Dog Shedding

racso1975

Hi i have a 3 yr old english mastiff. Now this dog sheds 365 days of the year i am not particularily concerned regarding that shedding but within the last 2-3 weeks it has become unreal. Her hair is coming away in massive clumps and i mean massive. I can actually pull away a huge clumps of hair. Now there is no bald spots or anything like that. Just clumps of hair.

We normally have her outside during the day and bring her in at evening times and she sleeps in doors and i know this is prob why she sheds 365 (according to the vet) but with the amount of hair being lost at the moment i cant let her in as my son has very bad asthma and i would literally be following her with a hoover (actually tempted to hoover her:D) . This is very upsetting for all involved but obviously more for lucy (the dog).

Is she losing her winter coat, as i never remember it being this bad last year, or could it be something else?

Food has not changed recently either.

Any advice appreciated as i want to get her back indoors asap

andreac

I would imagine shes losing her winter coat alright, hence the lumps falling out.

You should get yourself a Furminator grooming tool on ebay, they are amazing and the hair they comb out is unreal and it would cut down on the hair being shed on a daily basis if shes brushed with this once or twice a week.

kylith

I second getting a furminator! They take so much hair out you wouldn't believe it.

My dogs are quite wirey coated, so you don't notice the shedding so much, but I grew up with a JRT that used to look like a dandylion clock about to blow each spring. I wouldn't be too worried as long as there are no bald patches.

lorebringer

Definately shedding her winter coat - hope you have a good hoover!

I have founds that dense bristle brushes work very well on short coats when they are shedding - once of twice a day and you will see a big difference in the amount around the house.

goat2

i will be buying the furminator
to exterminate
thanks for the tip

CreedonsDogDayc

Hi Rasco,

Im in the same boat. we have a 6 year old JRT. she normally sheds continuously, but over the last few months shes been shedding clumps of hair too. Maybe it has something to do with the weather this past winter. she's never shed like this before.

Our older dog sheds in clumps all year round, she has a really thick coat. My dad hovers her and she loves it, so if your dog isnt afraid of the hover then try it!!!!

Ive read a lot about huskies shedding bucket loads of hair twice a year. didnt realise how major it was going to be until my 8 month old husky begun shedding her winter coat two weeks ago:eek::eek:!!!! Luckily I had bought a furminator (cheaply from ebay) a few months ago in preparation for the big shed, so ive used it three times on her and ive noticed a big difference.

If you do get a furminator though be very careful not to brush too hard, or on the one spot repeatedly, as its actually quite sharp and can irritate the skin!

happyoutscan

Can anyone advise me regarding the 'Furminator'? We have a 6 month old Springer Spaniel. He is great but is shedding an awful lot now (we vacuum daily!). On watching the videos I'd be afraid I would take off too much of his coat and seeing as he is still so young would this be a genuine worry or would it be ok to use it once a week for example? Any other advise would be greatly appreciated.

shivs

happyoutscan wrote: »

Can anyone advise me regarding the 'Furminator'? We have a 6 month old Springer Spaniel. He is great but is shedding an awful lot now (we vacuum daily!). On watching the videos I'd be afraid I would take off too much of his coat and seeing as he is still so young would this be a genuine worry or would it be ok to use it once a week for example? Any other advise would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there,
Also the owner of a 6 month old Springer.....mad as a hatter, but great fun:D
I've just bought a Furminator on ebay from beautyspotuk for 10GBP. I tried it this evening and our Springer was in heaven - he actually slept through the whole 'furmination'!!!! It's quite gentle and not as abrasive as the video makes it seem - hopefully the vacuum will be redundant tomorrow!

Good Luck either way

kiersm

I have used my furminator on my cav since he was bout six months old and he loves it he normally sleeps thru being brushed. I find it great It makes a huge diff to the amount of hair that comes off him cos i try to brush him every few days. You can get them on ebay for bout £10 they are way more expensive to buy in a pet shop.

daenerysstormborn3

I read somewhere recently that dyson have a new hoover attachment for pets, i'm not 100% sure how it works but the impression I got from the article was that you effectively hoover the pet. Not sure about it's effectivenesss but it might be worth a look also if you have a dyson.

DBCyc

pixiebean22 wrote: »

I read somewhere recently that dyson have a new hoover attachment for pets, i'm not 100% sure how it works but the impression I got from the article was that you effectively hoover the pet. Not sure about it's effectivenesss but it might be worth a look also if you have a dyson.

Ha - it would be some craic trying to hoover my dogs! We have the dyson pet version (a couple of years old) but its more or less the same as the normal dyson.

happyoutscan

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to get on Ebay immediately! As for vacuuming Harley I'd say that would be a no go, the minute I even pick up the hoover he is gone like a shot!!!!!:D