# Anyone use the furminator?



## Sevastra (Mar 19, 2012)

I just bought this really cool brush in the XL size, its a little pricey, they come for long and short hair, i got the short hair, its amazing. I saw a video of it at the store, i was a little apprehensive on buying it, thinking it was a gimmick, I'm really glad I did. Kaiser has never looked so good, i got so much hair off of him, I've tried every other brush and comb out there and it never did much.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I use it on all 4 of my dogs..got my moneys worth Just let the brush do the work.


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## Sevastra (Mar 19, 2012)

Right?! It's great. I feel like i just touch the brush to him and it gets hair haha


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

just don't over do it....GSDs have coats for a reason and furminators are known for breaking the guard hair. 

I don't(won't) have one...an undercoat rake and pin brush work fine for all three of my dogs/one of which is a long coat.


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## Sevastra (Mar 19, 2012)

onyx'girl said:


> just don't over do it....GSDs have coats for a reason and furminators are known for breaking the guard hair.
> 
> I don't(won't) have one...an undercoat rake and pin brush work fine for all three of my dogs/one of which is a long coat.



Ah, I see, Do you think a once or twice a week brushing is sufficient?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I don't use a furminator so don't know how much it pulls out...I do brush my dogs a couple times a week when they are blowing their undercoat. Baths or swimming help to loosen it up too. 
I know of a couple dogs that were overfurminated, and it took forever for their coats to recover. They looked horrible!


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

Dislike the furminator - breaks hair and ruins the coat. Takes forever to come back in normally. Nice undercoat rake, pin brush, and self cleaning slicker brush do a good job.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Didn't Freestep, a professional groomer, just post that it's how you use it? I'll look for the thread.


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## Sevastra (Mar 19, 2012)

onyx'girl said:


> I don't use a furminator so don't know how much it pulls out...I do brush my dogs a couple times a week when they are blowing their undercoat. Baths or swimming help to loosen it up too.
> I know of a couple dogs that were overfurminated, and it took forever for their coats to recover. They looked horrible!



Ha, I'll keep it to a minimal then, I will use it for short periods, once a week. Thank you for letting me know that.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Here's the thread
http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/basic-care/274498-need-some-guidance-brushing-furminator.html

And her post



> I should keep my Furminator speel in a notepad so I can just copy and paste it whenever this question comes up.
> 
> 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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## Sevastra (Mar 19, 2012)

Jax08 said:


> Here's the thread
> http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/basic-care/274498-need-some-guidance-brushing-furminator.html
> 
> And her post



Oh thank you, lucky i do use it with a light touch seeing as it takes so much hair off with no work, plus if seems like if you pressed it at all it would be uncomfortable and i only brush for about 5 minutes and never over repeatedly the same spot. But i really had no idea about the coat guard...i'm glad i posted this.


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## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

I use the furminator. I love it. I have heard people say that it ruins the coat, but honestly, I don't see it. My dogs look great and it is the only tool I use on them.


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

I use it... but I'm gentle when I brush them and I don't use it excessively. About once a month. I've never seen any issues with their coats. Though, I'm not sure the results it would bring if it was used more often.

Between the monthly furminator brushing... I use a good undercoat rake to get off the loose hair. We do that twice a week. When they are blowing their coats it's a bit more often.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Thank you Jax for posting that for me, I was about to go look up that notepad. 

We need a Furminator sticky!

Yesterday I used the Furminator on a little Pomeranian who was blowing his undercoat something fierce--it's amazing how much dead hair you can remove with this tool. I should have taken a photo of the little guy next to the pile of hair that came out of him. I think the hair pile was bigger than the dog!


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