# Normal Shedding?



## Mandalay (Apr 21, 2008)

Today I looked down at Mandalay and saw little tufts of fur all over her back. I thought it was cat hair at first since it was soft and silky and not the normal pine needle like hair that she sheds ALL OVER the place CONSTANTLY.

I got out the rake brush, intending to get this off of her and about 15 minutes later I had what is shown in the picture below. The floor tile that it is on is 16x16. That's a lot of hair, folks!!

Like I mentioned it was soft and fluffy, silky almost, and Mandi's coat is a very short coarse like coat. Since she just turned 1yo and this is the first winter to spring season change that we have her, I have to ask if this is normal. It seems like she has dumped almost all of her softer undercoat this afternoon instead of over a series of days or weeks like every other dog I have ever owned has done.

There are no bald patches on her (that was why I kept brushing to see if she was losing patches of fur) and her hair does not seem as dense as it was before her mass shed.

Any thoughts?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Its called blowing coat. Tis the season!! I always said Clover had a new puppy with the softness we got out of her. Onyx never did that when she was a year. She didn't shed at all til June~ she was 5 months shy of 2. It wasn't much either, just enough to make a small "puppy" This year, I know they will shed heavily, they developed thick coats this past winter. So far it hasn't really started.


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## Annemarie (Feb 12, 2007)

Welcome to coat blowing









Totally normal, usually twice a year, spring and fall.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

If it is copious amount of hair everywhere, than it is perfectly normal GSD behavior. 

Welcome to my world. 

Don't put that rake away, more may follow.....


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

WHOA! That's a lot of hair... I don't even think my current brush could deal with all of that.


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## Mandalay (Apr 21, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: JerzeyGSDWHOA! That's a lot of hair... I don't even think my current brush could deal with all of that.


I had used the Shed Ender on her a few weeks ago and got almost that same amount out of her, but have never gotten near that much with just the rake brush. The darn dog has more of an assortment of grooming tools that I do with all her brushes, shampoos, sprays, combs...

Thanks everyone for putting my mind at ease. Even as I was brushing it out of her I kept thinking it had to belong to one of the cats because it was so soft and fluffy and there was so much of it! I felt silly asking about shedding since she has been shedding since I brought her home almost a full year ago, but nothing like this. This is crazy! My Bearded Collie did not shed this much in a 15 minute time period! lol


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

Eh, you just THINK you got it all. There will be more!


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## Mandalay (Apr 21, 2008)

I just googled the term "blowing coat" and got to Wiki where there was this picture of a Newfie laying next to his fur that had just been brushed out of him...OH MY DOG!!!! Whatever fur comes out of Mandi, I will be thankful it is not this dog...


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

LOL, I start with one of those funky brushes with the bristles on one side and the metal spikes on the other. Soon that is abandoned for the shedding blade (horse tool). After I am knee deep in hair, I switch to a rake that has longer bristles, and get even more out. 

What is bad is when they sit down in the mounds of hair and I have to pull that off too! 

I have been known to fill up a brown paper grocery bag. 

At some point, I throw up my arms and make an appointment. It is usually a little embarrassing seeing the floor after they are done with my dog, but it is worth it. 

This time, I got a jump on it and called the Mobile Groomer. They came out last Monday (I think it was last week). Anyway, on Thursday one of the vet techs was all excited they are going to sell furminators and wanted to try one out on my dog. Yep, they pulled out still more hair!!!! 

The last time I had taken Babsy in for a grooming, they asked if I wanted her furminated. I said they could go for it. They did. The longer hair on her back legs near her butt looked almost like they shaved her when I got her back. I will not let them do that again.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

don't vaccum the hair. it'll clod or stop the vaccum.
don't worry they only shed let's say, April through August.
when it starts to get cooler it'll slow up. wait untill you clean behind the refrigerator or the book case. look under the bottom
of that big chair in the livingroom. don't look under the bed
or behind the dressers.

the hair is everywhere. my GF is a massage therapist. she
has to wear all black for work. there's several people that work at the salon with dogs. the people with dogs get dressed at work.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

That newf had some FUR, mercy.

Mandi will blow out the rest of her coat in may or june, depending on when it gets hot and humid there. 

Morgan has tight coarse fur too. I never notice how big she gets in the winter until it all comes in. Usually about the middle of January I'm like Woah, you are massive! but it's all fur. When she starts blowing coat, I rake her for a few weeks then send her to the groomer for a solid bath, blow dry and shedding. Then I send her again around Memorial Day to get the rest of it out.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

If you are a neat freak,Don't look under furniture.When ever I do I yell at the kids for sneaking another pet into the house.I swear if I put it all together I could have another whole dog.It is endless.


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## Mandalay (Apr 21, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: AllieGIf you are a neat freak,Don't look under furniture.When ever I do I yell at the kids for sneaking another pet into the house.I swear if I put it all together I could have another whole dog.It is endless.


that is what I am finding to be my most serious problem with it - I am a nut about the floors being clean. I have gotten better, I can now leave mild mud or paw prints on the floor for a full 12 hours.









About 2 years ago I was brushing one of my cats before bed and the loose hair was on the carpet. Well, I was really tired, so we just went to bed. I tossed and turned for about an hour before I just gave in, got out of bed, vacuumed up the hair and then was able to fall asleep.

I know about the underneath of the bed, couches and chairs....whenever I have to retreive a lost shoe or toy from under one of them I end up sweeping and then vacuuming there, too.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: Mandalay
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: AllieGIf you are a neat freak,Don't look under furniture.When ever I do I yell at the kids for sneaking another pet into the house.I swear if I put it all together I could have another whole dog.It is endless.
> ...


 I am the same way, but with two gsds during the thawing/raining season, I have to let some things go...Kacie came in last night a muddy mess and at 8 pm had to have her lower half sprayed off, I felt bad for her but she was imbedded in mud. You should have seen my bathroom, she had twigs, leaves and who knows what else in her coat in less than 1/2 hr outside. Long coats are much harder to maintain during the Spring.


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## Lady Badlands (Mar 31, 2009)

There was another thread on shedding that I posted on this morning, but I don't mind posting again on this topic. Brushing Romeo three times a day produces enormous wads of white fur. My husband at first, said I should throw the hair outside and that the birds would use it for their nests. What a bad idea. Looks like snowballs stuck in all the bushes.

My small living room carpet is covered in white hair that the vacuum doesn't pick up. I realized the canister was stuffed with his hair and there was no suction. I vacuum every day. The hairs are everywhere including on all my clothes. This is a huge commitment. Why in the world would they have bred these guys to be such copious shedders? Doesn't make sense.

Anyhow, my penchant for clean is being severely tested by this new turn of events in the continuing saga of the advent of Romeo in our lives. I think if he were a dark colored GSD, the hairs on the dark wood floors wouldn't show. As it is, white hairs show up on everything, although I can't see them too much on the light-colored kitchen floor. 

Someone said that GSD's shed like this all the time? Say it isn't so!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I think it depends on the diet. If you feed high quality and supplement with salmon oil and vitamin E the coat is much healthier. I also vac daily, due to what they track in, but other dogs shed as much or more and I'd rather have to vac up after a gsd than a beagle, bulldog, greyhound or other shorter coat that is much worse, IMO. That short hair embeds into the fabric and seems to be worse than my longer coated dogs. I am around the other breeds, but they are all on Iams, Purina or other ?? brands so shed alot thruout the year not at just the coat blowing time.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i have a Grey Hound and i barely notice any shedding. 
my Shep, whoa!!! i feed high quality and we use a high quality
vitamin supplement, plus my dogs get fresh veggies and fruit.
they blow their coats no matter what quality food they eat. 
i have two friends with Bull Dogs and they tell me the shedding is nothing. 



> Originally Posted By: onyx'girlI think it depends on the diet. If you feed high quality and supplement with salmon oil and vitamin E the coat is much healthier. I also vac daily, due to what they track in, but other dogs shed as much or more and I'd rather have to vac up after a gsd than a beagle, bulldog, greyhound or other shorter coat that is much worse, IMO. That short hair embeds into the fabric and seems to be worse than my longer coated dogs. I am around the other breeds, but they are all on Iams, Purina or other ?? brands so shed alot thruout the year not at just the coat blowing time.


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## ozzymama (Jan 17, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: Lady Badlands I think if he were a dark colored GSD, the hairs on the dark wood floors wouldn't show. As it is, white hairs show up on everything, although I can't see them too much on the light-colored kitchen floor.


Don't bet on it







Ozzy is dark and his hair shows up dark, light, neutral floors. Especially along the lines of the baseboards. My cold air return vent is always getting wiped down because the hair is so attracted to it.

The only real way to combat it is to vac daily, I have a magnetic broom which works well, but you have to touch the hair to get it off the end (gross!)

Dh always teases me about the amount of toilet paper I buy, hey it's great for grabbing quickly and wiping something down inbetween cleanings. Especially in the main bathroom where three cats reside and two dogs think is the most interesting room in the house.


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

From these stories I know Dakota has not started to shed yet. I do brush her every 2nd day and at most get a brush full. I vacuum everyday now oh my!


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## Little Red (Jan 10, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Lady Badlands
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Seems like they shed all the time, but mostly at coat blowing. You really just have to sweep (or vacuum) once a day. Luckily I don't have carpet so I am constantly sweeping. It is a big commitment, esp at first, but because the dogs are so awesome you soon get used to being furry all the time.


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## kaylesraven (Jul 2, 2008)

They aren't called german shedders for nothing!!


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