# Shedding all year round



## momof4girls (Jun 30, 2007)

My daughter has a 10 month old pup that she rescued at 4 month. We are not sure what the mix is. They said the mother was a boxer mix but she looks nothing like a boxer-more like a small german shephard. She sheds all the time-alot. She is really shedding now probably because this is the time of the year when dogs shed. Has anyone tried the D-shed shampoo and conditioner? Do you think it works? We switched her dog food to California Natural 3 months ago hoping that that would help, but it hasn't. Someone suggested Innova. Any thoughts on that? 
Thanks


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Most indoor dogs will shed year-round if they shed at all.

I haven't found anything that helps as much as frequent brushing with a brush that's appropriate for the coat-type.


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## 5Dogs2Cats (Mar 16, 2008)

Upgrading the food can help, as well as adding fish oil and Vitamin E to her diet. With that said, it's not going to stop all shedding, it will just reduce it. 

I've also found that the Furminator works wonders on our dogs. We brush weekly, unless one of them is blowing their coat and then we brush daily.


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## WicketLeia (Oct 15, 2007)

Furminator! Furminator!!!


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## Kittie Gee (Mar 11, 2008)

Getting a good professional groom will also do wonders because most places have these wonderful velocity dryers that get a lot of the coat out also - plus deshedding shampoos and conditioners, then they are doing a lot of the brushing for you also. Unfortunately short haired dogs shed a lot more than long haired dogs because the life of the hair is shorter.


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## britishbandit (Dec 11, 2006)

Brushing a lot helps, but also adding Salmon Oil pills with omega 3 helps too. My own dogs used to shed a lot (a pile the size of a Boston Terrier daily...LOL) until I started giving them the pills. I give Tysa (at 85lbs) two/day, and PJ (120lbs) three/day. Now they shed much much less. 
I just get them at the local pharmacy, costs me about $10 for a 100 pack, sometimes there's a special where you get 120 for that price too. They're much easier to give to medium-giant breeds though, toy-small breeds sometimes have trouble swallowing them because they are so big. I just tuck the pills in pieces of hot dogs, the dogs don't even know there's a pill in there. LOL They just think they're getting an honest treat.


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## CrazyDog (Oct 16, 2007)

momof4girls said:


> My daughter has a 10 month old pup that she rescued at 4 month. We are not sure what the mix is. They said the mother was a boxer mix but she looks nothing like a boxer-more like a small german shephard. She sheds all the time-alot. She is really shedding now probably because this is the time of the year when dogs shed.


Some breeds of dogs seem to shed more then others. If she indeed has GSD in her then you will be looking at a lot of shedding year around. First, I would recommend getting a good shedding comb. The furminator works wonders for my dogs too. 



momof4girls said:


> Has anyone tried the D-shed shampoo and conditioner? Do you think it works?


I've used them and don't recommend them. They didn't really work for me or at least I didn't see a significant difference when using them.



momof4girls said:


> We switched her dog food to California Natural 3 months ago hoping that that would help, but it hasn't. Someone suggested Innova. Any thoughts on that?


California Natural and Innova are made buy the same company, Natura. California Natural is Natura's Hypo-allergenic line and has limited ingredients. Unless you are using there salmon or fish formula you won't be getting the Omega-3 oils which help with shedding. The other formula's contain sunflower oil which is a Omega-6 oil and less affective on shedding IMO.

Innova is Natura's regular line of food, at least thats how I see it. Most of the Innova dog foods have some type of fish in the ingredients which will give the Omega-3 oils.

If you use either food I would still recommend you add a salmon oil capsule to her food. You can get many different types of salmon oil supplements from pretty much any pet store. California Natural also sells a skin and coat liquid you pour over the food, but it looks like it has flaxseed oil in it which is a Omega-3 but it goes bad quickly and you have to keep it in the refrigerator. Salmon oil supplements are just easier for me and they seem to work WONDERS on my dog!

Also, with most food changes you probably won't see much of a difference right off the bat. It can usually take a few months before you see a big difference in REDUCED shedding. ALL dogs shed so you can never completely get rid of it. 

With all that said my dog used to SHED and I mean shed A LOT! You could just touch her and hair would fall off. I switched her to a high quality food. She is on Wellness SuperMix5, although Natura products are good too. I add Salmon oil to her food and with in the last six month her shedding has almost come to a halt.   I take her out back and brush her once a week with the furminator and bath her every three months or so. You also got some other great advice in the above posts but this is what works for my dog. 

Hope this helps out some and Good Luck!


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