# Minimizie Shedding



## huberm41 (Aug 31, 2006)

Wow is Patty starting to shed. I thought it started after winter!

I brush her with the furminator and then a regular brush everyday and still hair seems to go everywhere!

Any extra advice on how to keep clean.


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## ThreeDogs (Mar 16, 2007)

I have hardwood, so my best friend is the Swiffer...I do it everyday.

And even still there is hair. Certain times of the year are just bad, I do my best to sweep and swiffer each day and that keeps it bearable.

It's either that or invite my mom over (she cleans as she talks)


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## tracyc (Feb 23, 2005)

Lower your standards of what's a clean house. Honestly. It's a losing battle. You can only do so much. A little hair never hurt anybody.


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## AllisonS (Oct 16, 2007)

I have the furminator, too. 

I keep up with mine by using a Roomba. Man, does he pick up the dog hair.


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## huberm41 (Aug 31, 2006)

What months are the worse time of shedding...for me I think right now....march thru may -- are pretty bad!

I have the pet eraser vacuam its amazing how much hair comes up.


My biggest pet peeve is hair on my work clothes - since i do have to wear a suit to work everyday unfort.!!!


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## ozzymama (Jan 17, 2005)

A lint brush is your best friend!! Dh swears Sandi purposely puts her hair on his uniforms. Every closet in my house has a lint brush.
We brush daily (almost if it's raining or snowing hard we don't) outside.

I agree with Tracy, it can be a losing battle, but I won't lose!! LOL


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## ThreeDogs (Mar 16, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: Martin
> My biggest pet peeve is hair on my work clothes - since i do have to wear a suit to work everyday unfort.!!!


Simple fix for this one:
I stay in my jammies ( I do shower) until 5 minutes before I have to go to work. Cyrus gets crated and the girls go to their spots, then I get dressed and leave for work.
I also keep a lint roller in my desk at work, just in case.


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## TMarie (Jul 6, 2006)

Oh Yes, lint rollers are a must, in the house, in the car, and at work.









Hubby dresses very nice for work, and wears black quite often; and every morning we have to roll







him before he goes out the door.


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## Shadowsmommie (Jan 13, 2008)

Shadow just started shedding again too! Her worst months are Sept - Nov and now to March. It really is rough on me cause I am allergic. I have to get shots so I can breathe, but hey, its all good. I wouldn't trade my girls for the world! Figures I have to be allergic to dogs, cats, and birds. And I have all three! 

What we do for our babies!


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## bowhunter1331 (Jan 21, 2008)

Hello all, I am new here and to GSD. My girl is dropping hair like crazy. Is this normal?? her back side is a mess.. large chucks so to speak will fall off..I can tell were she lays even for a second...

She also has some dandriff,,( I guess)... when I rub my fingers thougth here hair i see all these flacks...

been giving her some oil in here food.. Don't shot me...kibble's and bits is all she will eat.. she is very picky..


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## ThreeDogs (Mar 16, 2007)

bowhunter1331,

She will lose tons of hair if she is not groomed on a regular basis. I use the furminator one a week and a brush every other day to keep the shedding to a minimum. If you are grooming on a regular basis, I would suggest a visit to the vets for a check up.

There are tons of food out there, I have a picky eater as well who LOVES Merrick. I add a bit of water and It makes a nice gravy. I do also give a Vit. E pill each day. 

My pet store gave me tons of small sample bags of food so that I could find a food mine liked.


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## bowhunter1331 (Jan 21, 2008)

Thanks 3 dogs.
She has been to the vet for all her shots and ck ups.. No issues... tey say she is healthy.. only real issues is she just moved to my area ... it is a little drier here then she is used to..

I live in a small area... we just got a petsmart about a 1yr ago.. I will ck with them about differnt foods.

THANKS AGAIN
PS what is a furminator?


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## ZeusofBillyJo (Feb 9, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: bowhunter1331Thanks 3 dogs.
> 
> PS what is a furminator?


It is a grooming tool to brush on dogs and cats and horses. They sell them at PetSmart, they supposedly remove the loose, dead undercoat without damaging the topcoat. Some people love them and some people hate them...I am the latter of the group. I stick to the pin brush, slicker brush, and comb for the dogs.

Here is a link for the Furminator: http://www.furminator.com


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

In addition to grooming (we just use the zoom groom by the makers of kong -- works great for our boy's coat)....there are things that can affect shedding.

If your dog has a thyroid problem, that may show up as excessive shedding. Of course the question then is, what's excessive for a GSD?

I think that diet is a huge factor in shedding. bowhunter -- the flakes, in addition to the shedding, are telling you that the diet isn't right (in fact, you aren't doing her a favor with the K&B). I would start with a kibble that has no corn, no sorghum, and no by-products. Foods that satisfy that typically won't have other nasty things in them. Even then, for many dogs (some might argue all), they might need more nutritional support. My dog needed a food with ground flaxseed in it (or a supplement), in combination with a multivitamin. With those two things in her diet, her shedding at that time was cut to less than half it was.


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## SeriousConfusion (Aug 2, 2006)

Thank god. I just came on to see if it was time to blow their coat. I seriously thought he had a skin problem earlier. I have a garbage bag FULL of hair! It's coming out in chunks and clumps.
I thought it was spring and summer to blow their coats, it's still in the 30's here???

Martin, I feel your pain. I wore a suit to work today and a black wool coat. Holy smokes, a lint brush didn't even work. I had to pull out the packing tape to get all the fur off.
I have to get a furminator!


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Chunks and clumps at this time of year does not sound normal to me. I have had gsds for 20 years and while they are always shedding they do not normally blow coat in the middle of the winter. 

How old is your dog? How often does he normally blow his coat?


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: BowWowMeowChunks and clumps......


That is pretty normal shedding....shedding without the chunks and clumps is different....


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

But you live in a warm climate. I only see chunks and clumps and tons of fur when they are blowing coat and that doesn't normally happen (at least to any of my gsds or my friends' gsds) at this time of year. That's normally when it gets warmer, in the springtime and then again in the fall. 

I guess I imagining huge chunks and clumps.


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## Parsifal (Feb 1, 2006)

Because of an early health problem (a hemangionoma) I started feeding my girl a mixture of herbs (nettle, chlorella, parsley, burdock, turmeric, dandelion, bilberry extract) and oils (olive oil or coconut oil), topped with yogurt. this is her breakfast several days a week. She really likes it.

As an unintended consequence her coat is quite wonderful, I got rid of any vestiges of dandruff/flaking, and she sheds a little less than she did (which is like saying the shedding went from a blizzard to a snowstorm, but every bit helps).

I buy the herbs in bulk and grind/mix them myself, and it's pretty cheap -- hugely cheaper than the ready-made mixes that the holistic vets sell. 

As part of all this I had her allergy tested and found that she was allergic to a lot of things in the better brand dog foods that should help with the coat -- flaxseed, fish protein, barley grass. Just an FYI in case you're doing all the right feeding things and still having coat problems.


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## SeriousConfusion (Aug 2, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: BowWowMeowChunks and clumps at this time of year does not sound normal to me. I have had gsds for 20 years and while they are always shedding they do not normally blow coat in the middle of the winter.
> 
> How old is your dog? How often does he normally blow his coat?


He is 17 months old. I'm wondering if there is a difference in his tempertaure because he was in an indoor kennel that wasn't heated for a few weeks and now he is back home and indoors only.
He doesn't have patches missing, but it was a garbage bag full of hair. 

Normal or not normal?


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