I give my Rotties Salmon oil pills (omega 3's with vitamin E) and it helps a lot with the shedding. Also using a premium dog food helps.

 

oil

i use oil in my food mazola oil i also use flax seed oil it helps alot

 

I use a shedding blade on our greyhounds about once every other day or so. Does a great job of pulling out the dead hair. I've heard great things about the furminator, but have never tried it. The shedding blade works great for us. Food can also contribute to excessive shedding so you may want to consider switching brands.

And, of course, some breeds just shed copius amounts regardless of what you do!

 

I think I can offer some help. I am new to the forum but not new to shedding labs. I have a groom shop in CA. I have a ton of labs that come to me for deshedding treatments. I've been grooming for over 20 years and by far the best thing out there is the Furminator process. Every lab that I have furminated has had a very happy owner. The key to the process is doing it completely and correctly. Otherwise it won't work to it's full potential. You can realistically expect about an 80% reduction in shedding. Most of my labs repeat the process about every 7 - 8 weeks. If you want to increase the fur reduction between grooming/treatments you can pick up the furminator tool to use at home. The tool is one part of the treatment. Let me know if I can answer anything further.
Fatboysmom

 

Thanks for responding. Can you tell me what all the parts of the treatment are?

Thanks

 

When I went from an Irish setter to a lab, I thought there might be less fur. Wrong.

Labs have an undercoat. That's why they can swim in frigid water. A black lab can shed two contrasting colors, so everything is covered.

For me, the key to control was an undercoat rake - the short-toothed one made for short-haired dogs. It's absolutely amazing how much fur can come out of a short-haired dog without him becoming bald.

The birds would watch for the fur-tumbleweeds blowing around the yard and take them for nest-building. We had the coziest birds in town, but I was always afraid a small bird might get trapped in one of them.

Also, it must have felt good for the dog. He enjoyed it so much, it was actually embarrassing.

 

I've used the Furminator brush on my Rottie (she drops fur like a month old Christmas tree drops needles). If I could pick her up and drop her straight down, I know she'd leave a fur outline of her body! The Furminator got rid of so much dead fur it looked like I could build a new dog. I highly recommmend it. I have the small blue one.

http://www.furminator.com/testbed/indexnew.html

 

The furminator is a great tool, but you should start with a healthy diet rich in flax seed oil or salmon oil to help promote healthy skin and coat.

Also get on a regular brushing schedule - this will also give you time to 'catch up' with your dog when things get hectic.

A tip that I use with my short haired dog is a real big help - I damp a face cloth down, ring it out until it's almost dry, and PET the dog with it after brushing. This picks up any of hairs that have allready fallen out of the dog, but haven't been picked up with the brush

Meghan

 

Meghan, I do that in the winter BEFORE I brush the dog to reduce the static. Otherwise, the fur I brush off, plus any dust bunnies that happen to be in the neighborhood, cling to the dog and he ends up looking like a whole new breed.

The first time I did that, I used a spray mister. Oddly, my lab did NOT enjoy that. Esther might, though.

And, yes, on the coldest days, I brush my dogs indoors. (Just don't tell my wife.)

 

gotta' go with fatboysmom on this one. and the feeding to! olive oil is probably a good idea.
but, i gotta' tell you, we raised dobies and toy poodles when i was a kid(some combo. that, huh?) and my mom just swore by bacon grease! now, i wouldn't go recomending that to older dogs mind you, but hey -- sometimes "the old school is the best school"...
by the way, you're not using human shampoo on your lab-x are you?

 

hair shedding

My two year old short hair Chihuahua sheds hair excessively. If I use the furminator, should I expect hair loss? How much olive oil or flax oil do you recommend? (as you see I don't have a clue, but I love my pet.)

 

i give teddy my 5kg lhasa everning primrose or any other oil daily i bye the capusals from the supermarket whick is usally 600mg in total a day which would be about 1 teaspoon of olive oil just pop it in the tea

and oily fish is grate like macral or pilchids or any fish in oil just a small tin maybe half a tin on night and then the other tin a few nights later for ur little Chihuahua

xx

 

Ok - silly question here! Do you use the same flax oil and salmon oil that's used for humans? Owner of new Spaniel/Lab cross.

 

As long as you're using the proper amounts according to your dogs weight. Otherwise it's just as easy to go to a pet store and grab Grizzlies Salmon Oil, or other powdered and liquid supplements. They have it all broken down for you.

Key thing to remember, when you first start adding supplements make sure you start slowly. Example- If your dog requires 2tbs of oil a day to meet nutritional requirements, split that amount over two weeks. Start with a couple of drops the first day and work your way up to 2tbs by the 14th day.

 

I have had several dogs with under coats it is hard to get the shedding under control. I still think this undercoat rake works the best, without a ton of extra stuff involved.

http://www.heavenforpets.com/Grooming/MLSGSCY/PD144682/details/Under-Coat-Rake-Combo.aspx?

 

we have a nine yr old American Bulldog Boxer, Mastiff mix. she was very very short hair but shed like you wouldn't believe. white dog hair everywhere!

but with my dog buster (cattle dog/kelpie) i just have to brush him every second day or he gets otchy and my bed gets full of hair.

 

Another tool that works great is the Kong Zoom Groom. It's similar to a rubber curry brush. It helps pick up a lot of guard hairs that the regular brushes leave behind.

 

I'm a grooming salon manager and I've tried everything out there to help with shedding. It's no surprise that the short-haired dog sheds more because there's nothing to trap the dead hair as it falls out as with dog with longer coats. The Shed-Ender works okay, but if you tried the Furminator, I know you'd love it, I was amazed at all the hair it removed, I brought it home from the salon and used it on my guys, even the cats. It's more expensive but the results are not comparable. If you are feeding your dog a "Grocery Store Brand"of dog food like Pedigree or Kibbles and Bits, etc., change to a premium brand. That helps a lot and when you are grooming use a rubber glove to stroke the dogs coat for a quick fix.