When considering the issue of dog shedding, numerous prospective dog owners typically look for dog breeds recognized for their minimal shedding. The work involved in maintaining a clean house and dealing with allergies makes breeds known for heavy shedding less appealing. However, it’s crucial to acknowledge that nearly every dog will lose some of their fur at varying times.
According to Embark’s health survey, almost half of the participants responded that their dog sheds a moderate amount or higher. However, the amount of hair a dog sheds actually depends on their breed, the time of year, and whether they have a single or double layer of hair.
Everyone who has a pet with the coat type that sheds a lot knows what a struggle it can be to control dog shedding. It’s not an easy task, but there are several ways that can be done to reduce unwanted shedding.
First, we have to understand why dogs shed in the first place.
What Is Shedding In Dogs?
Shedding is a normal occurrence meant for new and healthy hair to grow. The rate at which your dog loses old, damaged, or dead fur varies from reason such as breed type, season, pregnancy, or an underlying condition.
Dogs will shed seasonally or year-round. Outdoor canines—who may be living as strays — tend to shed seasonally in the spring and fall. In the spring, double-coated breeds like a Siberian Husky will shed to have a lighter outer coat for the summer. Blowing coat—a natural process that sheds the soft undercoat— is a way for these double-coated dogs to prepare for summer. In the fall, shedding enables warmer and thicker coats to grow in to prepare for the winter.
Indoor pets typically shed year-round due to the artificial light and heat inside your house do not provide the seasonal ‘signals’ to control when the shedding occurs.
For others such as the golden retriever with thicker fur, they might naturally shed all year. Otherwise, poodles, dachshunds, and border terriers are almost shed free even after scratching.
Why Do Dogs Shed?
It helps to understand the there are four phases of dog coat development. The anagen phase is when furs grow to their genetically predetermined length. Second, the catagen phase is a transitional phase when furs stop growing. Telogen is the resting, third phase that lasts until the exogenous phase when old hair sheds to make room for new ones.
Dog shedding season also differs by a dog’s breed. Some dogs shed completely only once or twice a year. Other dogs shed hair from different parts of their bodies at different times, so it seems like they’re constantly shedding. When a dog’s coat spends more time in the anagen phase, it seems like they barely shed at all.
How Often Should You Deshed A Dog?
While the deshedding process is a sure way for you and your pet to bond, it is also a preventative measure to improving your dog’s health while keeping your surrounding fur-free. To a degree, your eyes, nose, and the person around you are free from infections caused by allergens from pets—furthermore, this way, you pay attention to your dog’s skin looking out for diseases.
Of course, at-home dog grooming sessions can’t be done daily. However, a few times a week should keep their pet hair from matting and shedding. Certain dog breeds shed more than others such as the ChowChow, Collies, and Samoyeds might need deshedding 3-4 times a week. If there is excessive shedding, visiting a veterinarian to diagnose excessive hair loss is advisable. [1]
Watch out for skin irritation, redness, or dry skin as this could mean an underlying health issue.
What Are The Different Dog Coat Types?
To fight the war against your dog’s shedding you should first understand dogs’ coat types. A canine’s fur varies in length, thickness, texture, and hair-growth patterns, and they can also vary on different parts of a dog’s body. Find your coat match first using this quick guide:
Smooth coat
Their fur is sleek, shiny, and close to the body. Some short-haired dogs have smooth coats that need to be brushed daily to reduce shedding. (examples: bulldog, boxer, beagles)
Double Coat
Double-coated dogs wear short, thick undercoats beneath a longer topcoat of guard hairs. Other dogs with wiry guard hairs—such as the Lakeland terrier—need their furs to be hand-stripped to remove loose hair by the root. (example of dogs with double-coats: Labrador retrievers, Border collie, Siberian huskies)
Wire Coat
Hair texture ranges from wiry and coarse to smooth. These dogs shed less than many other breeds, but you still need to get rid of tangles as necessary. (examples: Scottish terrier, Brussels griffon, Airedale terrier)
Silky Coat
Their fur is long, silky, and straight. Such coats need daily brushing. (examples: Irish setter, cocker spaniel, Yorkshire terrier)
Curly Coat
Coats range from wavy fur to tight curls. Corded coats are a variation of curly. Dog grooming needs vary dramatically between dog breeds, so check with a professional groomer for the best approach. (examples: poodle, bichon frise, Portuguese water dog)
5 Ways To Control Dog Shedding
Whichever method you pick to deshed your dog, for example, using a brush, shedding tools, or plain old bathe your dog technique, is highly dependent on your dog’s coat type, length, and amount of fur the dog is shedding.
1. Regular Brushing
Brushing eliminates dead and damaged hair that was going to come out anyway. This fur will pile up in the brush and on the floor near your dog, making clean-up effortless. Combing also distributes healthy skin oils throughout your dog’s coat.
Heavy shedders need to be brushed at least a few times a week, if not daily. As for light shedders, monthly brushings are often enough for them.
Your grooming professional or veterinarian can advise you on how often you should brush your dog. Make sure to choose the right brush for the job. A pin brush, for instance, works well for long and silky coats, while bristle brushes are ideal for coarse coats.
Brushing gloves are available too. Whichever brush type you choose, always comb in the direction of your pet’s fur growth.
2. Dematting
The pet’s hair should be dry before you start the brushing process. Before the dog deshedding treatment using a dog grooming brush, it’s essential to remove mats and dead hairs from your pooch’s hair. Brushing mats can be painful for your pet. As a pet owner, gentleness, and compassion during the deshedding provide a bonding avenue for you. Patience is key to a successful deshedding process.
Isolate the mat and hold it separately from the rest of the fur, spray safe pet coat detangling pet hair products. Work through it using your fingers. Utilize a dematting tool gently to untangle the fur on the mat edges. Do not brush or pull. Slow is the pace, and picking is the motion.
3. How To Brush Your Dog
Once you remove the mats using a mat splitter, start brushing your dog’s fur to help deshedding your dog’s coat. Brush against the fur growth softly to pull out dead hair. To remove dead hair, use the dog brush towards the fur growth direction. Part the dog’s undercoat into portions and start from the bottom. Repeat brushing over a few times to brush off excess fur everywhere.
Moreover, this dog de-shedding home treatment helps distribute natural oils in the pet’s skin into the coat. A natural bristle brush will do an excellent job of loosening dead hair.
As an animal lover, you might go fancy with the hound mitt or gloves. With the glove, massage the dog hair in circular motions then brush. It works well, especially in excessive shedding. Dogs like the Pomeranians, Collies, or Pembroke Welsh Corgis, who have double-coated hair, require slicker brushes.
If your pet’s shedding skyrockets, a coat rake or shedding tool will do the job correctly. For a coat rake, pull it along the coat towards the hair growth direction and pull up and away. In case of any tangles, go for a steel comb to brush.
If you wash your pet before a brush, please use a blow dryer to dry it, then only then start the deshedding with the dog brush.
4. Use A Shedding Tool
Regardless of if your dog sheds seasonally or year-round, selecting a shedding tool that is designed specifically to remove dead hair from your dog’s coat can help lessen the tufts drifting around your house. Shedding tools can come in the form of a shedding blade with serrated teeth or a brush with closely-spaced, stainless steel tines that work on removing undercoats.
Simply, stroke your dog’s hair from head to tail. This motion will remove dead hair hanging on your pup. To cover more substantial portions of your dog’s fur using a dog shredder, hold the handles apart. Otherwise, keep them close together to capture a smaller area.
5. Bathe Your Dog
Unlike cats, dogs love shower time. And bathing your dog not only cleans their coat but also helps to remove loose hairs. Deshedding shampoos and conditioners contain omega fatty acids and moisturizers to hydrate your dog’s skin and fur to produce healthier, stronger follicles. These shampoos and conditioners can also help to loosen and eliminate your dog’s excess undercoat. Bathing your pooch regularly and grooming them using a deshedding tool or brushes once they’re dry can significantly combat shedding.
Gloves are necessary for safety. Depending on your canine breed, known allergies from pet dander and skin type, pick suitable products. Cleaning also gets rid of parasites in the undercoat.
Pests can cause your pound issues, but often cleaning with the correct brush keeps the veterinarian away. No one understands your pet better than you. How to deshed a dog is a learning process, and pet grooming books are excellent for extra information.
Tips To Minimize Dog Shedding
While you can never completely stop your dog from shedding, you can control it. Here are some tips to minimize shedding in dogs.
Keep Your Dog Well Hydrated
The correct amount of water per day can control your dog’s shedding. Dehydration can lead to dry skin in a pooch. Dry skin or dehydrated skin can cause excess shedding in addition to other medical conditions. A hydrated dog is a healthy dog whose shedding will remain under control.
Knowing the exact right amount of water for your pet can be a challenge. The best course of action is to ensure he always has access to clean, fresh water. However, you can also keep this tip in mind: an adult dog needs approximately an ounce of water per pound of body weight a day.
Utilize Shampoo And Conditioner
Research your dog’s hair or ask a vet for what hair products to apply for a healthy coat. Read supplies reviews to ensure you don’t lose money on a thing with no solution. Dog ownership is real parenting, don’t you agree?
Grooming Regularly With The Right Tools
Nothing beats regular grooming. Grooming your dog regularly, especially brushing, is essential for controlling your dog’s shedding. Stroking eliminates excess fur. It also moves the oils on your dog’s skin around more evenly. Evening out your pet’s natural oils is vital because it helps the fur stay in place longer.
It is essential to choose the correct tool for the job too. You need to buy the right brush and shedding tools. There are many different grooming tools available, but the tool best for your dog will be determined by your dog’s breed and hair types. For example, a bristle brush with wide and long tines is better for pets with long hair. The brush should be able to reach completely underneath their long outer coat. Those dogs with shorter or curlier hair may do better with a wire-pin brush or a comb.
Coconut Oil Protection
Other than that your dog may enjoy the oil massage into the coat; these oils act as coat spray. Sellers might have pricing on these oil kits high, but they seal the moisture and help keep your dog’s skin well hydrated. After a shampoo treatment, groomers can use coconut oil in reasonable amounts working from the undercoat hair towards the overcoat. You can add coconut oil, ideally unrefined or virgin coconut oil, to your dog’s food. Your veterinarian can advise you on how much to add. Be aware that too much coconut oil can cause diarrhea and greasy tools.
Feed Your Dog A Healthy Diet
The market offers a wide range of recommendations on healthy dog food, but your choice of something healthy benefits the pet body in nutrition and keeps the coat healthy. Vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids, and other essential nutrients keep your pet body weight in check, but hair loss also reduces significantly.
Pet owners should have proper nutrition and a balanced diet where the household follows into details to control dog shedding. Adding a supplement to your dog’s diet ensures fewer trips to the vet.
Visit a Professional Groomer
Visiting a professional groomer regularly can also help control your dog’s shedding and keep their pet health in top shape. Fur that is not groomed regularly is a breeding ground for ticks, fleas, and bacteria.
While you can reduce some of this risk by grooming your pet yourself, professional groomers are trained in using the right tools and techniques for your specific breed. They know what to use to get rid of all the dead hair they can. This competence is ideal when you want to control a dog’s shedding. The less dead hair there is to fall out, the less shedding that will occur.
When Should I Be Worried About Hair Loss?
For some breeds, excessive shedding is a part of their daily life. As a pet parent, you need to be aware of the seasonal changes in your dog’s shedding, so you know when something is amiss with your dog.
Hair loss that reaches beyond your dog’s shedding can indicate pet health concerns such as:
- Parasites like mites, fleas, or lice
- Fungal infections
- Bacterial infections
- Food allergies
- Allergies or Skin allergies
- Liver conditions
- Kidney disease
- Pregnancy
- Thyroid or adrenal issues
- Anxiety or stress
- Side-effects from medication
- Immune disease
- Topical irritants
- Cancer
- Sunburn
Take your pet to the veterinarian if you notice more hair loss than usual, brittle fur, inflamed skin, bald patches, or excessive scratching. Your veterinarian will provide medical advice and proper diagnosis.
Can I Prevent My Dog from Shedding?
You can’t keep a dog from shedding. But you can pick a pooch that doesn’t shed as much. There’s no such thing as hypoallergenic dogs but some cause fewer issues than others. They have fur that is more similar to human hair, produce less dander than other breeds, and don’t shed.
Because of this, they make ideal pets for dog owners who have allergic reactions to pet hair or pet dander. They also make great companions for dog owners who don’t like the mess that shedding can cause.
These dog breeds include the:
- Bichon Frise
- Afghan Hound
- Maltese
- Chinese Crested
- Poodle
- Schnauzer
- Portuguese Water Dog
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to deshed a dog?
The best way to deshedding dogs are profoundly affected by the dog’s hair type. A slicker brush is ideal for long coats. Shedding tools with either closely spaced brushes or stainless steel tines for undercoat while a shedding blade with serrated teeth works. Rubber brushes are excellent for sensitive skin on certain dog breeds.
How long does deshedding a dog last?
Deshedding a dog often helps reduce vet trips. Dog owners should aim for a deshedding of their dogs 4-6 weeks initially, then 8-10 weeks after that for excellent hair growth.
Is deshedding good for dogs?
Yes, deshedding is good for dogs as it helps remove hairs that end up on your furniture, clothes, and people—no more hair lumps in your special events.
Can you deshed a dog too much?
No, you won’t be able to deshed a dog too much as it won’t irritate your dog’s skin even with too many brush strokes. However, watch out for hard bristles while at the department store to reduce stress and pressure to bring skin complications.
Conclusion
Although dogs shed all the time, dog shedding doesn’t have to be a time-consuming experience. A simple at-home process with the right items such as deshedding and grooming tools and a towel in the proper water condition is a perfect recipe for deshedding a dog.
Once you answer the questions, your breed type, baths with shampoos cease to be problems. Whichever method works, dander removal from your hound’s undercoat leaves them happy and healthy. Dog deshedding improves blood circulation while your dog relaxes to enjoy the feeling.
