# The shedding is killing me.



## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

I vacuum twice a day, AND vacuum and brush _Balen_ everyday but there is still hair everywhere!  Our clothes are still covered in it, I have to be careful when I'm cooking not to get hair in our food- When I pet him, I can see the hair floating through the air -you get the idea. 

I know he is a German Shepherd, but this seems excessive. 

I have heard of supplements that are supposed to help decrease shedding such as fish oil.

Anyone have any suggestions or experience with supplements?


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

We use fish oil, and regular full grooming. The quality of food helps as well. Lower the quality and less nutrition in the food, the more brittle their coats get. A good quality food will lessen the shedding, at least a fair amount.

We dropped down to California Natural from Orijen because of financial needs.... and boy do I see WAY more tumbleweeds in my house!!!

It's pretty bad right now, so I feel your pain! I'm pretty close to giving up on trying to keep things spotless here. It's that time of the year and with the food change... all the dogs are dropping hair like it's going out of style.

When I had them on Orijen, they still shed like GSDs (which is heavy still) but, it wasn't nearly like this... it was manageable with once a day vacuuming, and full grooming every 4-5 days. Not too bad. Oh how I MISS that!!! 

There's a lot more I've heard of that works, but I've never really had to try any more then just the oil and grooming. However, until we switch back to Orijen.... I may have to look into it again!! 

I'd definitely like to see some suggestions on this thread... I could use some new ideas as well!


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

My last dog shed like crazy ... you should trade him in for a LC ha ha ha!!!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Give him a good bath at a groomers with a dog blow dryer. That will get most of the loose hair out.


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## ken k (Apr 3, 2006)

Kyleigh said:


> My last dog shed like crazy ... you should trade him in for a LC ha ha ha!!!


lol, I thought i had a lot of dog hair with the 2, then the LC came, omg


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

Ky barely sheds at all. I had her at the groomers at the beginning of Nov and she still didn't really shed ... there was some fur, sure, but nothing like my last dog ... I am eternally grateful!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I think these up and down temperatures are making it worse this year. Poor animals don't know whether to grow their coats or blow them. I haven't even begun to put a blanket on my horse yet. One night it's 20 and the next it's 40.


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## Marnie (Oct 11, 2011)

To me, the shedding is the biggest downside to the breed. My collies and shelties have not shed nearly as much. Collies have more coat and a denser undercoat, but it remains on the dog (and will mat) until you brush it out.

Bathing usually helps. A trip to a groomer will cut down on the problem for a while, especially seasonal shedding. Give yourself an early Christmas present and make an appointment with your groomer.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Dogs that live primarily indoors shed constantly year-round, and GSDs are notorious for it. I have a GSD in my grooming shop right now, I just groomed him yesterday, blew and brushed out a TON of hair, and this morning he's still got loose hairs falling off. It just never ends.

Supplements like Fish Oil, Missing Link, etc. certainly won't hurt, but I'm not going to tell you that it makes shedding stop.

Daily brushing and vacuuming is all I can say... you have a GSD! Hair is just part of the deal.

I have to say, my own GSD doesn't shed all that much, as GSDs go. She has a short stock coat, relatively close-lying and very dense. When it does begin to shed in spring, it's unbelievable, but it's not too bad right now. I have no idea why, because I don't brush her very often (hey, I brush dogs all day long!) and she eats a good-quality grain free kibble, with a fish oil and glucosamine/chondriotin supplement. I raised her on raw until she was about 5 or 6 years old, and she didn't shed too badly then either. She's always been a housedog, but spends quite a bit of time outside as well. All I can figure is that some dogs naturally shed more than others.


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## TimberGSD2 (Nov 8, 2011)

With TJ the shedding was just about unbearable. I found that having him groomed 4 times a year with the furminator helped tremendously. With Kya I do it twice a year. It is amazing how much these dogs can shed!


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

Since I've been keeping the dogs in the sunroom during the day and there is no heat in there, I thought Lakota would stop shedding...HA! She likes to lay on the love seat, I keep a sheet on it for easy clean up, there is always a pile of white hair on the floor. Apache & Kiya are both long coat and barely ever shed unless your brushing them. White hair everywhere.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

You can use supplements, feed the best of foods, and groom regularly, but some GSD's just shed more than others and people that haven't owned multiple GSD's at the same time usually don't understand how true that is. So you'll get a lot of recommendations for "I use this and my GSD doesn't shed that much..." and it either means: A) their dog just simply doesn't shed as much as yours or B) their standards are lower.

We have three german shepherds. I won't count the malinois since he hardly sheds period....Out of the three GSD's I have, one truely is a twice a year blow coat kind of girl. She doesn't shed that much outside of the twice annually. One sheds horribly YEAR round with a really bad shed twice a year in addition. The other sheds somewhere between the other two and I swear has probably 4x's a yr that she sheds badly.

My mom has two GSD's. One doesn't shed hardly at all, I mean hardly. He has a vry short tight coat with a thin undercoat. The other has the thickest undercoat I've ever seen on a dog. It doesn't seem like it when you look at her, but she sheds buckets. When she gets a good bath and blowout, it looks like she's lost 10 lbs because all the loose fluffy undercoat is gone.

Worth noting, my dogs are fed a good quality diet, her dogs despite my talking to her regularly eat (usually) pedigree. The dog of hers that sheds a ton, we had when I lived with her years ago before buying my own house, getting married (yada yada  ) and that dog ate a grain free diet back then. She still sheds exactly the same now on pedigree as she did on a grain free diet when I lived there and was buying the food. The other dog of hers that doesn't shed at all hardly was a foster dog I had after I had already moved out. she adopted him from her after his HW treatment was finished as a companion for her female, and his diet went from great (not grain free) to pedigree. He still sheds the same.

you also have to watch here when people post about how much their dog sheds, because a lot of times newer members with young dogs (under a yr) post about how their GSD doesn't shed much. IME, GSD's don't really start shedding until their adult coat comes in after 6 months old, and really don't start shedding until around a yr and up.


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## BWCA Shepherd (Oct 3, 2012)

Ditto on some of Rerun's info. My last black GSD had a thinner coat, and hardly shed at all, regardless of the season.

My current Silver Sable sheds all the time, twice per season real bad. I get a slight reprieve in late August through most of October before it begine again. 

All my black clothing from my black GSD is variegated now! Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum........ I am glad he loves to be groomed and vacuumed.

I also have three different styles of brushes that I alternate. Not sure how much it helps, but I would like to think it does.

Fun times!


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## Scarlettsmom (Jul 12, 2011)

German Shedders! Scarlett tends to shed worse than usual a few times a year. The rest of the time, it's manageable, but noticiable. 

I am headed out to brush her out before our walk. I am hoping more hair will blow off when we are outside.  

On a positive note, you should see the lovely, soft bird nests we have around our house in the spring.


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## RocketDog (Sep 25, 2011)

Hmmm. Honestly, I don't brush Rocket NEARLY as often as I should, but the hair is still a QUARTER of what it was with my labrador. Honestly, I think some of it is just individual dogs. Is he on a good food that agrees with him? I don't mean the most expensive food, but dogs do better on some foods than others. Rocket does fab on Orijen, but he doesn't love it. I'm just now trying a new food, but if he doesn't appear to do as well, back he'll go to Orijen, because he looks stunning on it.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

My GSD doesn't do much shedding, but the golden is a whole different story. The golden is going in to the groomers and I have them furminate him....his hair is everywhere


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

Neither of my Shepherds shed much. Ironhide only sheds about 6 weeks before going into heat (twice a year), and I can usually get out all the undercoat in 2 brushing sessions. Gladiator barely sheds at all, not even enough to leave hair in his crate...*knock on wood*

I brush them maybe once a month (get maybe two handfulls of hair on a 30 minte brushing session each), and do a full groom 3-6 times a year (bath, blow dry, brush), but other than that its just nails twice a month.

Both are on a diet of Acana/TOTW/The Honest Kitchen, they are supplemented with fresh meat, veggies and small amounts of fruit, Salmon Oil, Seameal and Nupro.

Both are indoor dogs, but they do have outdoor kennels with insulated dog houses (with straw) that they use 2-4 hours a day, and they are usually crated in my truck during the week so we can run at lunch and train after work.


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## Candace (Sep 13, 2012)

I just presumed the daily- twice daily vacuuming was all part of having GSDs ;0)


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## Angelina03 (Jan 9, 2012)

Wow. You all vacuum twice a day??!! I can't even vacuum twice a week most of the time. Within 2 days of cleaning, my house needs another; but I never have the time for more than once a week. It's so hard to keep clean. 


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## lzver (Feb 9, 2012)

No way I could manage vacuuming twice daily. I have parrots as well and have a small vacuum to do spot vacuums and then I vacuum the main level every second day. The rest of the house where Jake doesn't spend as much time gets vacuumed weekly.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

I just wanted to give another shout out for the force dryer.

I bathed Luka yesterday, as she was starting to look a bit unkempt. She wasn't really shedding, but was starting to get a reddish-brown cast to her black saddle, so I knew it was coming.

Bathed her, got her on the table and turned the force dryer on her... I was SHOCKED at how much dead hair came flying out. It was unbelievable. It came out in sheets. I never could have gotten out that much hair with brushing. I wish I could have taken a photo of the hair hurricane I was standing in.

Once I blasted out all the dead hair I could, I Furminated her for about 5 minutes and got more.

It would have been a back-breaking job if I didn't have a force dryer, and I never would have gotten it all... I'd have had to wait until that hair was coming out in clumps and tufts all over the house.

So, Yay for force dryers!


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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

Force dryers are the best!

Seriously, if I wasn't a groomer with 24/7 access to a shop, I would absolutely go out and buy a force dryer. Even an inexpensive Metro orange canister dryer will get the job done.

My girls are shown, so they're bathed frequently for dog shows. They just don't shed much at all, unless they are blowing coat before going into heat. Then it's a nightmare.

I will admit that I never brush my dogs. Never. If they are blowing coat, I'll bathe them and then blow dry with the force dryer. As Freestep says, the coat will come flying off in sheets.


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## Angelina03 (Jan 9, 2012)

What's a force dryer? Rocco is scared of my blow dryer. I don't think I could use on him. 


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

I think LC's are the worst for shedding year round, and Jax08 has a good point. With the weather jumping back and forth it is affecting our dogs and grooming habits. I brush about every other day and the hair flies 24/7. Guess I would be used to it after three years or more of having coaties, but then I find a dog hair somewhere I don't like them.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

A force dryer is just a very powerful blow dryer without the heat. The fast-moving, concentrated stream of air cuts right through the coat down to the skin, and moves the water from the root of the hair to the tip and out. It separates the strands of hair from each other and fluffs up the coat, and dries it quickly. Not only that, but it blasts any dead hair, dander, dirt or debris out, too. A good force dryer reduces brushing by about 90%.

It is noisy and some dogs don't like it at first, but once you get them accustomed to it, most big dogs like the force dryer--it feels kind of like a massage.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

PatchonGSD said:


> !  Our clothes are still covered in it, I have to be careful when I'm cooking not to get hair in our food-


you don't have dog hair in your food???

as for the clothes:


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## GrammaD (Jan 1, 2012)

What dryer is most recommended? I just "gave up" on handling the fall shed out on my own (I swear it is extended and worse this year-I could make a litter of lab puppies from what is coming off Abby and don't even get me started on Huxley!) and brought the dogs to the groomer about an hour ago and now I sit here thinking I could probably buy a dryer for what this is going to cost me


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## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

Dainerra said:


> you don't have dog hair in your food???
> 
> Ok I admit, I've had to pick it out a few times.....
> 
> as for the clothes:


.....


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## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

Freestep said:


> A force dryer is just a very powerful blow dryer without the heat. The fast-moving, concentrated stream of air cuts right through the coat down to the skin, and moves the water from the root of the hair to the tip and out. It separates the strands of hair from each other and fluffs up the coat, and dries it quickly. Not only that, but it blasts any dead hair, dander, dirt or debris out, too. A good force dryer reduces brushing by about 90%.
> 
> It is noisy and some dogs don't like it at first, but once you get them accustomed to it, most big dogs like the force dryer--it feels kind of like a massage.


Do you take your dog outside to use it?


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## Fynn&Vandy (Dec 10, 2012)

When I first got my gsd, I was going freaking crazy over the shedding especially during the summer. I brushed him every morning and, every night. I was vacuuming constantly. I noticed that the healthier he got, the less he shed. (He was in bad shape when I got him!) I talked to K9 unit officers, military dog handlers, vets ANYONE that could help and, I heard the same responses over and over. It could be allergies. If they are allergic to something in their food, they will shed like crazy. I was also told that a nice steak once a week would do wonders. I now have two shepherds and, they are eating good food and, sure enough get a weekly steak. The shedding issue is a quarter of what it was when I just first got Fynn. Good luck!


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

YES! You take the dog outside to use a force dryer. This is not an indoor tool.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

OMG ... I just had a mental image of doing this in my house ... even tho Ky barely sheds, I certainly would NOT want that fur all over the place!


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## FlyAway (Jul 17, 2012)

How does the force dryer compare to a leaf blower?


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Oh gosh. You think GSDs shed. Babysit my husky for a few days c: That's shedding! lol


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## Anitsisqua (Mar 25, 2012)

Rerun said:


> YES! You take the dog outside to use a force dryer. This is not an indoor tool.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


I used to work for a groomer, and we had to use the force dryers indoors.

...We had to get on a ladder and scrub hair off of the top of the 12ft walls and ceiling every day.

This is not a neat, tidy tool.


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## Anitsisqua (Mar 25, 2012)

Zeeva said:


> Oh gosh. You think GSDs shed. Babysit my husky for a few days c: That's shedding! lol



I have a cat that puts my GSD's shedding to shame. I have no idea how she's not bald yet.

...Of course, she's white, so that shows on everything.


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## m1953 (May 7, 2012)

I vacuum and brush every day. Shedding is not too much of an issue. But I guess that's why they are called German shredders


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