Shepherd-collie mix sheds like mad
Hi All:
I know this blog is mainly for training and educating us humans, but we have a slight problem. Our 3 year old shepherd/collie mix sheds like mad. All the brushing in the world can’t keep up with it. We’ve gone through a new vacuum cleaner that got destroyed when the hair clogged up the roller brush. Any suggestions on a good “fur-proof” vacuum? Or a way to easily keep up with the undercoat?
Thanks much…
Rick
Although I have never used this product, I remember someone on this list (or another one I belong to, not sure)RAVE about the results he received using it with his GSD. It is pricey … I think he said he paid $48/gallon for his and was going to order one for his daughter. My local pet store sells it for something like $21.95/quart and Joe (the shop owner) says he has customers that swear by it.
Cheaper than a vacuum and probably worth a shot…
Hope it helps!
I have three massive shedders, birds and their feathers/dander etc. My vacuum of choice now is an industrial strength shop vac…got a very spiffy chrome one. Nothing can get the better of this machine it will even suck up
extra dogs I think.
Coat problems are multi-layered (no pun intended). First of all, most dogs of double-coated breeds (like collies, shelties, shepherds of all kinds) shed undercoat twice a year. You need to have a couple of good shedding rakes to get out the coat, and know how to use them. Use short light strokes, into the coat then scoop it out, not long strokes through the coat. The short light strokes lift the loose undercoat out and unfortunately) throw it into the air. It’s best if you can do this outside, or in a room that will contain it until you can vacuum (or have an assistant there to capture it with the vacuum hose). Clean your vacuum cleaner head often!
Different parts of the dog’s body shed at different parts of the shedding cycle. My dogs seem to start with mid-body first, then rump, waist and thighs, then shoulders and chest. I see shedding as a two week process if I really stay on top of it. I use a pin brush first, then shedding rake, then may go throught the coat with a comb to get out anything I missed. All this needs to be done gently, so you don’t irritate the skin, but with a sense of whether you are really getting down to the skin or not. Sometimes people brush and brush their dogs, but the brush is skimming over the top of a dense undercoat and never getting to the skin.
Professional groomers actually do what is called “line grooming”. Start at the lowest part of the dog (have him lie on his side for this). Use one hand to hold up most of the coat so you are only brushing a little bit. Slowly let some coat slip out from under your hand so you have a new layer to brush.Slowly slide the coat-holding hand up (toward the spine) as the brush hand works the coat just released. This way you get the entire undercoat exposed all the way to the skin, and can gently remove any loose coat. Do one side at a time, once every few days during shedding time.
Another part of coat maintenance is nutrition. Just like you can’t live on potato chips alone, dogs can’t live on kibble alone. The health of your dog’s coat is directly related to your dog’s nutrition. Most commercial kibble is made from ingredients that nobody else wants. The label might look great, but it doesn’t tell you the quality of those ingredients. Please feed your dog the best diet you can afford, then add supplements.
There is no kibble in existence that provides all the nutrition needed for a healthy dog. I feed kibble, haven’t made the leap to a totally raw diet (tho most of my friends feed raw), but I feed Innova (available usually only at the better groomers shops, call around), and then I supplement with Linatone Plus (omega 3 oils and zinc supplement), a pinch of kelp, 500 mg Vit C for a 50 lb dog, raw marrow bones and occasional ground vegies. I have show dogs, and am often teased about needing sunglasses to look at my dog’s glossy coats. When they shed you know it (my vacuum cleaner knows it!), but it’s a healthy shed and comes out easily. A healthy coat indicates healthy skin, which keeps dander at a minimum. It is cheaper to feed your dog well, than to pay expensive vet bills for problems from a poor diet. (I’m not saying you feed your dog poorly, just preaching to all who are reading this!!!). Maybe you can do a websearch for “raw food diets for dogs”, I don’t know. There are several email lists for dog diets, maybe someone on this list can help. There are also some good books about dog diets, and maybe someone on the list can recommend some.
Change your vacuum cleaner bag often, whenever it is 3/4 full.
Good luck!
Yours, Wendy
If anyone has any idea how a shed-stop shampoo works, I’d like to hear about it. Shedding is required for a normal healthy coat, just like deciduous trees *have to* drop their leaves in the fall, even if they live in Florida! Does it get the coat out faster? Does it make it clump together so it comes out with less mess? Or, does it somehow glue it to the skin creating a health problem down the road? The fur has to come out, so how does a shampoo stop it? Just wondering!
Yours, Wendy
Dear Wendy,
Thank you for your reply. I am printing it out now so I don’t lose it:) I do try to always have a treat with me when I call her hoping this will get her to come to me but so far that hasn’t worked, I think she wants to play more than the treat. I will try with calling her name having her look and dropping the treat. I can’t wait to start trying all this out! Her favorite snack food is eggs, is that o.k. or is there to much fat in it?
I’m so glad you mentioned the book on the clicker method, I have seen people mention this but don’t have a clue as to what it is.Thank you for your answer I will follow it.
Thanks,
Pam and her furbaby Matti
I personally don’t think there is a problem with giving your dog small pieces of egg if that is a favorite treat. For a dog the size of yours a treat would be pea sized or smaller. When you begin to work with your dog practice the recalls initially inside without distractions. Practice in every room in the house, then calling her room to room do this before you take practice outside.
When you go outside begin again in a distraction free area outside or at least one with as few distractions as possible, perhaps with her on a leash/long line so she can’t continue to rehearse the “take off” behavior.
This will go very well for you if you teach the exercise slowly and incrementally. Most of us don’t practice recalls enough or we only call the dog for unpleasant things.
Come…I take you inside and leave for work.
Come…and now go in your crate.
Come…now it’s bath time
And so one. One can see how a recall becomes a very negative thing very quickly
LR