# Furminator, is it really worth it?



## OUbrat79 (Jan 21, 2013)

I have always used a shedding comb like you would use on a horse for grooming Ammo. Out of everything I have tried it has seemed to work the best. It gets a ton of hair out and leaves his coat looking great. It doesn't get all the lose hair though. I have yet to find anything that can get all the hair. Well today during training class, at petsmart, the trainer guy pushed for me to get a furminator. He swore it would get all the lose hair and talked about how great it was for his lab, or retriever, or what ever the breed of dog was (it wasn't a dog with a double coat). I have a hard time believing that it is the end all be all of dog brushes, especially with a price tag of over $50. So I thought I would come here and ask if it is really worth the money? Is it really good enough to justify that much money on a brush? I mean if it really is the greatest thing ever I will get it but if the comb that I use is just as good then why spend so much? Please let me know what you think. I personally think the petsmart guy was just trying to make a sale.


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

OUbrat79 said:


> I have always used a shedding comb like you would use on a horse for grooming Ammo. Out of everything I have tried it has seemed to work the best. It gets a ton of hair out and leaves his coat looking great. It doesn't get all the lose hair though. I have yet to find anything that can get all the hair. Well today during training class, at petsmart, the trainer guy pushed for me to get a furminator. He swore it would get all the lose hair and talked about how great it was for his lab, or retriever, or what ever the breed of dog was (it wasn't a dog with a double coat). I have a hard time believing that it is the end all be all of dog brushes, especially with a price tag of over $50. So I thought I would come here and ask if it is really worth the money? Is it really good enough to justify that much money on a brush? I mean if it really is the greatest thing ever I will get it but if the comb that I use is just as good then why spend so much? Please let me know what you think. I personally think the petsmart guy was just trying to make a sale.


I've tried the furminator. These are what I think work best and they cost a lot less. I use this followed by a slicker brush. 

Amazon.com: Evolution W6110 Grooming Undercoat Rake with Rotating Teeth, Double Row: Pet Supplies


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## Bman0221 (May 3, 2010)

I have one, use it and love it. It works great to remove loose hair. It's not a brush so don't use it like one. I run it over him with little pressure and let it do the work. I can pull a trash bag full of hair off with mine. 

I don't use it all the time though. Once or twice a month. 


Shop around if you want one. Ebay, Amazon etc. You can get them cheaper than what they want for them at the petstore. 

I have also found that people either love them or hate them.


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## boomer11 (Jun 9, 2013)

lol NOTHING will ever be able to get all those loose hairs out. the furminator does a really great job with the under coat. i thought it was worth every penny. but even after a thorough brush, i can still grab his neck and pull out a chunk of hair. i dont have hair all over my house though so i guess it must be doing a good job.

go on amazon and read all the real world reviews.


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## brembo (Jun 30, 2009)

In and of itself, the Furminator is a very nice piece of equipment. Sturdy and well pieced together. Bit overpriced. It gets amazing amounts of fur off a dog too, with some caveats.

Overused it can murder the guard hairs. It's a hybrid, a cutter and a rake at the same time. If you understand a GSDs fur "system" a Furminator an be a very helpful tool, use it wrong and you can wreck a good coat. It's also sort of dangerous in that it's rather sharp and the wee little teeth can slash open skin. 

A good groomer can point you in the direction of two or three tools used in combination that will do the same work in a safer and cheaper manner.


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## trcy (Mar 1, 2013)

I have one, but rarely use it. I don't plan to use it on the GSD at all. I used it on my Shepherd poodle mixes and it takes so much fur off, but their fur is like cotton, it floats in the air and gets everywhere. I don't care for the mess. My MIL bought an attachment for it that goes on the vacuum. I have not used it yet. I really don't think the dogs would enjoy sitting next to the running vacuum while they are...vacuumed...lol


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

It works very well, especially for my long coated cats. you can shop online and get a much better price, I found a good deal at Drs Foster and Smith.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I use the furminator comb, the shampoo , the conditioner, the detangler stuff, and the vacuum attachment. 3 out of 5 of my dogs love to get vacuumed... The boys. They want in line for their turn. It works well for all of mine. One of the cats waits his turn to.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

My patented Furminator spiel™:

The thing to remember with the Furminator is to use a light touch, like you are just petting the dog with it. You don't need to use a lot of pressure; keep your wrist relaxed and just let the tool do the work. Don't go over one spot for too long, and be extra careful over any bony areas. 5-10 minutes of Furminating once or twice a week is plenty. If you over-furminate, you may end up with bald spots or skin irritation. You definitely can remove more hair than you mean to if you aren't careful!

You will hear people say that the Furminator "ruins" the coat. This is not true if you use it properly. I'm a professional groomer, and I use the Furminator all the time with NO coat damage whatsoever. It is not designed to cut hair, only to grab the loose hairs while allowing the live hair to slide through undamaged.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

I got my Furminator for $12 off Ebay. I LOVE it.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Works fine _when used properly_ (I know two GSDs who were "over-Furminated" to the point that they had to be withdrawn from shows), but still IMO not worth the money. The only time I use mine is using a cat Furminator to gently de-mat tangles on my cat. I've never needed it as a regular brush. I show my GSDs and use a $7 undercoat rake for grooming, maybe a little fluffing with a pin brush because I already have one (wouldn't buy one if I lost it). IMO, for a pet GSD the RAKE is the necessity.


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

Mine was a gift, and once I learned to use it properly (lol, Freestep) I started to really like it. But I hardly ever use it - definitely not once a week, maybe once every 2 months? If that? It's great when he's blowing his coat but otherwise it just sits there.


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## OUbrat79 (Jan 21, 2013)

The comb I use does a wonderful job on the undercoat. I just need a brush to get the dead hair out of his topcoat. I really think a finer comb would work, I just haven't gotten one yet. 


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## havery (Jan 1, 2014)

Is it necessary? No. I can get the same job done with a pin comb and a slicker brush. But after figuring it out, I LOVE to pull out the furminator when I notice my girl has a lot of loose hairs and get them all in one go. I haven't figured out how to get the same results on my coatie, but an undercoat rake does wonders on him. If I hadn't had the extra money I wouldn't have bought it, though. But since I got it I've noticed fewer tumbleweeds around my kitchen.

~*~*~*~
Furbabies:
Sofie Rose born 08/2012
Yann von Erzengel born 02/2006


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## randi (Dec 17, 2014)

This is an absolute piece of crap. We paid $53, used it ten times, and it literally fell apart. We took it back to our vet, whose office was completely shocked that it fell apart after ten uses. Our vet's office contacted the manufacturer and they refused to replace it or issue a refund. They said after 30 days, it's our problem. That translates into we have created a piece of junk, charged you an arm and a leg for it, but we won't replace it if it breaks after you use it.


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## SusiQ (Jul 27, 2007)

I've had mine for about 5 years now, no problem with it, and use it mostly when they blow coat.


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## MimiG (Nov 12, 2014)

Furminator stripped Enzo entirely of his overcoat just leaving his undercoat exposed; he looked bald and naked until his overcoat grew back. It's very harsh for GSD coats, even if you use it gently with utmost care.
None of the GSD owners I know personally use furminators on their pets.
I no longer use them;I use a rake like comb instead and have obtained great results. But NO more furminators for me please !


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## DixieGSD (Aug 22, 2012)

I use a furminator on Dixie, only when she's blowing her coat tho. Than I use it everyday til she is not shedding so much. When she's not blowing her coat I use a regular brush to go over her coat every so often. I have never had a problem with the furminator.


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## Subdolus (Jul 28, 2014)

We've looked at them before, but honestly, with the old Elkhound and our current GSD, as well as a double coated cat, an undercoat rake and a pin brush do the same thing for a lot less money.
I suppose if you'd prefer to just have one tool, then it'd be the better option.
The rake seems, at least for me to get a bit deeper into the undercoat with less pressure.

For coat blows now, I'm lazy, I'll just book a groomer appointment with, "He's blowing coat, give him a bath, do his nails, then brush him until he won't let you brush him anymore." and we wrap up a coat blow in one appointment. 
We save the fur to send to friends who knit, and with Bear's last coat blow we came back with six paper grocery bags full of beige and gray undercoat.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I use my Metro blower and an undercoat rake and am happy. Honestly I like the flea comb - it does a handy job with undercoat as well


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Yup, I use a cheap rake and I blow the coat with a dryer a few times a year. I've preped for dog shows and breed surveys this way. I've seen multiple GSDs over-stripped with a Furminator. It is after all a blade and if will pull and even cut/break the top coat. With a GSD coat it's unnecessary, there are plenty of cheaper tools that will pull out undercoat without damaging the top coat. I do have a small Furminator that I use on my mutt dog to help pull apart little mats and tangles behind his ears and I've used it on a cat that got a bad mat I didn't want to cut apart.


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## KathrynApril (Oct 3, 2013)

I have a furminator & a rake. I dunno if it makes a difference, but for my long coat boy I seem to get a lot more fur with a rake. I haven't used the furminator since I got the rake.


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I used the Furminator on Pyrate as he was flat coated. I don't use it on Raina because it breaks off the longer hair. I use a flat rake for the body and a metal comb on the ear fluff. I used to get buckets of fur from Pyrate during the worst shedding times and it worked well. He had a healthy undercoat that just kept on growing. I also use a blow dryer when I bathe Raina. I didn't have one when I had Pyrate but I wish I did cause it took a long time for him to get dry.


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

I have both a furminator and a rake. They work exactly the same and the rake was $8.00. I actually prefer the rake and haven't used the furminator in a couple of years.


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## Mrs.P (Nov 19, 2012)

No. High velocity dryer! Invested in one and I absolutely love it!


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

I just asked my groomer, they recommend the furminator and Kings Zoom brush. The zoom seems kinda gimmicky, not sure if it would work well, but they use it.


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## MyHans-someBoy (Feb 23, 2013)

eddie1976E said:


> I just asked my groomer, they recommend the furminator and Kings Zoom brush. The zoom seems kinda gimmicky, not sure if it would work well, but they use it.



If you are talking about the Zoom Groom brush, I have it and use it on Hans as well as my Burmese mix cat. It must feel really good to be brushed with it, because both of them hold really still so I can brush them. 
I also use a rake some. I have a furminator, but only use it once in a while.


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

MyHans-someBoy said:


> If you are talking about the Zoom Groom brush, I have it and use it on Hans as well as my Burmese mix cat. It must feel really good to be brushed with it, because both of them hold really still so I can brush them.
> I also use a rake some. I have a furminator, but only use it once in a while.


I use the Zoom Groom brush when bathing Raina. It helps get down to the skin through all that long hair and I think it must feel like a massage because she really leans into it. Both my dogs enjoyed it. It helps get rid of the loose hair too.


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

When the furminator first came out, ran out and got one.. Used it once, broke Stella's hairs, made bald spots on the cat... That was years ago..its here somewhere.. Bought a hair brush at a dollar store, between that and the groomer everything works great!


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