drowning in hair...in need of suggestions

beandis · 09-08-2008, 03:34 PM

i've been a dog owner all my life...so i understand that dogs shed and certain breeds shed more than others etc. we recently added a 10 year old collie/retriever mix to our family which consists of my husband, our 3.5 month old son, our 15 year old jrt/rat terrier/corgi mix snoopy, and a few horses. buddy was a shelter dog who was surrendered because his family moved. he was used to living inside and considering his size and age, we didn't think he was going to last long at the shelter...so upon meeting him, and him meeting snoopy, we promptly took him home and all has been well...everything but the fact that everything is now covered in hair. i knew goldens were quite the experts in shedding but really wasn't prepared for the intensity of shedding that was going to occur...at any rate, buddy is not going anywhere - he and princess snoopy have bonded or at leas thave an appreciation for each other and he fits well into our family...i've seen so many mixed opinions on shaving these dogs. apparently, its not uncommon to shave a collie, but its almost a "cruel and selfish sin" (according to one website) to shave a golden. well...buddy is both...what to do what to do. obviously being that we live in wisconsin i'm not going to shave him right to the skin and leave him bare during the dead of winter, but it would be nice and wouldn't be too much of a problem to sweater him up when he goes outside if we did bring his coat length down a bit...i'm in a quandry and just needing some opinions. he's not going anywhere regardless...and the brushing and raking is only helping so much...please help!
thanks so much in advance!
j

Graco22 · 09-08-2008, 04:26 PM

Having him professionally groomed is going to make the most difference for you and his shedding. He doesn't necessarily need any length taken off at all. He is still going to shed just as much, just shorter hairs, and unless you shave him, you are still going to notice that hair. A good professional grooming will loosen the undercoat, and then remove all that is shedding and loose. You can keep up with it at home by combing, raking, etc. but you aren't going to be able to really get a good handle on it unless you have professional equipment, like a high velocity dryer. Having him groomed one a month to every 6 weeks will make a HUGE difference in the coat you are cleaning up at home.

briteday · 09-08-2008, 07:04 PM

I agree that a professional bath and blow out will drastically reduce the furballs around the house. And although my dogs are smaller, I have a cat, a pomeranian mix, and two papillons that all shed like crazy. The pomeranian and the cat are by far the worst as they have double coats. Fur has become a food group in our house!

However, when it starts to wear on me the dogs either go out for a pro bath and blow dry or they go outside where my teenager does the same, minus all the great equipment. But it means that she really has to brush the dog out good before doing a scrubbing / rubbing bath, and then a thorough blow dry going over every nook and cranny, spending eons of time getting all the loose fur out. And to keep things at a dull roar we brush every dog every night when we sit down after dinner while watching tv, etc. We have a couple of plastic baskets with combs, brushes, etc right behind the sofa as it makes the process more convenient, more likely to get done. This helps tremendously and we are able to go about 6 months before my patience wears thin.

With a bigger dog I think I would opt for a professional grooming every once in a while (I always watch for coupons at the big stores like Petco, ours has a good grooming staff, not all do so be careful) and be diligent about brushing / raking / combing the dog every day.

beandis · 09-08-2008, 09:20 PM

thanks for your replies. i think you are both right about looking to get him done professionally. while the idea of shaving him with horse clippers does seem tempting...i will leave all that to the pros. not planning on shaving him this winter obviously, but perhaps next summer if we can not get the whole hair situation under control. all was fine until i started to sweep and notice that the hair was everywhere...including on my son's bottles...yuck! here's a picture of the "kids" so you can see what i'm coping with...its been quite a while since i've had such a big dog in my life! thanks again so much.

Jveach · 09-08-2008, 09:42 PM

Hey,
I work in the grooming salon at a PetSmart. And well, I can vouch that all PetSmarts are the same. We offer what's called a Lo-Shed. It's a bath that gets rid of most/all of that undercoat, and reduces shedding up to 80%. It's amazing from what I've heard from lab/husky/german shepard owners. Also, if you don't mind spending a couple extra bucks when you go to the Pet store. Buy a "Furminator"! It works awesome! It is a de-shedding tool that just pulls out that undercoat layer. It's awesome! It'll run you about $30 Depending on the size of tool you buy, but it's worth it. My friend has two husky mixes and swears by it!

Graco22 · 09-08-2008, 10:39 PM

I agree with the above poster about a Furminator. His coat is not long, so that tool will work great as a finishing touch after brushing and combing him out. I disagree partially about the "Lo Shed" type bathing products. I have used them, and find absolutely no difference between them and a general shampoo. Its an expensive add on, and I don't carry it anymore, as I find its just hype. A good, warm massaging bath and HV dry will remove as much coat as is ready to come out. There is no magic de-shedding solution IMO that does anything special. I don't think you will need to shave this guy. Once you have him professionally groomed at a good salon (ask around for referrals and ask if they HV dry or cage dry..no cage dry, as that won't remove the coat)you will find SO much less hair. The more you have him groomed, the less hair you will see. The hair sheds in cycles, so you want to ideally have him groomed often enough to get those cycles.

FilleBelle · 09-08-2008, 10:45 PM

How recent is recent? It could be that your dog is shedding even more than normal due to stress and/or a poor diet at the shelter. Both my rescues came to me in such a state that when I ran a hand down their backs, I came away with a fistful of hair. After getting settled in and eating well for several months, this no longer happens!

beandis · 09-10-2008, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FilleBelle

How recent is recent? It could be that your dog is shedding even more than normal due to stress and/or a poor diet at the shelter. Both my rescues came to me in such a state that when I ran a hand down their backs, I came away with a fistful of hair. After getting settled in and eating well for several months, this no longer happens!

we've had him for about two weeks so i'm sure a lot of it was due to malnutrition and stress. he wasn't used to living in a shelter and he was separated from a life long maltese friend. that and he was about 20 lbs over weight when we had gotten him. so i have nothing to really compare the recent hair issue with before. i do think that with daily brushing it is indeed getting better but it was a bit stressing on my end constantly trying to sweep up miscellaneous hairs. we're taking him to a local groomer in a few weeks just to have them get through some of his layers...

also wanted to mention that bathing buddy is a null. he's too big to get into the bathtub and its a little too cold in wisconsin to bathe him outside with the hose. so we're just going to have to wait with the whole shampooing/bath thing until he goes to the groomer. will have to look into the furminator thing though.

fyzbo · 09-10-2008, 11:19 AM

I agree with above posts on professoinal grooming and daily brushing.

Also, pick up a Roomba! I bought a refurbished one online for $100 and it's great. I simply hit the max button every night and it vacuums for about 3 hours while I'm sleeping. In the morning I empty it to find a huge collection of dog hair.

Abbymarie · 09-10-2008, 12:43 PM

Our girl is a major shedder. When she was shedding back in may I couldn't cuddle up to her much when she sheds my allergies go nuts the rest of the time no problem. I just got to the point of vaccuming and dusting a lot. And brushing her. She is a short hair dog so not much I can do. Our poodle is great he just goes to the groomer once every 10 weeks or so.

My advice is they have all kinds of brushes out there that help with the shedding process

klip · 09-27-2008, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fyzbo

I agree with above posts on professoinal grooming and daily brushing.

Also, pick up a Roomba! I bought a refurbished one online for $100 and it's great. I simply hit the max button every night and it vacuums for about 3 hours while I'm sleeping. In the morning I empty it to find a huge collection of dog hair.

Oh my x I need one of those. Wish they made one that can do stairs

I have two white major shedding dogs, and a black painted staircase...