# Furminator



## Purley (Sep 7, 2009)

I thought I had seen a thread about this, but I can't find it. 

Anyway, I am wondering if you could use a Furminator on a Goldendoodle. The dog does not have a curly coat. It is just a bit wavy, a bit like a Wheaten Terrier. Also his hair although its black, is rather soft like a Golden Retriever. So he looks a lot fatter than he is because his hair is thick. 

My son wants his dog to have longish hair, and my granddaughter has been brushing him and he doesn't have any mats. But he is only eight months old and she doesn't want him to get matted so he has to be "skinned".

What exactly does a Furminator do? Does it remove loos undercoat? Does it cut the hair off or only remove the stuff that is loose? When I looked at one it seemed to have some kind of a blade in there. 

Appreciate your advice.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

...skinned?


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## Purplex15 (May 28, 2007)

lol keechack, i thought the same thing when i read that line.

could you please explain what "skinned" means? i am a pro groomer and have never heard that term before. do you mean shaved?

a furminator would not generally be a brush id recommend for a goldendoodle. i dont really like them at all, but if i use it, it is on shorter breeds, like labs. the best for a doodle is a comb, a mat breaker, and an undercoat rake (i like mars coat kings the best).



> My son wants his dog to have longish hair, and my granddaughter has been brushing him


yeah, i have heard that one before. how old is your granddaughter? i ask, b/c these are very difficult coats, and at 8 months, the dog is probably going through his puppy to adult coat change. most adult owners cant keep up with the brushing let alone a child. and if your son wants the hair longer, then why does his daughter have to do the brushing? i have a hard time believing that the dog isnt matted.


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## Purley (Sep 7, 2009)

Yes, I meant clipped right down to the skin because he got matted. I don't think he is matted right now. He went to the groomers last week for a bath and brush and she said he wasn't matted. 

I bought a pin brush and a rake on the advice of the groomer. My granddaughter is 17. Although my son told her he liked the dog's hair long, neither I nor my granddaughter think that this is going to be possible. We both think that as he gets his adult coat, he would need brushing numerous times a day to even "possibly" keep the mats out. I just wondered if the Furminator would be any help. 

This is my son's first dog and I don't think he realizes how difficult it is to avoid mats in a long haired dog. I would also be willing to bet that he doesn't realize that if he doesn't get the dog's coat trimmed or clipped, he could end up with hair down to the ground -- or at least mats down to the ground and the dog will look like a hippo!!

I give it a couple of months. They will both get fed up with trying to keep the mats out and they will get his hair trimmed to a manageable length!

When I got my first shih-tzu I was determined that I was going to keep his coat long. I tied his topknot up with those little elastics. It didn't last very long. The elastics kept falling out, his coat got mats behind his ears and after not too long I took him to the groomers and now all three of my shih-tzus have short coats because its too darn much work to look after a long coat.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

They will need a slicker brush, a greyhound comb, and a brushout spray to use as a mist when brushing. A furminator is going to be of no use whatsoever on a doodle. Furminators only remove loose shedding coat on high shedding, short coated breeds. It will not cut or remove tangles/matts from any coat. If they really want to keep the dog long (and I agree with you that it wont be long before they realize the work its going to entail) I strongly recommend they also have the dog bathed and brushed out at the groomers bi-weekly. With daily, thorough, brushing and combing at home, an bi weekly work at the professionals, keeping a long coat will be attainable..though I dont know why anyone would want to do that! LOL There are many other lengths and cuts that will give them the "unkept" look they are going for, without so much work and time.


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## Purley (Sep 7, 2009)

Thanks for the information. I wondered about the Furminator but I wasn't sure what kind of coat it was used for.

I found this video on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj9M-b8AY2g

My granddaughter didn't like it. I thought it was cute. But then I am lazy and I don't want to be brushing a bigish dog 40 times a day!!

I give it until some time in May and he will be phoning me -- "Cooper's hair is all stuck together in lumps. Do you know someone who can give him a haircut?"

As I said -- been there - done that. I couldn't believe it. When my granddaughter and I were in Paris - every shih-tzu we saw had a long coat and a fancy topknot. Probably they belonged to people who were rich enough to send them to the groomer weekly!! Or perhaps they belonged to people who liked brushing dogs!!


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