Furminator Or Mars Coat King For A Husky?

[~*Shell*~]

Hi all!

I was just wondering if anyone has used both a furminator and a mars coat king on a husky (or any double coated breed really)? We've got a furminator but no matter how long i brush Zero, he still sheds terribly, and the furminator leaves bumpy marks on his coat that look like he's been brushed with a wide toothed comb. These ridges just won't brush out of his coat no matter what i use! I don't want to buy a coat king if it's going to do the same thing to Zero's coat and I don't know anywhere around here that sells the coat king so we can try before we buy. I've looked through the other forums for both the furminator and coat king and noone seems to be having the same problem... Has anyone used the coat king (or both)?

[Kodiak]

I have used the coat king - and while I like how much it gets out I do find it strips the coat a bit. It doesn't stop my husky blowing more and more and more and more coat . When he is blowing his coat it seems to be a never ending process and I actually find hand picking and a slicker or zoom-groom (don't know if you can still get these - mine is years old and almost worn out) to take the last bits out neater but it takes much longer. I don't show my husky so the stripping coat bit is not a big deal but it does happen.

Wish there was a husky hair magic wand - one wave and the moult is over (and all the hair neatly put in the bin)

ETA you should come and join the sibe thread in the breed forum - you might get better answers there from people who have to keep their huskies looking stunning for showing.

Edited April 24, 2008 by Kodiak

[ruthless]

I use one of these and really like it

http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Undercoat-...323&sr=8-24

[~*Shell*~]

I know what you mean Kodiak! This year Zero seemed to get his winter coat in before he had finished blowing his coat from last year! He didn't really have any time this year where you could pull out handfuls of fur like you could last year but Sydney's weather has been very strange - we didn't really have hot weather. I'm glad this weekend is a long one! I think he's about due for a bath and a blow dry - hopefully that'll get some more of this coat out! When someone does invent the husky hair magic wand let me know! I've been told by someone at the park that he got enough fur out of his husky's coat this year to fill a pillow case, so hopefully I can get about the same amount out of Zero this weekend!

Is the zoom groom the one made by kong? I've seen these around at stores but was a bit skepticl - it didn't look like it would do much for his coat! But if you recommend one I think I'll go and grab one on the weekend!

Thanks Ruthless - I've seen these around in stores, even thought they're not the same brand - I might wait until this one is available for me to buy - it won't ship outside of the US and canada atm!

[ruthless]

Oh, I got mine on Amazon shipped from the US, must've been a different Amazon store

[~*Shell*~]

They've only got one available on there at the moment - I'll wait and see if there are more to be had and if a different store will ship to australia later. Other than that i might try and find it in a big pet store and see if i can ahve it shipped here...

[Kodiak]

I don't think the zoom groom one is worth it TBH - but it does take off the hair left behind by hand pulling. So does my slicker but it gets clogged pretty quickly - the zoom groom is easy to unclog which is the main reason I like it.

According to this - don't know how right it is - you need a wide tooth comb and a bristle brush.

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=-43yBI...;hl=en#PPA49,M1

Personally I have found the bristle brushes annoying - they clog so quickly and are a pain to clean out (every 5 seconds).

[~*Shell*~]

*sigh* I'm training to be a groomer at the moment and my reading says to use a wide toothed comb, and undercoat rake and a slicker brush - all of these clog very quickly and i spend more time pulling hair out of them than I do brushing! I bought the furminator off ebay after seeing the demo online and while it works better than all of these previous brushes combined timewise, but the effect it has on his coat isn't fabulous. Maybe I'll try a mars coat king and see what happens. If anything I can put the $$ down to education! I wonder what the people who show Sibes use? Obviously they put more time into the grooming than I do but it'd be good to know for those times like in a couple of weeks where we're going out to something special (the million paws walk!)

I find the bristle brushes annoying too - they don't seem to get into Zero's coat the way i could like and the clogging hair becomes a problem as Zero loves to play with the big clumps of hair, like the ones i pull out of those brushes!

[Gretel]

Hi Shell, Do you have a force dryer?

[lea]

i have huskies, and i also have both tools. frankly, neither of them work any better on a husky coat then a good slicker and comb do.

huskies drop their coat for any where up to 2 mths if you dont wash and blow dry them weekly.

the best thing you can do is a really warm hydrabath and a blow dry every week while dropping coat.

[Kodiak]

i have huskies, and i also have both tools. frankly, neither of them work any better on a husky coat then a good slicker and comb do.

huskies drop their coat for any where up to 2 mths if you dont wash and blow dry them weekly.

the best thing you can do is a really warm hydrabath and a blow dry every week while dropping coat.

The big issue I have here is no water... as it is we are almost out and praying for rain everyday.

What sort of comb do you use Lea? I did once have one of the long swivel tooth ones and it did a pretty good job but it was still lots of work.

[lea]

i have huskies, and i also have both tools. frankly, neither of them work any better on a husky coat then a good slicker and comb do.

huskies drop their coat for any where up to 2 mths if you dont wash and blow dry them weekly.

the best thing you can do is a really warm hydrabath and a blow dry every week while dropping coat.

The big issue I have here is no water... as it is we are almost out and praying for rain everyday.

What sort of comb do you use Lea? I did once have one of the long swivel tooth ones and it did a pretty good job but it was still lots of work.

i use 3 combs, one swivel tooth (which i love) a wide tooth and one thats in a V shape.

if you dont have water to waste, then a realy strong dryer is the best bet, good this about a blower is, you can do it every day.

[~*Shell*~]

I wish I had a force dryer Gretel but I don't know where to get one! I've seen what my groomer can do with it... Zero comes back from the salon looking fantastic (he knows it too!). I've always been told not to bath my husky often though - all the books recommend only bathing them twice a year, though i admit i do bath him a lot more than that! I'm not sure of the reasoning behind only twice a year, but it's probably got something to do with them not having a doggy smell...

[lea]

shell, for the 6 or so yrs my dog Brave was in the ring, he was bathed every week with out fail, never did him any harm, infact, now he isnt shown, his caot is no where as nice as it was when he was bathed and groomed every week.

[~*Shell*~]

Thanks Lea - I always wondered what the problem with bathing them often was, and if there isn't one then he can have a bath every couple of weeks. He looks so much better after one!

[4 Paws]

I wish I had a force dryer Gretel but I don't know where to get one! I've seen what my groomer can do with it... Zero comes back from the salon looking fantastic (he knows it too!). I've always been told not to bath my husky often though - all the books recommend only bathing them twice a year, though i admit i do bath him a lot more than that! I'm not sure of the reasoning behind only twice a year, but it's probably got something to do with them not having a doggy smell...

these dryers are fantastic http://www.clipperworld.com.au/shop/index....p;productId=124

They also list them on ebay from time to time so you may pick them up cheaper.Even if you don't wash the dogs it's handy to just be able to blow there coat out

[dancinbcs]

I don't have Huskies but do have Border Collies who can also have enormous coats and when they shed I can carpet the entire yard after blow drying them. I use a collie comb with the dryer and blow the hair out of the comb as I go. If you can't do a full bath just dampen the coat with a water spray and use the dryer to blow the coat out. This works on the ones who are not desexed but the older neutered ones are a lot tougher to strip. I don't have any oldies at present but will be buying a Mars coat king next time I have one to make it a little easier.

My dryer is an Oldfields Blower that is really a cattle dryer and is fantastic. It is about 20 years old and still going strong and is suitable to use when the coat is not really wet as it only gets warm from the motor and doesn't have a heating element. Many of my friends have also bought them over the years and are equally happy with them. Oldfields sell them direct online now.

[rotts4ever]

Hi

We groom quite a lot of them at work. We normally groom with a slicker to help separate Hair, then groom out with a steel comb (making sure you get to the skin) this will take quite a while especially if hasn't been done properly for a while.

If the pants are really knotty a splitter with long blades can be used. Then a nice long warm bath ( which helps them drop) . Then they are dried with a force dryer, you'l be amazed at how much coat is blown out and you can see the skin when blowing so you can see if there are any problems there which is really good if you have any grass seeds etc embedded, then they are groomed with a comb again. They come up looking like different dogs.

Once this is done it is then easier to stay on top of if you then groom with a comb and slicker regularly.

If you bath often use something very gental like an oat meal based shampoo or a shampoo that is soap and sulphur free

this will stop the oils being strip out, you can also put a little conditioner on the longer areas especially on the pants area and tail this will help stop knotting there.

A good blower can also be used to blow out coat on a dry dog (be careful not to dry the coat out to much though) but I find the abovementioned really works.

I find some of the other tools damage the coat a bit but that just me.

Maybe some of this will help

Cheers

[Quirkyhound]

When the high velocity blower was invented, it changed the grooming world ten fold. It's not the 'hot' heated dryer used to straighten poodle coats---while under tension of the slicker brush. Let's leave that to the people who exhibit poodles for the time being. The high velocity blower is probably the most useful tool invented this century but actually dries a poodle coat too quickly, allowing some of it to curl, so most poodle groomers prefer to use the old heated blow dryer. To get that rounded 'groomed and scissored' look a poodle coat has to be dried under pressure---under the stress of a brush, and this is achieved by the low velocity dryers with a bit of added heat, not the hurricane force of the new high velocity dryers.

The newer 'high velocity' dryers were designed to "blow the dog off the table"-----not really, but some will blow toys off their feet! when on high. Their real use is for the double coated breeds, or should I say their best use is for these breeds, and some long coated breeds, where they are effective in blowing the under coat and top coat out without tangling.

Basically, the Furminator is much like 'half a clipper blade' embedded into plastic with a handle at right angles. It's a useful tool but I wouldn't want to be grooming a whole Siberian or Chow out with it. It actually will cut the top coat, and leave marks, just as a clipper would, if used wrongly. In the right hands, it's a useful 'striping tool' for some breeds.

To be honest, I think the Mars Coat King is a far better tool for general use. One reason being is that there is such a huge range of blade/tool widths, each being specific to a coat/breed type. You can gently set the tool down into the coat and 'brush' without getting that 'badly clipped' mark. It also acts like a pair of thinning scissors once you have dragged all the undercoat out, and will then start thinning the top coat if you persist in dragging it through the coat, depending on what spacing your comb has. Be warned, if you use either tool for a show coat, that you don't go too far with it. Best to do the hard yards with it, if your dog needs a lot of work prior to a show, but watch each stroke of the tool, to monitor when your tool is actually starting to damage the coat, and you need to take over with hand, finger, or comb stripping on small areas, to get it looking just right. Fantastic tools for a lot of uses, but any tool used to extreme will damage the coat.

Most dogs that come into my salon needing work on the coat ----big double coated breeds, get the high velocity treatment. In which case, I find, that the coat benefits highly from a good blowing out! They are washed, twice, and no conditioner is applied, as this will 'gump' the coat up and slow down drying time. The high velocity dryer is employed while brushing the coat with the appropriate tool. A lot of undercoat can be forced out with the high velocity dryer and often clients rely on this as a way of not having to groom their own dogs.

It used to be that people just didn't groom their dogs, and now, people just don't groom their dogs!

[Winterpaws]

We bought a Mars and it is good but it seems to have cut the coat a bit - it won;t get used very often here I don't think

Have you seen this link

http://www.plushpuppy.com.au/gasibesmalamutes2.html