# So much dead hair!



## marie&tessa (May 29, 2011)

Hi,

We got Maggie from a shelter less than a week ago. She's a golden retriever / great pyrenees cross. Before she arrived at the shelter, she had been neglected by her former owner, and probably not brushed for a long time. They did some basic grooming at the shelter, but she was still a mess when I got her. I have removed the big knots she had (most of them at least, some are buried deep in her long tail hair) and she has less dead fur than she did. But even after much brushing, she still has clumps of dead hair all over. 

Here's what she looked like when I got her. 









I have been using one of these to untangle and remove dead hair:
http://www.petco.com/product/14590/Four-Paws-Ultimate-Touch-Mat-Removing-Combs.aspx

and this to remove dead hair:
http://www.petco.com/product/115379/ConairPro-Pet-Shedding-Blade.aspx

Is there anything I could do to speed up the process? 

Thanks!


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Try a shedding rake instead of the shedding blade. It gets into the coat better. Be extremely gentle, the tips are pointed and will hurt if you try to force it. Just stroke it over the coat and let it do the work, don't dig in.
http://www.petco.com/product/112137/PETCO-Dog-Grooming-Rake.aspx

Artie, a 20 pound terrier mix, was covered with tiny spindle shaped mats and a couple large ones on his muzzle and rear end when I got to puppy sit him for several months. I just pretended to brush him all over with an expensive polished tooth? tine? pin brush and one day all those tiny mats just came out. He is pretty much the size of one of your dog's fore legs though. More or less like this, NO round tips to the ends of the tines/teeth!
http://www.petco.com/product/14268/JW-Pet-GripSoft-Pin-Dog-Brush.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

You might be better off going to a groomer and getting a professional bath and blow out. I read of amazing coat recoveries if the wet coat is blown out with a high velocity dryer but if it does need to be cut down to get rid of the mats you can just keep up your good work and get the coat into good shape with regular brush/comb outs down to the skin and good food.

A beautiful coat isn't created in a day or a week and you do need to work on your relationship with her so be gentle and don't worry too much about mats and dead hair that aren't a health issue. I would have had a whole lot of punctures from Artie if I had decided those small mats had to go NOW. That huge butt mat was torture to leave alone but just brushing over the area got it out in time.


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## Sighthounds4me (Nov 7, 2010)

Shampoos like that are basically useless. Any shampoo is going to loosen hair while bathing.

I don't find blades like that to be very useful on double-coated dogs. They seem much better on single coated dogs with short hair. They don't get very deep into the coat and really pull much out. They are going to stay on the surface, thus not helping much.

If you can, I would recommend a high-velocity dryer, or a CLEAN shop vac on reverse. These will literally blow the coat out, scattering it in all directions! Outside is best! LOL Mine is indispensable, especially in spring.

Also, a good rake would help you, too. I like these styles: One and Two. Mine are not the "ergonomic" styles these are, but you get the idea. You should be able to find them at farm and fleet stores for very low prices. a good Greyhound or Poodle comb is good too. I finish with a pin brush. I am not a big fan of slicker brushes, because I find they create static. But your dog's coat is likely not as fine as mine, and you may not find the same problem.

Also, get yourself a good grooming spray to help detangle, prevent coat breakage, and prevent static. Again, these can be found at a farm and fleet store, especially among horse tack. Anything safe on a horse is safe on a dog.

The amount of blowing coat you are experiencing now is likely the result of a number of things: poor care for a while means shed hair built up, creating the need to remove it now. It's spring (assuming you are in the northern hemisphere!), so that winter growth has to go. Better nutrition may create for old coat to be replaced by new (we see that a lot in ex-racing Greyhounds). Stick with it, and you WILL see the results!

She is a beauty! Congrats on your new family member! Give her a tummy rub from me!


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

I bought a smaller HV dryer for my dogs but have read about the clean wet dry vacuum thing too. It is fun to blow the water out of the coat and blowing hair out is interesting if hard on the nose, eyes and mouth. Even with my smaller one I could coax the small mats Max occasionally gets out with it and it was interesting to see Sassy's skin. Her coat was so dense and tight I couldn't ever really see much of it.

If I had a big hairy dog and was determined to groom him myself an HV would be up there on my list. WAY up there. Might try your own blow dryer out to see if she tolerates it well enough or not as the noise and air movement sometimes make a dog flip out. You would rather know one way or the other how it might go before investing in a big purchase like that. You won't get much drying done and don't even try as the heat is really bad for the skin but it would help you get a feel for how it might work out.


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## Allyfally (Mar 4, 2011)

I dont have anything to add to the grooming issue, but I also have a Pyr mix, so I know all about how annoying the hair is. lol.

Also, I think she looks like a pure Pyr, I dont see any golden in her at all.


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## marie&tessa (May 29, 2011)

Allyfally said:


> I dont have anything to add to the grooming issue, but I also have a Pyr mix, so I know all about how annoying the hair is. lol.
> 
> Also, I think she looks like a pure Pyr, I dont see any golden in her at all.


I don't see much golden either, but she does not have the size of a pyrenees. She's just under 65 lbs and I read that female pyrenees are around 85 lbs. 

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am heading to the pet shop to get some better tools. That and some anti-skunk shampoo for Tessa :doh:


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## marie&tessa (May 29, 2011)

I finally bought a shedding rake yesterday and what a difference! I think Maggie must be a few pounds lighter now. And she's much prettier.

Thanks!


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Glad the rake worked. Different tools work better for some people than others, sometimes you just have to try a different tool. 

Since I have a digital scale that will give me grams I do weigh the hair sometimes.

Sassy's all time high was 20 grams of undercoat, Max lost 14 grams of mostly undercoat the other day and what looked like an equal amount was scissored off his ears, under his ears and feet after his bath! That wasn't weighed though.


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## Allyfally (Mar 4, 2011)

marie&tessa said:


> I don't see much golden either, but she does not have the size of a pyrenees. She's just under 65 lbs and I read that female pyrenees are around 85 lbs.
> 
> Thanks everyone for the advice. I am heading to the pet shop to get some better tools. That and some anti-skunk shampoo for Tessa :doh:


Thats the average, but not every dog is the same. Theres tons of pure Pyrs that are about that size. How old is she? They dont fully stop growing and filling out until they're a few years old. Falcor is 4 now, and it seems like he weighed 60lbs FOREVER. But at his last vet appointment he was finally up to 88lbs.


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## Shandwill (Jul 23, 2010)

I don't know what I would do without my shedding rake! I would love to try one of the v-shaped rakes, too. Maggie looks like a pure Pyr to me, too, and she is a lovely girl. Congrats!


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## marie&tessa (May 29, 2011)

Allyfally said:


> Thats the average, but not every dog is the same. Theres tons of pure Pyrs that are about that size. How old is she? They dont fully stop growing and filling out until they're a few years old. Falcor is 4 now, and it seems like he weighed 60lbs FOREVER. But at his last vet appointment he was finally up to 88lbs.


You may be right. I thought her 60-65 lbs was too low below average but we took her to her vet appointment today and the vet said she was really underweight. She looked skinny to us, but the shelter said she was ok. The vet thinks she should gain at least another 10 lbs to be a healthy weight. She is approximately 2 years old. 
We're not sure exactly who said she was a cross with a golden. She has had at least two families before ending up at the shelter so maybe someone made a mistake at some point.


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## Irishman (May 13, 2011)

All I have to say is - if this is what she looks like with dead hair and neglect, I can't wait for the pics when you have her nursed back to health. She is one beautiful dog!


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