# Furminator, yay or nay?



## chimunga (Aug 29, 2014)

I'm curious where people land on the furminator argument. I have one for Watson, but I use it rarely. I use to to "trim" his butt fluff, when I don't have the patience to actually cut it. And he's dropping his coat now, so I've been using it to help the process along a little bit. I know some people swear by them, and some say they are terrible for a dog's coat.


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## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

I didn't like it. for me it felt more like a stripper tool which wasn't wanted.. I get what needs to be done pulling out under coat with a traditional rake and slicker.


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## luv mi pets (Feb 5, 2012)

I have found it depends on the hair coat. On longer hair dogs I find a rake to work better at getting to the undercoat. On horses, I love them! On dogs like labs, Rotts and dogs with similar haircoat, I like the furminator. On short hair dogs like my Doberman, I prefer to use a rubber curry comb. Oh and on a short hair cat, I will use a furminator. On a long hair cat, I like using a long rake. I will say be careful when using a furminator on any animal. I have seen some nasty cuts caused by them and the pet had to have stitches. The other thing is do not keep going over the same spot on an animal. It can cause irritation to the skin. In conclusion depends on the length of haircoat.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs (Jun 3, 2007)

The furminator is not recommended for a double coated dog. It can cut the coat and can cause issues the same way shaving a double coated dog can. I would not use it on his body at all. I personally just use an undercoat rake and comb to get hair out.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

I asked the same question ages ago. This thread I started may or may not help: http://www.dogforums.com/dog-grooming-forum/101764-what-does-cut-coat.html


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## Sandakat (Mar 7, 2015)

It doesn't work for long coated animals, but we used it on Cameron, our smooth collie, and it was great. We also use it on the short coated cat. I didn't notice it tearing Cameron's fur at all and it got out the undercoat just like in the commercials.


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

It works nicely on my terrier, who has a coarse short smooth fur coat. Gets out the undercoat and loose hair without doing any damage. OTOH it just rips up the hair on my schnauzery dog - his hair is kind of nappy and fuzzy. So he does not get furminated.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

I'm in the camp that say they aren't good for a dog's coat. Are you going to ruin a coat by using it once in a while? No, but it will cut guard hairs and make them stick up and out. I think there are better tools that do the same thing more gently. I also don't like how harsh they seem to be on the animal's skin. I do use one for my bunnies occasionally and they hate it - it's heavy and scrapes their skin.

I use stripping knives for my dog (and bunnies). For thicker coats with more undercoat I would use a rake as well.


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

I liked my shedding rake just fine. Used it for Faxon and Padfoot.


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## Analogdog (Apr 3, 2012)

I finally bought one for our Beagle Quincy aka 'Fuzz' he has always had loose fur that would come out when petted, and would fill the vacuum canister. The Furminator controls all this fur in a few sweeps once a week. A total Yeaaa!


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

Never. It's a blade on a handle. It cuts the coat. You'll have a ratty, thin looking coat. Groomer I know uses it on terriers instead of hand-stripping sometimes.


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## MelTruffles (Jan 27, 2015)

I took Sherman to the groomers to get the whole furminator treatment. They used the shampoo and blew off the hair in a high velocity dryer, used the condition, repeat, then dried him throughly and used the furminator.

Sherman has a JRT or chi like coat though, so I felt comfortable with it. I also purchased my own furminator to use at home. To be honest, I don't think it's helped much with the shedding. Not that he sheds excessively, just more than I like. Just by using the furminator, I would probably never consider it for Truffles, and he's single coated.:redface:


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## Alla (Mar 25, 2015)

Furminator is the only thing that gets the undercoat out from both my long hair cat and dog. Never noticed it cutting any guard hairs, and they always look super plushy and feel very soft after.

Edit: tried the rake again yesterday. Dog seems to mind it a little bit less than the furminator. It's nowhere near as effective though. But I think I'll keep using it as a daily brush while she's shedding, with the furminator used weekly or something (with a session of chicken lol). 

The cat couldn't stand either one.


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## heidizag (Dec 1, 2014)

I have what I think is an off-brand Furminator (I live in Europe) and I use it because it's what my groomer recommended, but not more than once every 14 days, and only using a particular angle that she showed me. For Argos who has a smooth coat that sheds beyond all description, it has helped us. He gets uncomfortable with his coat because he is trying to shed and it is just not coming off his body, he gets itchy and frustrated with it. The Furminator seems to really help to the point that he jumps up and down with joy when he sees me take it out! I also have a regular brush that the groomer recommended for every day use as being totally harmless, and I use that during the interim pretty often, and he isn't as a big a fan of that. I think the Furminator must feel really good to him (like getting your back scratched), and I am okay with using it because of the groomer's advice, but I am nervous about using it more than twice/month. 

Because Argos has a short, smooth coat, most people probably would be surprised by how badly he needs a very thorough brushing. He sheds so much right now that it has driven us all to distraction (him included). But in the non-shedding seasons, I probably wouldn't use the Furminator, or not more than once/month, just because I am aware that it can be dangerous to the coat. I guess I am trying to find some middle ground between being completely safe on the one hand, and him getting some relief from the fur on the other.


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

I use one on my long-haired cat... she hates it and honestly I find using a comb has a better effect.


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## chimunga (Aug 29, 2014)

I've started using an undercoat rake a lot more lately, and I do find it to be quite a bit more effective.


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

My cat LOVES to be ferminated. but honestly, he loves anything that involves a human touching him. i could probably use a yard rake on him and he'd still purr.


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## Kritter (Jan 28, 2015)

My beagle/aussie sits right down when the furminator comes out. I used to love the thing, I could brush her forever with that aussie fur. I think it has its place. I only use it every once in a while now. I actually find that backbrushing her with my hands, then a quick swipe with the furminator gets the job done.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

I will never use a furminator on a double coated dog. I use single and double row undercoat rakes, slicker brushes, pen brush, and greyhound combs. For anyone with a double coated dog I recommend all of those, as well as a force blow dryer.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Yesterday I got out my arsenal to get some fuzz off Ginger. Armed with a couple inches of string cheese and a leash so she couldn't decide to leave I took off a small hamster sized ball of fuzz in 15 minutes or so. I think I finally got after the fuzz reading this thread!

I used the Furminator, Mars Coat King, Mars blunt slant tooth stripper, shedding rake, metal flea comb, slicker brush and I think that was it. She hated the flea comb and tolerated the rest. The stripper worked best partly because it fit her small frame, body is only about 2" long. I comb through the coat as with a Furminator and it looks and works like one. All my tools were bought to fight Max's fuzz and are on average 10 years old so might be good and dull by now. 

I saw no broken hair on the stuff I removed and lots of old guard hairs she needed to lose. When I was checking her coat prior to the battle I was pulling out equal numbers of guard and undercoat hairs along her back. She looks shinier and her golden coat is richer in color as well. Dogs look nice when dead dull fuzz is gone.

She has a medium dense ~2" long double coat that lays flat to her body with super long feathering on rear end and tail. The long feathering was just brushed through.

Overuse can pull enough hair to irritate the skin too, cutting coat isn't the only hazard with using the furminator. I like the rake if it works but it sure tested my patience as you must stroke so gently, any pressure and it can hurt the dog.


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

Sibe said:


> Never. It's a blade on a handle. It cuts the coat. You'll have a ratty, thin looking coat. Groomer I know uses it on terriers instead of hand-stripping sometimes.


 I tried this on my terrier once and he screamed in pain.


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## notgaga (Oct 25, 2014)

I bought one last night. An employee at the pet store gave me a demonstration on my dog in the grooming salon in the back. 

Laika is a prolific shedder. It's hard to explain just how much she sheds, and she's always done it. This thing has left her feeling soft and has taken a boatload of loose furs off of her. And she fell asleep sitting up while I was using it. She wasn't super cooperative, since she was sitting, but she definitely wasn't bothered by it.


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## chimunga (Aug 29, 2014)

notgaga said:


> I bought one last night. An employee at the pet store gave me a demonstration on my dog in the grooming salon in the back.
> 
> Laika is a prolific shedder. It's hard to explain just how much she sheds, and she's always done it. This thing has left her feeling soft and has taken a boatload of loose furs off of her. And she fell asleep sitting up while I was using it. She wasn't super cooperative, since she was sitting, but she definitely wasn't bothered by it.


What's Laika's coat like?


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## notgaga (Oct 25, 2014)

chimunga said:


> notgaga said:
> 
> 
> > I bought one last night. An employee at the pet store gave me a demonstration on my dog in the grooming salon in the back.
> ...


It's short-ish? Most of it is right at or less than an inch in length, but some areas are longer. She kind of gets a mullet look over her collar, for example. She's a hound, but her coat seems longer and generally less hard than other hounds' I've met.

She can literally just be walking and I can see a few sticks of fur coming off her. When she does a body shake? Forget about it - she looks like pigpen from the Peanuts... It's like a plume of fur. I'm in a never ending vacuum war.


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## kmac99 (Jul 18, 2014)

I have a Lab Austrian Shepard mix. She has the coat of the Aussie. It's long and soft, fine like a cat. Even at a year it is more like puppy fur. 
One day we were at a individually owner pet store and the owner was also a groomer. She told us for her coat to use a comb to get the under coat and then a regular slicker brush. They work great. I use the comb when she starts to shed and also to help keep her mane are and longer hair on the hind legs from matting up. The slicker is used more now that its summer time. She still sheds some but that is a long fine hair dog, I understand that.
She is also feed a high quality food (Kirklands) and I use Pollack Oil too. Her coat is so shinny and healthy. 

Now we have a issue. We are about to adopt a new dog. 8 month old brindle boxer mix. She has the brindle boxer fur, short and all. We have no idea what to use to brush her. We noticed at the shelter that she needs to be brushed, shedding a lot. 
I have done research and some say to use the de-shedding rake. IT's one of those that looks like you should use on a horse. I also read that you should use one of those rubber brushes like the zoomgoom by Kong. We are not sure how she will be with a brush yet but I'm willing to work with her on it. Just need advice on which one to get her.


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