> Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of a yard right now, so I have to brush them indoors:/


Ah, there's no reason you couldn't brush your dog while holding them on a leash. Outside.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Agree, leash the dog and brush outside. Just be considerate and collect as much of the hair as possible to avoid littering.


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