Shedding

[Alfie02]

Hi everyone,

Just curious about different dogs and shedding. I know that German Shepherds are supposed to be champion shedders, so how do their owners minimise this? When you hug them does the fur get all over you? Is the amount of hair comming out tollerable?

What breed of dog do you have and how much do they shed? What are your shedding minimising tips and tricks?

[Sunnyflower]

I have a Cavalier and he sheds constantly. I love in summer that i can clip him because I have no more tumble weeds rolling through my house.

I read a lot into this as I read somewhere that Cav's only shed twice a year and Oscar sheds all year round. What I learnt with most long hair breeds that shed, inside dogs will constantly shed as they are usually in a pretty controlled climate where as outside dogs have the extremes of winters and summers.

I got a special brush to try and remove his shedding hair but to be honest it hasn't done a great deal. I'm just constantly vacuuming..

Edited May 31, 2010 by Sunnyflower

[Alfie02]

Hi Sunnyflower,

wow i had no idea Cavs shed that much, I just assumed they didnt shed at all i guess (i dont know why ). I love Cavs, one of my favorite small dog breeds, every one i have ever met has been absolutly beautiful ;)

[Sunnyflower]

They are beautiful.. He is my first and he certainly wont be my last!

Aside from the shedding which I must admit drives me crazy he is perfect.

I'm allergic to most animals as well, I rode horses all my life and was severly allergic to them and the chaff so always had to have a nasel spray. Oscar often makes me sneeze but it's just the odd sneeze here and there, doesn't make my eyes swell, throat, ears, eyes or body itchy..

I think you can buy biscuits to help with malting but I don't think they really do a great deal.

[Kissindra]

At the moment we have two adult Cavalier, a Great Dane puppy and two adult cats....everything is covered in fur, EVERYTHING and I couldn't tell you which one is the biggest culprit but you do kind of learn to live with it....either that or vacuum every day, and sod that really

[Bjelkier]

My frigging Lab never stop shedding

His hair is everywhere, even in my food, at work, in the car, in places he has never even been and it drives me totally insane

You hug him and there is hair all over you and it's not easy to just brush off, it sticks to everything.

And this coming from someone who has double coated arctic dogs aswell.

Put it this way, the Lab loses more hair then two Samoyeds do ;)

No more Labs for this family that for sure

[kellytaz]

Taz (Schipperke) is a non stop shedder, hes a totally inside dog and the hair is everywhere, just floats across the floor in the breeze.

I mean how does dog hair get in the freezer, i cant believe so much hair comes from one little black dog lol. What ever dog i get in the future

i will certainly be used to dog hair. Hes just lucky i love him

[corvus]

I have a Vallhund and a Lapphund.

The Vall seems to shed a little all the time, but has big sheds a couple of times a year. The Lappie sheds twice a year and bits of him go at different times. I find if the Lappie is doing a major coat blow and I'm not on top of it, we do sometimes get tumbleweeds. But tumbleweeds are easier to clean up than the random fur on everything the Vall leaves behind. The Lappie I find easier to deal with as his undercoat tends to get all wound up in his guard hairs when he sheds, so not much comes out until you brush it. But he has these long hairs that will turn up on their own in all sorts of places. Often in food or on clean plates somehow. The Vall is constantly ingesting Lappie fur.

[furballs]

Right now, I'm getting bucket loads off my Border Collie. All I can do is keep brushing every day to minimise how much ends up in the house, on the couch, etc. My Rotty just needs a quick brush every now and again. My previous German Shephard never stopped shedding, no matter how much I brushed her. I tried using a damp cloth to pick up more hair but I think it hurt her so I stopped doing it.

[W Sibs]

Well, with Charlie's furcut... he doesn't shed as much. But, he was a big shedder.

Emmy still has her puppy fur and I haven't noticed her shedding. I still can pick her up wearing black and my shirt still remain black.

[cowanbree]

Learn to live with it. Buy a good lux and don't buy clothes hair clings too. I have also found that short haired dogs are actually a lot worse shdders than my shelties. Had a Corgi stay and his hair was everywhere

[newfsie]

newfies..Major blowout twice a year and quite a bit of floof all year round. At least it is black and soft

I groom a lot and groom out all the undercoat. Also swimming, which ours do a lot, seems to help. Have noticed people with non-swimming newfs seem to have denser fuller coats and therefore more hairloss. I don't think mine are any worse compared to some of the GSD's I know ;)

[tdierikx]

I have a Labrador... don't complain to me about shedding... grr! She sheds all year round, and blows coat a couple of times on top of that...

Why is it that Labrador fur that nothing sticks to - tends to stick to everything once it's not on the dog?

Don't wear polar fleece near a Lab!

T.

[Starkehre]

As cowanbree says, learn to live with it. ;)

I would also add, it helps to acquire a taste for it (with or without Tobasco Sauce ), purchase clothes, furniture and a car with an interior that matches the same color.

Oh, and don't have visitors as it helps keep your stress levels lower.

[aussielover]

My Australian Shepherd hardly shed at all (or maybe I just didn't notice it?). We recently babysat a golded retriever though and there were tumbleweeds of his hair everywhere!!!! You coudln't give him hugs if you were wearing nice clothes and going out (if you didn't want to be haired!)

I'm getting a labrador soon, I know they are well known for being massive shedders!

[Alfie02]

Yes, I guess I will have to learn to live with it as you said cowanbree I say to people 'I really love this breed of dog', and I often get the reply 'oh but dont you know how much hair that dog sheds!!!!' ;)

Thanks for all your replies everyone!

[cannibalgoldfish]

How much do they shed? See that pile there on the bottom of the step? Now imaging that pile roughly the size of the dog.....

[Alfie02]

Wow thats alot of hair cannibalgoldfish! But they sure are beautiful dogs so would be worth all that shedding

[dancinbcs]

Yep, you learn to live with dog hair. At times my carpet takes on a distict black and white haze unless vacuumed every day but my Border Collies and my childhood Samoyed cross all have nothing on the Labrador we had, in the shedding stakes. That much shedding even I cannot handle. I will never again own a breed with a short dense double coat because they shed 365 days a year and the short hair works it's way into everything. Some of the breeds on my "never own list" include Labs, GSD, Corgis, Vallhunds, ACD or anything else with a similar coat.

At least the BC hair falls out in clumps that are easier to pick up and unlike the shorter coated dogs they don't have a doggy odour either. Most Spitz coats don't worry me because they shed in clumps as well and don't have any odour.

The only option to shedding is to get a non-shedder like a Poodle that needs to be clipped regularly. There are a few very finely coated breeds like Viszlas that don't shed much but there are not many.

[huski]

How much does my dog shed? I will let this do the talking: