Lots of Hair

dulaney0330 · 09-25-2008, 05:18 PM

I know this has been addressed, but I still wanted to post.

Roxy sheds like crazy, (she is part lab), and I can't stand seeing hair everywhere. I was thinking about getting her shaved but I do enjoy her fluffiness. Any brushes that would decrease the hair around the house? Any other methods?

Thanks!!!

LeRoymydog · 09-25-2008, 05:24 PM

I recently rescued a part Lab. And she sheds alot, but so does my other dog. I just sweep/ vacuum a couple times a day.

dulaney0330 · 09-25-2008, 06:00 PM

Do you think you will get them shaved?

Graco22 · 09-25-2008, 11:20 PM

I would recommend a good professional grooming to start with. A good scrubbing, and high velocity blow dry will remove and loosen most of that coat. Then a good brushing out with a brush and a furminator. After that, you can maintain it pretty well at home with the furminator, with periodic professional grooming. If you do decide to shave, just keep in mind, that she will still shed, just short, less noticable hairs. Also keep in mind, that if you shave her, she may not grow back "normal." Many doublecoated breeds, labs, lab mixes, etc. can grow back patchy, wiry, and/or just soft fuzzy undercoat that sheds excessively. Its not a pretty sight, and many people then opt to shave year round regularly because of the looks. Of course, its possible that she will grow back just fine too, but I always tell clients its a 50/50 chance.

dulaney0330 · 09-26-2008, 06:27 PM

Any brushes that you would recommend?

Graco22 · 09-26-2008, 06:36 PM

I am assuming that your dog is the one in your avatar? If so, she looks pretty short coated, and smooth like a lab's coat is. I would recommend a Furminator, and a round rubber horse curry brush for you to use at home. The Furminator on the body, the curry on the legs, chest, belly, cheeks, head, etc. Also, be sure you are feeding a high quality food, as cheaper foods with more fillers will cause more shedding.

dulaney0330 · 09-26-2008, 08:01 PM

I just ordered the Furminator after researching many opinions about it. Yeah, her legs are not the problem...but her body is constantly shedding! Today, I was scratching her back and hair was just flying everywhere! I do feed her Natural Ultramix.

I am sooo anxious to try it and I will let you know how it turns out!

Graco22 · 09-26-2008, 08:16 PM

You will be very happy with the Furminator. If you really want to cut down on the shedding, pick up the curry brush from a horse store too. They are only a few dollars. You would be surprised how much hair they remove from the chest, underside of the neck, cheeks, and head and belly. The Furminator is too harsh to use on those areas. There is a small learning curve to using the Furminator, and my favorite size is the medium yellow one. The large yellow one just doesn't follow contours of the bodies very well, to grab as much coat. You want to hold it perpendicular to the body and "rake" with it. Long, even strokes. Once you get the right angle of holding it, the hair will be flying.

Kathyy · 09-27-2008, 02:28 AM

I love the Furminator, Sassy looks really great and her fur is much shiny using it. Use it outside, it gets messy.

Try bathing with or without shampoo and brushing the dog dry as well. I have an adapter for the kitchen faucet to the hose so I can rinse her off outside so there isn't any fur going down the drain. I brush her several times during the walk and each time get a good handful of fur, dry I would be getting only the one handful of fur brushing. I would love the HV dryer but she is very sound sensitive and old, that wouldn't be nice to do to her. I would love to try though.

If you are feeding her kibble then she needs to be supplemented with fatty acids. I use fish body oil. Another choice is flaxseed oil.

dulaney0330 · 10-06-2008, 05:04 PM

I just got the furminator and I am not pleased with it. It got some hair off but not as much as I would have liked. The house is just covered in hair and I am at my wit's end. Any suggestions?

Graco22 · 10-06-2008, 10:30 PM

It could be that you aren't using the Furminator correctly. It also helps to bath, and then dry the dog, and use the Furminator afterwards to get out the loosened hair from the bath. Be sure you are using a decent amount of pressure, and use long strokes, with the direction of the hair growth. Keep in mind to use lots of pressure where the coat is thickest, as the tool actually presses thru the topcoat to grab the undercoat below it. You also need to keep the "blade" parallell to the skin. You can experiment with the angle at which you hold the handle though, to see what works best to get the coat out. Usually, I will raise my hand (and the handle) a tad above parallel to the dog. Don't give up yet. There is a learning curve to using them, and it WILL make a difference when used regularly. And remember to pull the skin TAUT right in front of the area you are Furminating so that the entire area you are working on at that time is tight and taught. That can make a huge difference too. Keep us posted on how it is working for you as you keep trying it.