# Grooming a newfoundland



## kthilges (Feb 26, 2009)

We have a Newfi named Lizzie. She is almost 2. She is a great dog but she sheds really bad. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with them. We have one of those furminator thingys...I can use it on her but it takes me 2 hours to brush her out. I was told you have to do it every day. I dont have 2 hours a day to groom her. I realize she needs some upkeep as she has a long coat, but if someone could give me some tips??? I have been having to give her a bath every month or so because she gets dirty. That is no small feat let me tell you. I do trim around her ears becasue she tends to get matted. And I clip around her toes because she grows hair between them. I just use a scissors to do both. I have a grooming rake and a slicker brush and a larger furminator. Can anyone suggest anything???


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## SMoore (Nov 9, 2007)

If you use the furm or any deshedding tool daily it wont take 2 hours! It might until you get all the undercoat out. If you don't have the time take your dog to a grooming salon for a deshedding treatment and then keep up with it!

The furminater is great but for longer coated breeds I like a simple rake and slicker brush. It seems to get further down into the coat.

You could also try a deshedding shampoo after a good brushout to release some of the lose hair and brush him out again.

It might take several hours until you are at the point where you can do it for 20 minutes or so a day and be just fine.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Yeah, I wouldnt waste your time with the furminator. Its does not work the best on long coated dogs..it is really only for short/medium coated dogs, and is ineffective really on long coats. It is NOT a brush or rake, and will not get down to the skin to get undercoat out, which is what you need to do. You need a FIRM slicker brush, and an undercoat rake/and or large greyound comb. You could even use a poodle comb on a newf in a bind. You need to line brush her. Start on one small 4 inch by 4 inch area, and brush that area to the skin, then comb it to make sure all undercoat is out. Then work down from the section, in another 4 inch section. Just keep working around the dog until you have covered every square inch all the way to the skin with the comb. The first time, it will take along time. Then, if you do at least weekly brushouts, it should only take half hour or so if you are efficient. Newfs are a big job, take logs of time, and elbow grease to keep groomed and matt/undercoat free.


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## kthilges (Feb 26, 2009)

Thank you for the help! I ended up trying the flip the coat up and then brsh the undercoat thing which I knew nothing about. I did a lil research online. The place we got her from just told me to use a regular brush but didn't say how. I did half of her yesturday and the rest of her today. I cut a lot of her hock hair off. It was really long and I liked it long but it was a pain in the but to try and brush though it. I dont know what to do for the front legs. I just trimmed them a bit. We have one big dog groomer here but I cant afford to take her in right now. I am getting me cna license and it will take me 8 weeks to complete that. So....She looks better now and hopefully it will cut down on the shedding. I was lazy. At least she wasn't matted very little if any mats. I am going to get some deshedding shampoo. And try that. Do you recommend the furminator shapoos??? The pet store here has a LOT of shapoos and I have no clue what to get. And they are all like 10-15 bucks. We allready buy one 45 pound bag of dog food a month for her(the expensive stuff) She eats a lot!!! LOL Thanks again!


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