How to Control Dog Shedding

When we just brought Yoshi home as a 1.5-month puppy, we were so happy and couldn’t believe our own eyes because she wasn’t shedding at all! She was growing up, and when she reached about 7-8 months, all of a sudden our entire apartment became black of her hair.

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Luckily, her fur is quite soft, and so it’s easy to remove it from most of the places, including furniture, by frequent vacuum cleaning. But when I say frequent, I really mean it, at some point I found myself cleaning the most exposed light areas, 3 times a day! It was a disaster, all our clothes were full of hair, after getting with clothes to the washing machine, the hair used to spread to everything else, like kitchen towels and bed linen. I was desperate because I hoped that it will be a short period, maximum a month of torture, but it was a never-ending story. I really had to find out how to control dog shedding, so we decided to talk to a professional.

How long does dog shedding last?

We went to our vet to ask how long does dog shedding last. And we were surprised to find out that shedding naturally should happen when the seasons change from colder to warmer, but since most of the dogs nowadays live inside the houses, and for them, temperatures don’t really change much, this natural cycle doesn’t work properly.

So most of the dogs keep shedding all year around. From time to time the amounts of hair can increase, but basically, they are just shedding non-stop. I realized that I was sentenced to clean Yoshi’s hair forever, vacuum three times a day and still keep finding her black hair here and there.

How to reduce shedding?

Since I found out that I’m destined to cleaning the house from Yoshi’s hair, I at least wanted to know how to reduce shedding if it’s possible at all. The vet explained to me that we can’t stop our dog from shedding altogether because losing old or damaged hair is natural and helps the dog to keep its skin healthy and grow the new shiny hair.

Still, dog owners can reduce the amount of hair in their houses by regular brushing. I brushed Yoshi at least once a week using brushes that were available in our local pet stores, but they didn’t remove much of her hair and didn’t improve the situation.

One of my friends, who owned many longhaired dogs before,  recommended me to try brushing Yoshi with FURminator  – a unique tool that removes much more hair than any other brush. I was a bit skeptical because it’s not the cheapest brushing device, but since every other brush I have tried before didn’t make much of a difference, I decided to give it a try.

On Amazon FURminator is available in different models depending on the dog’s size and on the length of the hair, choose the right one for your dog thoroughly. For Yoshi, I took the green one – for small dogs with long hair.

{Yoshi looks pretty sad because it’s the 10th attempt to put her in front of the camera and keep her away from the hair. I usually keep a vacuum cleaner close to me to remove the hair before she starts playing with it. }

I’m giving you a link to the item sold on Amazon by FURminator company, be careful going to other sellers because I read in the reviews that lots of people who bought somewhere else received fake tools with spelling errors on the package.

Besides that, in local pet stores here in Portugal I saw items that looked similar but had other names and design, they looked like cheap fake copies. The original FURminator wasn’t available locally, so just bought it on Amazon.

The producer promises that this deShedding tool will reduce shedding up to 90%. It’s hard for me to measure Yoshi’s hair loss in percentage, and of course, 90% is a common marketing slogan, but I can tell you for sure two things:

• FURminator removes about 5-6 times more hair than any other brush I used before, and it takes me just 10 minutes to get the results.
• Since I started using this tool, from 3 times a day vacuuming, I went down to once in 3 days. What a relief, really!

When I use FURminator, I do it quite carefully without putting much pressure on it to avoid scratching Yoshi’s skin. I won’t lie that she likes this procedure, but it’s definitely not painful for her. She just doesn’t have patience, so instead of being relaxed, she usually keeps herself busy chewing some toy.

Of course, once you bring a dog or other pet with beautiful hair into your house, you can forget about the sanitary look of the floor and furniture. But if there is a brushing tool that can reduce the amount of trouble so great, I think 25-27 USD is a very low price for all the effort, time and even electricity saved from cleaning, vacuuming, and washing.

How to prevent dogs from shedding – additional remedies

Food-related dog shedding

Being said that shedding is a natural process for dogs and other animals, it’s worth checking out if your pet gets enough and proper nutrition. Some dogs are prone to food allergies, and in these cases, shedding may be related to their diet. The owners of food sensitive dogs are recommended to test different food brands to find the one that fits their pet’s needs the best, and probably, a vet can give good advice here.

Our vet approved for Yoshi the following dog food brands:

1. Orijen
2. ACANA
3. Eagle Pack
4. Fromm

When checking these links, pay attention to the food description because each brand offers many types of food depending on the dog’s age, sex, size, allergies, etc. Also, she recommended us to give Yoshi from time to time treats of sliced apples (important: dogs shouldn’t eat apple seeds because they contain traces of cyanide), bananas and cucumbers. For Yoshi, these are the most desired delicacies, especially the apples! But the treats can’t substitute your dog’s regular food, they can be 5-10% only of the daily nutrition.

Also, our vet recommended us to give Yoshi from time to time treats of sliced apples (important: dogs shouldn’t eat apple seeds because they contain traces of cyanide), bananas and cucumbers. For Yoshi, these are the most desired delicacies, especially the apples! But the treats can’t substitute your dog’s regular food, they can be 5-10% only of the daily nutrition.

Bathing to prevent dogs from shedding

During the warm seasons occasionally bathing with specialized Oatmeal Dog Shampoo can also help in your battle against excessive shedding. I suggest using this shampoo and for god sakes, not your own human shampoo or some cheap products available on the market. Using inappropriate shampoo on your dog can only make the skin and hair shedding problem even worse. It depends on the size of your dog, but in our case, with Yoshi, a 250 ml bottle of shampoo lasted for a year. I give her baths once a month during the cold or rainy seasons and about once in two weeks in the summer. If your dog also isn’t too big, the price of shampoo is not an issue since it will last for many months.

It depends on the size of your dog, but with Yoshi (a 5 kg dog), a 250 ml bottle of shampoo lasted for a year. I give her baths once a month during the cold or rainy seasons and about once in two weeks in the summer. If your dog also isn’t too big, the price of shampoo is not an issue since it will last for many months.
Oatmeal Dog Shampoo can bring a relief if your dog suffers from dry, itchy skin or allergies. It also helps to remove from your dog the old and damaged hair while giving it a bath and prepares its skin for brushing with FURminator. Remember, it’s highly recommended to give your dog a bath and dry the hair carefully before using FURminator.

How to Control Dog Shedding

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Instructions

1. How long does dog shedding last?
2. How to reduce shedding?
3. How to prevent dogs from shedding – additional remedies
4. Bathing to prevent dogs from shedding

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