I give my corgis Linatone Shed Relief…just a bit of the oil on their kibble. You can do salmon oil, too but this product really did reduce the twice a year coat blowout…corgis are famous for shedding, too.
Good advice here.
I have struggled with rafts…nay, BARGES of GSD hair for 3 years. Figured it was just the breed. And the drawbacks of caring for an allergy-prone dog in the swampland of Houston (everyone I know who has a GSD here has some kind of a skin issue with their dog).
I FINALLY stumbled upon a food that made a huge difference. For Heinz, it’s Zignature duck and pea formula. I also give him weekly/ bi-weekly baths with Eqyss Micro-Tek shampoo (He comes to the barn with me and usually has a dip in the farm pond so I need to wash the swamp monster smell out anyhow).
And, with my vet’s permission, if I notice him ramping up the paw chewing/base of tail gnawing that signifies the start of some kind of allergic inflammation, I start a low dose of prednisolone. Right now I have him on 20 mg every other day and it seems to be holding the itches at bay.
And finally, don’t forget to regularly wash the dog bed! I try for once a month at least, sometimes more.
[QUOTE=ElisLove;8633914]
You really need a strong high velocity dryer if you want to make any decent dent in the shedding.If you dont want to spend the 500 to get one then a pro grooming would be your best bet.[/QUOTE]
Yes.
A furminator is nothing compared to a force dryer. Personally, I hate the furminators because the teeth are so short they don’t really get to the undercoat anyway, and have a high chance of breaking the top coat.
Good nutrition is important, of course, but all dogs shed. Dogs with a double coat shed more. Big dogs with a double coat shed a lot. Somehow I doubt an indoor air purifier will make that much difference. 
With 2 smooth-coated collies (pretty much the same kind of coat as a GSD), we use a Neato every day. Sometimes twice a day. Some people like Roombas better but the Neato keeps us sane. We have dark wood floors and when we come down in the a.m. during coat-blowing season, it looks like it snowed.
This is one reason I really like suggesting people read Daniel Tortora’s book “The Right Dog for You” before getting a dog. One of the questions it walks people through is whether they can tolerate a shedder or not and gives lists of dogs that don’t shed as much. It’s always sad when a new owner is appalled at a dog that is just doing what’s normal for that breed- shedding for a GSD or the one I met last week- someone who couldn’t cope with barking but got an Icelandic Sheepdog. I hope you come to peace with the shedding. We own stock in Static Guard and lint rollers, switched to leather furniture, and buy a new robot vacuum every year because we burn them out they work so hard- it’s worth it for us but I know some don’t like it.
[QUOTE=S1969;8634547]
Yes.
A furminator is nothing compared to a force dryer. Personally, I hate the furminators because the teeth are so short they don’t really get to the undercoat anyway, and have a high chance of breaking the top coat.[/QUOTE]
Yeah don’t Furminators cut the coat? I think Elis is our resident groomer. That’s why people see so much hair in the brush? Underneath the teeth is a razor.
Line brushing with a quality comb will pull out volumes of undercoat. I’d pay a pro to handle the worst of the blowing (I did exactly that :winkgrin:) then keep it up with a conditioning spray and line brushing targeted to the undercoat.
A GSD has an undercoat and a hard straight outercoat. The undercoat will be fuzzy or woolly in texture and overall a grayish or tan color. Hold the topcoat up out of the way with one hand and pull a comb through the undercoat specifically. Pull out away from the body. Move section by section.
I am sooooo not the type of person who takes my dog to a groomer for a bath, but repeat after me: bath and a blowout. NOTHING gets the hair off like those high velocity dryers. Totally worth the $ once a month or so.
My dog gets good food and salmon oil and still sheds a ton. Nutrition and supplements help but they’re not a cure-all.
There is brushing and then there is BRUSHING. Having had longhaired cats my whole life, I can tell you that every coat type is different and the key is getting the right tool that really collects that specific type of coat. On my ragdoll cats, the right took is an alternating length, rotating tooth comb that I believe was made more for husky type fur. This furminator shedding rake works pretty great on my collie’s fur but isn’t as hot on the cats. https://www.chewy.com/dp/40280?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=FURminator&utm_term=&gclid=CIGJwsa8qswCFYsehgodg9QE8w You really need to experiment and find the right tool. There shouldn’t be hair covering every surface 24/7, that suggests to me that whatevey you’ve been using isn’t collecting all the dead hairs and is just smoothing over the top layer. I don’t have GSDs myself so I am not sure what the correct tool for that coat is (I think it’s like a rough collie but not exactly the same?!), but experiment until you find something that really collects the dead fur. When you find it, you will know because the difference in what you brush off will be OBVIOUS.
I don’t think the tool I linked to has blades either?! It doesn’t cut the fur. I don’t know if that’s what other people mean when they say “furminator” or not?! I think other people mean this tool…
https://www.chewy.com/furminator-short-hair-deshedding/dp/40287
I highly prefer the rake. It really pulls the undercoat and does not damage/cut the topcoat.
[QUOTE=vxf111;8635311]
I don’t think the tool I linked to has blades either?! It doesn’t cut the fur. I don’t know if that’s what other people mean when they say “furminator” or not?! I think other people mean this tool…
https://www.chewy.com/furminator-short-hair-deshedding/dp/40287
I highly prefer the rake. It really pulls the undercoat and does not damage/cut the topcoat.[/QUOTE]
yes, that is the one people mean when they say the furminator has blades that can cut the coat. Once the blade furminators are worn down a bit they do work well on the right coat type, but you must experiment to find the right tool for the coat you are working on, and I will NOT do a deshed without a proper bath and force dry.
Don’t know if they link will work, but here’s my groomer force drying a shiba.
https://www.facebook.com/Mystic-Pawz-Dog-Grooming-224603572706/videos?ref=page_internal
[QUOTE=ElisLove;8635578]
Don’t know if they link will work, but here’s my groomer force drying a shiba.
https://www.facebook.com/Mystic-Pawz-Dog-Grooming-224603572706/videos?ref=page_internal[/QUOTE]
That’s awesome! Love seeing chunks of undercoat explode out!
Definitely take your dog to a professional groomer, you will be SO thankful, so will your dog! Those high powered dryers are amazing, no amount of specialty shampoos or food can do what a dryer can. Furminators can and do cut the hair and they can also make your dog very, very sore if used too enthusiastically or too often.
I work in a grooming shop and, at first, didn’t understand why people would bring shepherds, labs Corgis, etc in for grooming. But after my first blow out - holy cow! Made perfect sense and now my GSD x and my Blue Heeler x both get professional baths every 8-12 weeks. :yes:
Do you have a self-service dog wash near you? That’s how I make it somewhat manageable with my rough-coated collie. I get the forced-air dryer - and they get to do all the hair cleanup - for $20.00. So beyond worth it.
With that said - you’ve got to commit to doing a good job : ) We’re there typically two to three times longer than the other dogs because it isn’t a “fluff fluff and out the door we go!” situation. Multiple nozzles and back-brushing are your friend.
You can feed them some nutritional food, which can help you to your dog for hair removing issue.
A good undercoat rake is your friend. I had a Great Pyrenees mix that had 4 inch hair. I used an undercoat rake, followed by a pin brush and finally a slicker. 3-4 times a week to keep the shed to manageable levels.
I just heard this tip a few days ago on a local call-in radio show called It’s Raining Cats and Dogs.
When bathing the dog apply conditioner first - before shampooing - rinse, then shampoo, then apply conditioner again.
The conditioner before shampoo makes the hair slick and you can get more out when shampooing.
Heads up that this is an older thread that was bumped by now-deleted spam.
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I was going to suggest buy a pet hair Roomba and keep it running…
This makes no sense. How does making the hair slick cause more of it to come out?
The bottom line is that dead/loose hair comes out when you shampoo and blow dry. Give a good bath with lots of massage through the coat; follow up with a force dryer.
I don’t know, I haven’t tried it.
A German Shepherd owner called in asking if there was a way to control the shedding and the radio host said she’s heard from a lot of groomers who have been using this method with great success.
