My oldest dog (eleven) has a huge coat and now is blowing coat. Its been coming out for weeks and I am getting fed up with hair everywhere. Is there a vitamin you can give to help this or some special tool other than clippers to help get rid of this faster.

Brush, brush, warm bath, brush some more

Get the Furminator!!! You will love it.

Shelley

replying to "Get the Furminator!!! You will love it."


We won a furminator and I have been reluctant to use it. I have an older dog that now hasn't shed in 2 years (see count your blessings) and he is now panting all the time because he is hot here in the summer.

I keep looking at the furminator thinking it will help him at least lighten his coat but it looks daunting to me.

How has it worked for you? It doesn't damage the coat? Mine is yellow one if that matters.

Bonnie

I returned my furminator b/c I had so many people told me it breaks/thins the guard coat too... incase you are doing vetrans class.

Has anyone else heard this??

Yes, it does break off the hair. Try the ZoomGroom (rubber.

replying to "Yes, it does break off the hair. Try the ZoomGroom (rubber."

For my dog that doesn't shed (you should see his coat, he looks like a lion! What a mess) the zoom groom does nothing.

I had even thought of having him sort of "shaved" but I never get up the nerve to do that!

For normal shedding, the zoom groom is great!

Bonnie

The furminator works great for the heavy shedding time of year. It beats vacuuming twice a day.

I use an undercoat rake that I bought at a dog show. What a godsend that was!

Bathing plus using the rake takes care of the dead hair without breaking the rest of it as I've heard the Furminator does.

Use a commercial dryer to blow the coat out or reverse a shop vac. If you don't have one take to the groomers and let them do it.

When my three are having their annual coat blow I give then a nice bath and use my Metro grooming dryer on them. The Metro dryer blows room temp air...not hot air. It just blows out all that dead coat at once and then within weeks their coats come back in and look great! Bathing a Labrador a couple of times yearly will not ruin their coats.

the furminator will remove a lot of undercoat...but it will also destroy your outercoat...it does break the guard hairs...it works like a stripping knife used in terrier grooming...not for my labbies! Use the Zoom groom, slicker brush, metal comb..and best of all the forced air dryer!

I have the furminator,,I used it on my dogs last year.. NEVER AGAIN... destroyed the coat. (good thing I tried it out on older dog. Her coat is still recovering from all the tearing.

Warm baths, brushing and good blow dryer with no heat

Jo

Thanks everyone for the suggestions,
I have seen and heard how bad the furnimator is on labs coats so wont go that route but really was looking for some vitamin thats made to help lessen the loss.

I have to put my two cents in here....can't resist :)
I really like the Furminator. I used it on my shedding dog and it took out all the loose undercoat...no top coat. I had a huge fluffy pile of undercoat when I was through and haven't noticed any broken guard hairs on my dog. I wouldn't use it if the dog wasn't blowing, but it worked for us so far. One man's treasure I guess...

"...but really was looking for some vitamin thats made to help lessen the loss."

Grizzly Oil (fatty acid supplement)
http://www.grizzlypetproducts.com/benefits/benefits.html

The furminator will not damage a coat if it is the incorrect/open coat because there is no outer coat to destroy. But on a correct texture coat, it will cause havoc.

When I used mine,, I thought the same thing. I was amazed how much undercoat it took out,, Doggies looked fantastic,, till about 3 wks later,,, I realized the coat was damaged.

I use a Furminator with no damage to the guard hair part of the coat; I think if you use it at the correct angle and don't go at it as if you were digging a ditch, there is no damage. I have the correct coat on my dogs.

Now ask me how badly I damaged a coat, long ago, by using one of those stripping blades that look like a narrow saw blade in a loop with handles........those things are destructive! LOL!

That would be a shedding blade for horses.