# How often should the Furminator be used?



## Germanshepherdlova

Brutus was shedding so heavy that I replaced his brush with a Furminator today. We had a grocery bag full of undercoat when I finished brushing him. He looks great to. And my carpet isn't covered with fur an hour after vacuuming it. Best 50 bucks I ever spent!

How often should he be brushed with the Furminator?


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## WarrantsWifey

I use it about ever 3-4 weeks. When he noticeably starts shedding heavy again is when I pull it out....


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## doggiedad

i don't use the Furminator. i use an under coat comb
and a pin brush. i brush my dog 3 to 4 times a week.


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## CarrieJ

I have got to get me one of those them thar things.

We brush Alice every day right now....she's like Pig Pen from that cartoon Peanuts with Charlie Brown.


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## KZoppa

I use my deshedder no more than twice a week on HEAVY shed periods but so far since i brushed them last, i've not had to use it. I've been able to get away with using the regular brush we have. my deshedder is a cheaper version of the furminator made by oster. I wouldnt use it more than twice a week for heavy shedding periods.


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## Lucy Dog

I typically use mine once every three weeks on Lucy. It's about how long it takes before the shedding starts to get noticeably worse again.

She looks so sharp right after a nice brushing and it helps reduce the shedding by so much. 

I know some people don't like them, but I've always had good results with it.


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## robinhuerta

I'm one of *those* people....I won't use them.
We brush every day with a long tooth rake and finish with a pin brush.......no transitional "buffalo" coats here!


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## Lucy Dog

But Robin, can your rake and pin brush do this...!


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## robinhuerta

Actually......when the dogs "miss" a grooming for a few days.(not often).....YEP!....the look of "pack killing" spread around the yard!


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## doggiedad

i use an under coat comb and a pin brush. i brush
3 to 4 times a week so it never gets to this point (as
in the pic).



Lucy Dog said:


> But Robin, can your rake and pin brush do this...!


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## Jax08

I use a zoom groom and a comb. I can pull just as much hair out with the zoom groom. The dogs HATE the furminator and the pin brush. And the zoom groom will clean up a car seat like nothing else!


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## LaRen616

I use the furminator once a week on Sinister


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## arycrest

I didn't like my Furmenator and gave it away. I use an undercoat rake and usually a pin brush, sometimes a bristle brush.


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## Germanshepherdlova

Brutus loved being brushed with the Furminator. Then my other dog got jealous and was trying to poke his face in the way, he couldn't wait for his turn, but he didn't have nearly as much fur as Brutus. I think he felt cheated that his turn ended so quickly! 

I had been brushing them before with one of those little wire looking bristle brushes but it doesn't worked nearly as good as the Furminator. A friend saw Brutus today and said wow he sure has lost some weight, I said no he didn't it's all the missing fur that the Furminator took out. Yeah, he had gotten that bad!aw:


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## suzzyq01

I try to have a "grooming session" 2-3 times a week during shedding season. Then I will just use a metal comb to keep him looking good. The furminator is amazing!


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## Lilie

Hondo is a LC. I only use mine on the his butt buffs, and sometimes his tail. Everywhere else my normal brush does a great job. He loves to be brushed, so I leave his brush next to my porch chair. I brush him nearly every day. Sometimes it's just a .."yea, yea, here's your brushing, I'm done, go away" type brushing.


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## Freestep

The Furminator is great! I'm a professional groomer and I wouldn't be without it--it takes off amazing amounts of hair. Every 3 weeks or so is about right, but you can use it more often if you want to. Just be sure to use a light touch and don't do too much in one spot; if you use it with a heavy hand it can irritate the skin a bit.


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## CassandGunnar

We use ours a couple of times a week, during heavy shedding periods. Otherwise, it's as needed. 
Cass loves it (she's an attention hog) and Gunnar will stand still and put up with it, but it doesn't matter to him if he gets brushed or not.


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## Germanshepherdlova

I'm not quite sure how exactly the Furminator works, when I was brushing him yesterday I only used light pressure and it took off tons of hair. I am a little concerned that using it too often will remove his outer layer of fur-can this happen? I wanted to go over his fur again today to make sure that I had removed all the undercoat, but I don't want to overdo it either.


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## Elaine

You don't have to worry about coat damage with an undercoat rake and they are cheap and easy to find. You can use them as often as you want and they work great.


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## Germanshepherdlova

Elaine said:


> You don't have to worry about coat damage with an undercoat rake and they are cheap and easy to find. You can use them as often as you want and they work great.


I already bought the Furminator and am happy with it's performance. Thats why I am asking these questions just to make sure that I use it properly.


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## Freestep

Germanshepherdlova said:


> I am a little concerned that using it too often will remove his outer layer of fur-can this happen? I wanted to go over his fur again today to make sure that I had removed all the undercoat, but I don't want to overdo it either.


The Furminator does not damage live hair--it only pulls out loose, shedding hair. That's one of the reasons I like it so much.


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## Germanshepherdlova

Freestep said:


> The Furminator does not damage live hair--it only pulls out loose, shedding hair. That's one of the reasons I like it so much.


:thumbup: Thanks for explaining this.


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## onyx'girl

It may not pull out attached hair, but it will break guard hair. I've seen a few dogs that have been overfurminated and personally don't think they are a good thing for GSD's coats.
Even groomers will tell you they are damaging when overused.
I agree with Elaine, an undercoat rake along with a bristle and pin brush is really all that is needed for a GSD.
Coat blowing time comes in waves, and you can't just sit there and pull out all the undercoat that the Winter produced. Every few days of brushing is healthier than an hour session with a furminator. GSD'd have coats for a reason, and if we strip it, it is forever to get back the nice healthy coat.


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## Freestep

onyx'girl said:


> It may not pull out attached hair, but it will break guard hair. I've seen a few dogs that have been overfurminated and personally don't think they are a good thing for GSD's coats.
> Even groomers will tell you they are damaging when overused.


You do have to use a light hand with it. You could break hair if you use too much pressure or run it the wrong direction. I use it on my GSDs and my Akbash dog, as well as my client dogs and have not had a problem with damaged guard coat... it is great to get out loose hair, but I wouldn't use it when the dog isn't actively shedding coat.


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## vat

I can not wait, I just ordered my furminator on ebay for like $35!


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## Jax's Mom

I use it every other day, but really gently and slowly... No damage here... I tried to go at it really fast and aggressive to see if that's what breaks the guard hairs and it looks like that's what it was, that was the only way I could get the furminator to come up with any guard hair, if I do it slowly and gently like my own hair, it only gets the puffy grey undercoat.


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