The shedding…. Oh my!!! Advice?

[Navah]

Hello everyone. I know I haven’t been around for a few months but I wasn’t cheating on you on another forum =) I was just busy.

I always knew my baby would shed but holy moly…. I have to vacuum every second day for the last two months or we literally get massive hair balls lining all the walls… its very bad.

Of course I love my little munchkin and don’t mind a little clean up to see her stinky face every morning but if I can stop this shedding just a little bit it would make my life (and back from vacuuming so much) so much easier.

My question is about grooming. Does a professional grooming make dogs shed less? I heard something about the hair blower thingy that it blows excess hair right out, is this true?

Any advice or the mechanics behind “getting your dog groomed for shedding purposes” would help me greatly. We don’t have too much cash to spare right now as we are planning a wedding but if it would help a lot we will make it work.

Thanks!

[Emoore]

Do you have a furminator?

[Courtney]

Do you mind sharing what your feeding her?

[DWP]

Our girls shed much less since we started feeding Taste of the Wild. Still shed a little, but not near what they were. Coats are better as well.

[onyx'girl]

I would not overfurminate if you have one or are planning to use one. Blowing out with a dryer is what a few groomers I know recommend and they hate furminators.
I just bathed my dogs(still wet!) and used an undercoat rake on them while running the water down their coat, it took out alot of loose fur, and I didn't break the outer guardhair by doing it that way. I seldom give the dogs a bath, but had the day off and thought they'd enjoy it. Onyx loves baths!
This time of year I brush them daily outside to get the winter undercoat out. I still have to vacuum every day with 3 dogs, there is hair, but not excessive.
As far as diet, I feed raw and supplement with oils/vitamins.

[dawnandjr]

I have found Yoko only blows her coat twice a year since I put her on a raw diet. I also give her supplements (K9 Power Products). Dogs will blow their coats as the length of daylight changes. The GSD is a breed that has a double coat or under coat. Do you groom your dog? A rubber brush (Unigroom) works wonders. They are about $5. Brush everyday, and you will have less falling out in the house. I dont like the idea behind a furminator. It cuts the coat.

[Navah]

I was mostly just wondering about grooming. I am doing everything I can with the brushing (I don’t know what the brush is called, it’s like a rake) but that’s maybe once a week and its really maybe only ten min of brushing and she’s also on great food, taste of the wild.

As for bathing, we were bathing her more when she went to daycare (before they totally screwed us over so no more of that) and got dirty more often. My boyfriend really has a problem with grooming in house due to the fact that we end up having to clean and he’s afraid of the drains

She doesn’t always shed like this. We can up keep it as much as you can a German Shepherd you don’t brush daily. I was just wondering if grooming helps when you need that extra oomph. DO they normally shed less after a good grooming?

[King&Skylar]

a professional grooming will help! they (should) brush them AND blow the hair out, that's what my mom is doing for Skylar when she starts get rid of her winter coat, and she said it will cut down tons on the shedding, with regular brushing afterward just to keep up with it, but it gets rid of the TONS of extra fur.

hope that makes sense haha

[webzpinner]

Evil trick I found out that works great.... my crappy old vacuum! We have an old Dirt Devil vacuum that can't pick up anything with the main vacuum, but has all sorts of attachments, including an upholstry brush. We use said brush on Jake, and HE LOVES IT. In fact, he's the one who started it! I was vacuuming out his kennel, and he came up to me and laid down (ready for grooming!) I was a tad leary, since the brush was hooked up to the vacuum, but since the suction wasn't super strong, I gave it a try and it WORKED WONDERS. Filled the canister of undercoat in 5 minutes without damaging guard coat.

Wouldn't try it with a Dyson.

[Kris10]

Originally Posted by webzpinner

Evil trick I found out that works great.... my crappy old vacuum! We have an old Dirt Devil vacuum that can't pick up anything with the main vacuum, but has all sorts of attachments, including an upholstry brush. We use said brush on Jake, and HE LOVES IT. In fact, he's the one who started it! I was vacuuming out his kennel, and he came up to me and laid down (ready for grooming!) I was a tad leary, since the brush was hooked up to the vacuum, but since the suction wasn't super strong, I gave it a try and it WORKED WONDERS. Filled the canister of undercoat in 5 minutes without damaging guard coat.

Wouldn't try it with a Dyson.

Wow you are lucky! Max makes wild animal noises and tries to bite the vacuum...