Question re Labrador shedding

Okay all you vet techs, groomers and dog owners, question here.

I've had Labradors before and know that they tend to be year round shedders but our new female Lab, Bella, is a prize winning shedder! She's just turned a year old in January and is a very whitish yellow Labrador. Her coat is lovely, not patchy, dry or anything like that. Her skin is in good condition as well. She eats a good quality food offered twice daily and has 24/7 access to a full water dish.

I swear though I'm sweeping up the equivalent of a spare dog weekly. We have hardwood floors throughout and I have to sweep every day and could likely do it twice a day! Oh and btw, little hint here - a dark blue cordory couch and a shedding white dog...NOT A GOOD FIT! :rolleyes:

So suggestions anyone for any dietary changes or additions and I'd love an idea of what is the best grooming tool for her. It's been a lot of years since I last owned a Labrador so I'm sure there's new tools on the market that might help me keep Bella from dropping hair all over constantly.

Imma sheddin on yer couch! (yes she folds herself in half like this to sleep...I don't know how that can be comfortable....what a goofball! LOL)
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...nkieJan082.jpg

Imma sheddin on yer kid!
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...MikeyJan08.jpg

Imma sheddin on yer blankie!
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...couchDec07.jpg

Imma sheddin on my duckie!
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...uckyNov071.jpg

Ya love me even when Imma sheddin on you too!
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ellaXmas07.jpg

Hahahaha! What a doll... :oops:

Have you seen the "fuminator"??? I used it on my cats... you wouldn't believe what it got off of them! :O
http://www.furminator.com/

Thanks Laura, she is a doll and chock full of personality. Labs are just a breed I adore and I was thrilled to give this big gorgeous girl a forever home with us. We've only had her a first short months but it feels like Bella's been a part of our home forever.

I have heard of that grooming tool but I've only seen it used on double coated, thick or long coated animals. I'm not sure if it's also used on dogs like our Bella who has the naturally smooth, tight coat of a Lab.

Just took this picture, too cute!

Imma sheddin on your hubby too!
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...eslapMar08.jpg

Bella loves to cuddle with me or the kids but only with Mike has she convinced herself she's a small lap dog. :rolleyes:

Good thread Jo, I am curious about this as well. I also have a lab that is a major shedder, and on my creamish colored linoleum type floors, I see his black hairs everywhere!!! So I end up usually sweeping about twice a day and between the two dogs that we have, I think I find enough hair for a couple of spare dogs!!!!

I have an off brand furminator that I LOVE using on my GSD/Chow mix, it works really really well with his double coat. It doesn't seem to work as well with our lab, although I use it on him anyway because he seems to enjoy being brushed with it. I wonder if one of those deshedding tools would work??? Anyone have any experience with those? The big oval shaped metal brushes with the short prongs on them (in case someone doesn't know what I am talking about...).

Jo I LOVE that last pic that you posted, where she is on the back of your couch!!! Too cute!!:)

We love the furminator at the groom shop.. it's great on labrador coats.

Actually taking her to a groomer may be the ticket (for a time anyway) we have big forced air dryers that actually blow the hair right off the dog.. it's pretty amazing how much hair can come off of one dog.

Thanks April, I will be getting an appointment soon as she needs her nails done anyways. I normally can handle that but she's grown so much that her nails are a bit too tough for my own nail trimmers to deal with lately. Thank goodness she has pure white nails so they are super easy to do. I'll have the groomer give me some advice on weekly coat care for her as groomer visits every week would be way out of my current budget.

Funny thing with this dog. I've never seen one do it before. She has a specific "I have to pee bark". She looks you dead in the eye and woofs a soft "ooooowwwwwwwwtttt" sound. I swear I know it sounds nuts, but this dog says "out". Then if you don't get the point, she walks to the door, comes back and repeats her "ooooowwwwwwtttt" bark. She's always done this so I assume she learned it before we adopted her. It's totally unlike her play barks or her "somebody is walking by my house" type of bark. It's cute as heck but very unusual.

Labs shed. Massively.
The furminator is a decent tool. Giving good bathes with the HV air blowers will take a LOT of hair out too, so an occasional visit to a pro groomer will make lots of difference.
If you bathe at home, brush her when she is wet with shampoo, then rinse, then brush again wet, then dry her, then brush one last time. It's a lot of work, but it will make a huge difference.
Some people shave the labs, and that definitely gets rid of the shedding temporaily. But it is expensive. And it has to be repeated when the hair all grows back, PLUS the hair that sheds in the meantime is cut hair, so it's sharp. But hey, we shave a LOT of labs here, and they do fine, and the owners seem happy with it. Shrug. If *I* owned a lab I wouldn't bother shaving it, but just do the brushing, use a deshed tool, and washing.
Make certain you rinse EVERY bit of soap off the dog when you do wash. Leftover soap residue will make her itch.
I hope this was helpful.

http://www.uncrate.com/men/images/20...c14-animal.jpg

It's always a battle here on who sheds more, me or the cat. :P

Geesh I joked to Mike about shaving Bella but I never knew people would actually do that to a Lab! I know they are heavy shedders but geesh, they have short coats as it is. I can't see shaving Bella, I think she'd look horrid LOL.

Thanks for the bathing tips Wolfy. How often would you suggest I bathe her to help with this shedding issue. Any particular type of dog shampoo that's particularily good for coat retention/condition?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Laooda

Hahahaha! What a doll... :oops:

Have you seen the "fuminator"??? I used it on my cats... you wouldn't believe what it got off of them! :O
http://www.furminator.com/

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Ditto that I have one and :O I just love it. The best tool out there, well worth the money!

Not sure about the weather up in Ohio, but down here in Texas my husky has already undergone shedding his winter undercoat. How's Bella's undercoat right now? I've seen a lot of labs at work that are dropping their undercoat like mad. The furminator is really great for it. My only disclaimer for it is to be very careful around thin areas of fur, as it really has a sharp blade on it that can scratch the skin. The furminator company also makes a shedding shampoo, conditioner, and also treats... but you've got me on whether they work or not. Seems like anything with Omega 3 fatty acids, fish oils, and brewers yeast are said to help reduce excessive shedding. You can get them in pill form, treat form, or special skin formula dog foods. I'm willing to bet that it's just a bad shedding time of year, and hopefully it will calm down some in the weeks to come. Good luck!

If the furminator is too harsh for her coat, looking for the shedding blades that resember a horse's curry comb. Flexible metal loop, with dull teeth. I've used it on Dobies, Weims, and similar slick-coated breeds with great success.

I'll also add a second vote for the Dyson. We have one (bought it refurbished on Amazon.com for much less than store price) and love it. It's a wonderfully well-designed tool.

Just use a good shampoo, no funky oils and additives, since you're washing it off anyway. Tearless ones make it safer and more relaxing. I've seen so many folks go out and buy expenisve specialty shampoos, and they usually do a lousy job at getting them clean.
Don't wash more than once a week. Every other week is normally just right, at least for my dogs.

The furminator is a GREAT tool. I would recommend the furminator and a rubber curry, not a metal one. Rubber curries you can use more often and to a better effect than a metal curry as even though the teeth are dull the curry is still metal and not flexible. Here are some examples: http://www.horse.com/products/sku-BJI17.html

Or a rubber grooming mit:
http://www.statelinetack.com/itemdy0...LT055258%20HGR
Regarding diet, often time what people think is a quality diet really isn't :) Not trying to say you don't feed a quality diet but most commercial/processed foods do not have adequate amounts or correct types of omega 3s and 6s, among other issues.

Also, a dog must have vitamin E to process omega fatty acids. A processed food may have salmon oil in it but the cooking process still renders it less quality/effective than just giving it in liquid or capsule form. Always supplement with Vit. E as the dog will use up its own store of vit E to process omegas and so that amount of omegas that are utilized are directly linked to how much vit. E the dog has/produces in its system. One 400 I.U capsule of real vit E (D Alpha tocopherol, NOT dl-alpha tocopherol acetate) with 1 gram of salmon oil per 10-20 pounds of dog (your decision, I use 1 gram/1000mg per 10 pounds but my dogs are raw fed)

You can get salmon or fish oil capsules at wal-mart or costco/sams club to supplement, and either cut open the capsules and squeeze onto the food or feed the capsules to the dog in their food or with a light coating of canned food etc most dogs eat em up like candy. Salmon/fish oil takes a few weeks to show big results but is very very very worth it.

Also, climate plays a huge role in the amount a dog sheds. If you have a dog that is anything but short coated (labs are medium coat/double coated) in a warm climate then your dog will shed. A LOT. Dogs go through cycles based on winter and summer, but if you do not have cold weather the coat the dog naturally grows in for winter just gets shed out sporradically. Taking the dog outside and using the furminator/rubber curry (I use the curry first, them the furminator) and brush once a day plus some salmon/fish oil and vit e and you should see a difference shortly.

I also have a yellow lab that sheds a dog and a half a day. We take her to the groomer and get her the " shedding" bath which really cuts down on the hair on the floor and couch....

I have two big german shepherds that shed alot. The best thing that I have foiund to do is to actually vacuum the dog. Any hair that is loose and going to fall will get sucked also the my dogs love it

I went a-googling (when don't I :rofl:) and found this link. What do you all think of the info in it?

I about fell off my computer chair laughing at the cartoon!

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/grooming.html

They do say that the heavy coat keeps the dog cool, and IMHO that's pure BS. The link to why you shouldn't shave your dog, also BS.
When I see folks running around in 100F weather with their winter coats on to "insulate them from the heat" then I'll start believing that the dogs that are no longer panting and drooling and acting misrable after being shaved are just lying and are not cooler.

we had a 1 yr old lab too, yellow male, named Bo... he shedded alot too. I brushed him every 2-3 days, he ate good food, & water dish 24/7. Lots of love too... Bo thought he was a lap dog, actually thought he was a HUMAN! I will have to find pictures of him, we had to give him away.. he had major issues with chewing, & eating things. It was making him sick. we miss him....

actually a dogs long coat does insulate it. Try shaving a long haired dog in hot summer heat and see what happens

I DO shave long coated dogs in summer all the time. It's part of my job. I'm experianced in grooming for nearly a decade and a half. I live in Florida.
I'm not saying that you have to shave your dog, but that long coat doesn't insulate the dog from the heat. I've seen misrable long coated dogs that were happy, active and comfortable AFTER being shaved.

I shave my GSD/Chow in the summers and IMO he seems happier, and he doesn't seem to feel so hot all the time outside (he would also look like a completely different dog going from brown and black to a cream color!!). But that is just my experience with my dog. It doesn't get as hot here as it does in FL and he's a lazy couch potato anyway so when we weren't on a walk or outside playing, he was soaking in the AC while snoozing on the couch!!! LOL!!

No. Long coats do not insulate an animal. I had a whooly husky that we line cut every year to 1/4 inch and trimmed the rest to about 2' and he was much better off.

If long coats insulated from the heat what would the point of short hair be? There is a reason that animals from warm climates have short fur. If long hair kept an animal cool in heat then there would be no point to blowing the coat (natural occurence in double coated animals) or spring/summer shedding at all.

All dogs shed. I've had super short coated dogs (ABs and Dobes) and long coated monstrous puff balls (great pyr, whooly husky) and mid coated dogs like labs, standard coat GSDs etc. All dogs shed. Period end of story. Outside dogs have much more regular shedding patterns than dogs kept primarily inside in more or less temperature controlled environments.

Vacuuming works if you approach it the right way and don't freak out your dog or cat. Seriously though, a rubber curry and furminator combined with salmon/fish oil and vit E every day works extremely well. Another remedy is not allowing your pets on the furniture ;)

Furminator all the way, I have one for my 2yr. old lab and probably 80% less hair on the floor.

My giant poodle was pure black and a fuzz ball during winter. He looked massive and his coat was a lot of maintainance. Took me close to 2 hours to do him every few weeks, but I loved his coat.

We shaved him down to a standard poodle cut in summer. He loved to get shaved, it really kept him cool during the summer. He was pretty miserable with 9 inches of fur.

OK - how's the furminator any different than a rake? We use a rake on Diamond and we get just as much fur off of her as the ad shows for the furminator.

There's no real difference except the furminator uses very tiny teeth close set. I use a #40 blade held in my hand to get the same effect, it just doesn't have a handle on it.
Rakes work well for most people. Especially for thicker coats.
If what you have works well for you, I wouldn't invest in the latest gadget. I have an old rake, and a Coat King. If anyone were to invest the money in a real Coat King, you'd see some difference, but just for one dog? Use your rake.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

There's no real difference except the furminator uses very tiny teeth close set. I use a #40 blade held in my hand to get the same effect, it just doesn't have a handle on it.
Rakes work well for most people. Especially for thicker coats.
If what you have works well for you, I wouldn't invest in the latest gadget. I have an old rake, and a Coat King. If anyone were to invest the money in a real Coat King, you'd see some difference, but just for one dog? Use your rake.

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We have two rakes, and one has teeth very closely set. Good to know I don't need to go invest in something else! :D

The furminator is essentially a blade like hairdressers use except it doesn't cut the hair, not sure if holding a blade at a 90* angle would cut the hair or not, and yes the furminators are a LOT of money but I think it's been a worthy investment, for me at least.

There is a big difference in the rakes and in a furminator. :)

Furminators penetrate past the top coat/guard hairs to the undercoat, which rakes do not do. A rake skims the surface and is more abrasive, the furminator is just a flat edge as far as the dog is concerned whereas a rake has teeth. Run them over your leg and see how it feels.

Furminators also work much faster. I used the large on my horses and let me tell you they work GREAT and much better than any grooming rake. I always use a rubber curry, or like what I forgot to add the other day a Kong Zoom Groom:http://search.ebay.com/kong-zoom-gro...fsooZ1QQfsopZ1
First, to loosen top coat, release oils from the skin and work at any soiled areas or dirt. Then I use the furminator to brush it all away.

You can get Furminators and Zoom Groom on Ebay for great prices, a lot less than your average pet store.

Jo, in the link you posted, the Zoom Groom (the pink rubber thing that looks like a rubber horse curry comb) is another really nice tool. It's much cheaper than the furminator, and does a nice job on labrador coats. You use it in a circular motion both with and against the grain.. it pulls dead hair out nicely.

As far as shampoos.. at our grooming salon we recently got a 'low shed' shampoo. The manager said it worked really well with her labrador, so you may try something like that. I know the furminator brand now makes a shampoo too.. we have it for sale at petsmart.. I haven't tried it but it may be worth a try.

Using a zoom groom during bathing makes a big difference too. Really scrubs the loose coat out.

Yeah that it does.. less mess because the hair doesn't fly around either.

Thanks for all your suggesitons folks! I really love this dog and understand her breed tend to be year round shedders. I'm just getting a tad tired of spitting out hair as it flies around the house LOL.

I'll have a good look at the local pet store and see what they have to offer or buy some new tools/shampoo's online and see how that goes. :)

My mom uses one of those mitts with the rubber thingies on it. it grooms the hair off, and then you can peel it off in a "sheet" of hair, and toss it outside for birds to nest in :)
Granted though, her dogs are longhairs.. not sure how this would work on a shorthair.
She is a cutey!!