# Ridley is blowing his coat and not wild about being brushed!



## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

Ridley is blowing his coat and every few hours I see more hair clods that are just waiting to fall out. I'm trying to brush him at least once a day and to not overdo it - just enough to get the loose hair. He is not enjoying being brushed. I'm using an undercoat rake and a slicker and I don't think I'm being aggressive - just trying to get rid of the dead hair.

Any suggestions?

I'm also up for suggestions on an anti-static suit for me because no matter what I do I end up looking like a wooly mammouth when I'm done!

Thanks!!


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

smdaigle said:


> I'm also up for suggestions on an anti-static suit for me because no matter what I do I end up looking like a wooly mammouth when I'm done!


Spray bottles of water (on mist setting) and humidifiers!
If you moisten yourself and him when you're brushing it cuts down on SO much static 
You can also make your own static bracelet but that can be a pain in an application like this


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I discovered when Pyrate is shedding heavily, the Zoom Groom is great. It has little rubber fingers that massage the loose hair out and feel good at the same time. I also have a Furminator but the Zoom Groom is great for a little brushing on walks cause it feels good. The Zoom Groom is also great for bath time. It makes the sudsing up so much faster. With two GSD's I wish I knew how to spin.I have enough shedded hair to build another dog!


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## xenos56 (Jan 30, 2011)

This may sound strange but.. my GSD has never blown his coat. He is almost three and I keep waiting to see it, but it never happens. He is a short coat, maybe that's why?


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

xenos56 said:


> This may sound strange but.. my GSD has never blown his coat. He is almost three and I keep waiting to see it, but it never happens. He is a short coat, maybe that's why?


Raina is a coated Shepherd and only blows coat twice a year and sheds very little in between times. Pyrate is a regular smooth sable coat with fuzzy undercoat and sheds every day. He does a major shedding twice a year. Still wondering why he isn't bald with all that extra hair falling off.


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## DnP (Jul 10, 2008)

Phoenix has never liked getting brushed either. He'll tolerate about two minutes of it, but then starts to get antsy. I brush him for about a minute or two, play with him a bit and then brush again. We use a slicker brush, zoom groom and furminator (only used every two weeks).

I agree with giving yourself a quick spritz with a spray bottle of water before brushing. Cuts down on the static. I don't spritz the dog b/c you really shouldn't use the furminator on a damp or wet coat.


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## Whitedog404 (Mar 25, 2010)

If you happen to have a Dyson Vac, I'd suggest checking out the dog groomer attachment. My dogs don't mind it at all. I brush them and the fur immediately gets sucked up. Pretty cool.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

smdaigle said:


> I'm also up for suggestions on an anti-static suit for me because no matter what I do I end up looking like a wooly mammouth when I'm done!


Yeah, me too - dog hair stuck all over my clothes and body, ugh! :wild: I only brush the dogs in the morning on the weekend, in dirty clothes that are going right in the wash. And then *I* go right in the shower!


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

xenos56 said:


> This may sound strange but.. my GSD has never blown his coat. He is almost three and I keep waiting to see it, but it never happens. He is a short coat, maybe that's why?


Rennie has a stock coat (short) and she never blows hers. I don't think I've ever seen a clump of fur hanging off of her. Retta had a long coat and from all appearances, she blew her coat every minute of every day. Ridley is probably plush coated . . . he has a nice thick coat but hopefully only sheds heavily once or twice a year. Rex's coat was like this too.


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> Yeah, me too - dog hair stuck all over my clothes and body, ugh! :wild: I only brush the dogs in the morning on the weekend, in dirty clothes that are going right in the wash. And then *I* go right in the shower!


That's exactly what I normally do but the coat blowing just started and the little tufts of loose hair are really gross so I keep going out and brushing him a little each evening after work. My fleece jacket is taking a beating, sigh . . . the things we do for our dogs!


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

Whitedog404 said:


> If you happen to have a Dyson Vac, I'd suggest checking out the dog groomer attachment. My dogs don't mind it at all. I brush them and the fur immediately gets sucked up. Pretty cool.


I'm thinking a vacuum room would be good . . . I can just imagine a little closet with a vacuum sucking all the hair out of the room - that would work nicely! We used to live next to an old cow pasture that was no longer used. When the wind was blowing the right way I'd go out onto the deck to brush Retta. Clouds of black dog hair would float off the deck into the pasture . . . kinda yucky but so efficient. I'd still end up wearing a bunch of it anyway! 

I don't have a Dyson . . . recently needed a new vacuum but my husband traded the old one and got an Oreck instead. I didn't know he was going to get a new one or I would have provided a little input on the matter


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

Jax's Mom said:


> Spray bottles of water (on mist setting) and humidifiers!
> If you moisten yourself and him when you're brushing it cuts down on SO much static
> You can also make your own static bracelet but that can be a pain in an application like this


I never thought of that . . . I'll try it tonight!


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

pyratemom said:


> I discovered when Pyrate is shedding heavily, the Zoom Groom is great. It has little rubber fingers that massage the loose hair out and feel good at the same time. I also have a Furminator but the Zoom Groom is great for a little brushing on walks cause it feels good. The Zoom Groom is also great for bath time. It makes the sudsing up so much faster. With two GSD's I wish I knew how to spin.I have enough shedded hair to build another dog!


I haven't tried the Zoom Groom on Ridley yet . . . I have one. Actually I have a Zoom Groom, slicker brush, Furminator, Undercoat rake and I can probably find an old shedding blade that I tried years ago.

The undercoat rake works extremely well. The Furminator also works well but it feels like it's cutting hair so I'm a little hesitant to use it much. I've mainly used the Zoom Groom with baths but I seem to remember using it on Retta just as a brush.

I said the same thing about spinning dog hair into thread . . . I used to call Retta a fur factory!


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## CassandGunnar (Jan 3, 2011)

Every time my wife says that she wants another puppy, I only have brush Gunnar and take a handful of fur in and give it to her.


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

CassandGunnar said:


> Every time my wife says that she wants another puppy, I only have brush Gunnar and take a handful of fur in and give it to her.


Oh my . . . that's not fair! 

Actually, I often look at the wear and tear on the house and think that someday I'll outgrow dogs and my floors will look nice, I won't have dog hair in every nook and cranny and I won't worry about a hundred other dog related things. Then one of the dogs does something to make me smile and I forget about outgrowing my dogs.


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## xenos56 (Jan 30, 2011)

CassandGunnar said:


> Every time my wife says that she wants another puppy, I only have brush Gunnar and take a handful of fur in and give it to her.


Haha!! Love that!


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

We use the furminator and strip out the coat 2x. Then, go down for a normal wash and dry (we do it). Strip out again when wet. Then dry. Next few days, most of the coat will be out.


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

smdaigle said:


> I haven't tried the Zoom Groom on Ridley yet . . . I have one. Actually I have a Zoom Groom, slicker brush, Furminator, Undercoat rake and I can probably find an old shedding blade that I tried years ago.
> 
> The undercoat rake works extremely well. The Furminator also works well but it feels like it's cutting hair so I'm a little hesitant to use it much. I've mainly used the Zoom Groom with baths but I seem to remember using it on Retta just as a brush.
> 
> I said the same thing about spinning dog hair into thread . . . I used to call Retta a fur factory!


It's funny how much stuff I accumulate for two dogs. I have all kinds of brushes and combs that I kept from all my previous dogs as well as new stuff I bought in the last few years. I'm not even going to get into how many leashes and misc. collars I have. I love the Zoom Groom because Pyrate is arthritic and it feels good to him. I also love the way it lathers up the soap at bath time. I do use the Furminator on him when his shedding is really bad. I don't use the Furminator on Raina because her hair is too long and it doesn't work as well on her. I have a big flat wire brush that I use on her along with a metal comb for her longer hairs.


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