# Furminator



## Treadwell (Mar 3, 2015)

When I first came across the Furminator de-shedding tool, it seemed pretty great--videos upon videos and testimonials abound about how great it is and helps decrease shedding, etc. A friend of mine breeds Brittany Spaniels and posted something about shaving dogs in the summer; that led me to a discussion about how the Furminator is actually bad for double-coated dogs. Quite a few people said it was more like a blade and cuts the hair, leaving these patches of thinned fur that don't grow back well or at all.
I wanted to see if anyone used the Furminator or knew if any of this was true. It was enough to scare me away from it; I didn't want to risk my new pup's coat.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

I would say your instincts are good! That "thing" is more for neat freaks then it is people who care about there dogs! 

Just my two cents.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Love the furminator. Used it on my previous GSD and just started using it on my pup. I have never had a problem with it. It is not a tool that should be used excessively. In that case, you just may get bald spots.


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## E.Hatch (Sep 24, 2013)

I use a plain rake mostly but during coat blowing I use the furminator and I think it's awesome. I've not experienced any abnormal hair regrowth.


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## KootenayMutt (Jun 4, 2015)

I use a furminator occasionally during shedding seasons. 
I've yet to have any problems with uneven fur growth nor have I noticed any cut fur (what comes out is very obviously loose undercoat.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I use it without issue on the dogs.


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## Treadwell (Mar 3, 2015)

I feel a lot better now. Maybe the people saying that it caused bald spots were using it too frequently?
If I actually do get one, I think I might only save it for blowouts...


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Treadwell said:


> I feel a lot better now. Maybe the people saying that it caused bald spots were using it too frequently?
> If I actually do get one, I think I might only save it for blowouts...


The people that are seeing bald spots are using it wrong. You have go let the tool do the work. You don't have to apply pressure, if you do there will be issues.


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## Treadwell (Mar 3, 2015)

llombardo said:


> The people that are seeing bald spots are using it wrong. You have go let the tool do the work. You don't have to apply pressure, if you do there will be issues.


In most of the videos I've seen, it does look like they're brushing pretty vigorously... So, just a lighter comb-through then?
Thanks! This could explain some things.
A lot of the bald spots were around the legs.


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

Its sharp...my dog won't let me do it vigorously anyway...so he tells me if I'm using it right. It does a nice job, but I have seen the same videos with piles and piles of fur around the dogs feet. I don't know how long people brush to get that much fur off. I can't see myself brushing longer than 2-4 minutes at a time. And nowhere near that much fur comes off.


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## Majolica (Feb 18, 2015)

I despise those things. I won't use them on my own dogs or any dogs I groom. We did use them at the place I started grooming at. They can bloody the dog! They are sharp, and they DO destroy the hair. The damage is probably negligible if you are only using them a couple of times a year when they blow their coat. But I can usually tell the dogs that have had them used just by looking at their coat (although other things, like poor quality food, can also give a similar look). They are more or less a stripping knife (for stripping terriers). That isn't what we want to do on a double coated dog. There are other simple tools that remove just as much or more hair that are far less damaging. My preference is to first use a slicker brush, then a fine tooth comb, then, if the dog is currently shedding guard hairs, a rubber brush like a Zoom Groom. This works for most double coated dogs. It might take a little longer and you may not get EVERY LAST shedding hair (and some that weren't too), but you won't bloody your dog unless you get REALLY carried away, and you won't do much damage to the hair.

Also, they're VERY overpriced. Look around if you must have one. There are brushes that are the exact same thing, but a fraction of the price.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

If any one is causing their dog to bleed using the furminator - or any tool, they shouldn't even be grooming a dog. That is ridiculous.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

I use it a few times a year and it's a fantastic tool  Using it properly is paramount and no overusing for sure


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

As long as you don't over use it it works well but if you use it to often as I did (once a day) last fall you risk your dog looking like this (I also attached a picture of him normally so you can see the drastic difference)  now I use an under coat rake most of the time.


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## Majolica (Feb 18, 2015)

Treadwell said:


> In most of the videos I've seen, it does look like they're brushing pretty vigorously... So, just a lighter comb-through then?
> Thanks! This could explain some things.
> A lot of the bald spots were around the legs.


The reason you are seeing bald spots on the legs is because of the type of hair that the dogs have there. It tends to be a fine, almost undercoat like hair, which is exactly what the brush is meant to remove. As I stated before it is basically a stripping knife which is meant to remove nearly every soft undercoat hair, and leave the coarser, wiry hair. There are no true coarse guard hairs on the legs, so the brush is doing exactly what it was meant to. Of course you can brush less on the legs and not have bald spots.

With all this said, the brush will not remove (by itself) all of the undercoat on a thick, double coated dog. If the teeth of the brush cannot reach a layer of hair, of course it is not going to remove the dead hair in that layer. That's why you don't see the huge piles of hair seen in the advertisements. It does work quickly and you ABSOLUTELY should NOT use it for a long period of time. That is a very good way to leave sores. It tends to remove more undercoat from dogs with "thin" guard hairs and relatively thin coats, like certain Golden Retrievers and some Labs.

If you must have a semi dangerous tool to remove massive amounts of dead undercoat quickly, most German Shepherd owners would be better served with a Mars Coat King. They aren't cheap or completely safe either, but they are more effective on thick coats (and I don't know why, but they work MUCH better than any of the similar knock offs I have tried). Either one of those tools must be used with extreme caution though, and very, very little on thin hair on the legs! (The rubber brush is typically the best there.)


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## Majolica (Feb 18, 2015)

Stevenzachsmom said:


> If any one is causing their dog to bleed using the furminator - or any tool, they shouldn't even be grooming a dog. That is ridiculous.


But that is the issue. It is fairly easy to do. A pet owner may do it and because of the thickness of the hair may not even realize they have! Certainly groomers (and owners of breeds that have their coat stripped) use the tool successfully, since they use them to strip coats. Obviously they can be used without injury, but they are not to be taken lightly, and that is where I have a real issue with them. They are marketed as quick and easy, and that leads them to be used in an unsafe manner by people who don't realize how dangerous they can be.

That and they are being used for something that is not their purpose and therefore has unintended consequences to the coat. But, to be fair, some people probably aren't as obsessive about that aspect as I am.


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## Beverly (Nov 8, 2011)

I use the rake almost daily on our GSD Dutch. We have a fulminator, but have only used it on our Lab when he was blowing coat. Once, when Dutch returned from the groomer, he looked like a different dog. They had completely cut off his beautiful long fur that looked like a lion's mane framing his face and shoulders. We were appalled, and never allow anyone to use the fulminator, even if they have to brush him all day.


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## Cobe914 (Sep 29, 2014)

I only use it once in a while on my dog's body, not legs (and my cat). You only want to brush for a few minutes - never too long (more then 10-15 minutes). And not often. I do find it does a good job getting piles of fur out during a coat blowing. Otherwise for regular brushing I much prefer the zoom groom - I find I get more fur out day to day with that then I would with the furminator or other deshedding blades.. and my dog LOVES it - it's like a massage. I do notice after brushing with any deshedding blade the coat has a different - rougher - composition.


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## KootenayMutt (Jun 4, 2015)

Sounds like just a lack of common sense then.

The only time I find a furminator useful is in the middle of shedding season. If there is no loose undercoat, then nothing comes out.

I also don't use it on my dog's legs or any other part of her that has short thin hair.


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