Shave or save? Key tips on dog shedding

Anyone who has a dog with a thick coat of hair knows what an ongoing problem shedding can be. You continuously try to vacuum up hair that is weaved into the carpet fibers and won’t budge. You spend hours with lint rollers on your clothes, and on your furniture, ripping off a sheet of sticky paper with each swipe.

You are stuck in a hair raising battle of two hairs appearing with every hair you remove.

What NOT to Do

You may have been told to simply shave your dog’s beautiful coat to fix the problem, but this is not the answer. Many people insist that this will reduce the shedding but instead your furry friend will just shed shorter (maybe not as easily seen) hair. The pile may not look as large but believe me, there will be the same amount of hair.

It’s the Breed, Dummy!

There are many breeds of dogs that are meant to have haircuts, most of whom don’t have an undercoat. Other breeds with undercoats, such as Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Huskies, German Shepherds are not meant to be shaved.

Nearly all dogs have 2 different coats—a harsh outer coat and a fuzzy undercoat. The undercoat is the coat that sheds.

A dog’s outer coat protects them from bugs, sunburn, extreme weather, etc. When you shave this kind of a dog it removes their protective outer coat and leaves their cottony undercoat which will continue to shed.

This can cause many problems for your dog. Other than the fact that your dog will no longer be protected against bugs, sunburn, extreme weather, etc. there is a big risk of the outer coat never growing back, growing back in patches, or turning different colors. Most of the time if you shave your dog once, you will have to continue shaving every 10-12 weeks for the remainder of your dogs life.

There is a solution! Get to your groomer and ask them to take out your dog’s undercoat.

At the grooming shop I work in we call it the “Furminator Package”.  Basically, I have a high-velocity dryer (mega-powerful) that loosens your dogs undercoat. Then I use the “Furminator” brush or an undercoat rake/de-matting brush, depending on your dog’s coat type, to pull out the undercoat without ruining the outer coat.

Your dog is then bathed in a de-shedding shampoo and then the “Furminator” solution that is meant to loosen up more undercoat. The high-velocity dryer is then used again, watching this dryer in action is incredible because all of the hair is flying around the room! The brushes are used again to remove the last of the undercoat.

After this process is finished your dog’s coat will be laying close to his/her body to give a sleeker appearance. Also, your dog will be cooler and more comfortable during the summertime heat.

The undercoat is meant to be removed. All at once you cure your shedding blues and keep your dog protected!

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