My dog Tex

I'm not sure about food but an undercoat comb and fine toothed wire brush will help a great deal. If you use both (and I emphasize both) at least once a week, the amount of shedding will be reduced by a large degree.

I'm sure some folks will have food suggestions too.

Thank You! I'll do it...........

My corgi sheds more some times than others... spring and fall are corgihair city. He's a little hair factory... but it is the normal replacement of his coat.

Well, I love my yellowdog Tex. But..damn! Sometimes I want to put a vacuum cleaner on him.

I've learned that if I don't want corgihair floors... or edges of rooms, as corgihairs waft to the edges... that I have to brush him more often that usually occurs to me. We both enjoy it though, so it's ok.

Your original question was about if there was something the dogs can ingest that will fix some of this, and I think there may be some vitamin... but I'm not particularly interested in that, as the loss is normal coat replacement.

I have a beautiful, spoiled, Huskey/Austrialian Shepherd mix...



However - she sheds. Like crazy. It got to the point where we bought the infomercialed 'rubber broom' just to be able to get all the hair up out of the carpets. The under-coat comb works wonders, but it's not at all a problem solver; a lessener, definitely.

So - what'd we do? Took her to PetSmart for what they call a 'summer cut' and she got clipped! The first time we did it, I went into a short depression at the loss of her beautiful dark coat, but we've been doing it every sumer since and I not only notice a major difference in the hair, but in her attitude. She doesn't pant at much, she wants to play more - she's had a winter coat taken off of her, basically (which is a blessing here in humid, 90-degree Oklahoma).



*Bandanna courtesey of Petsmart

Sounds good...

I dunno. Pacco's great handsomeness flows from his hair arrangement... which is fairly short if double duty with the undercoat. Not to knock your solution, that looks like it makes sense for your dog. I'm just saying I dunno, re my dog.

And your dog, Sanctuary, is incredibly beautiful, and clearly a sweetheart.

I guess I don't get though the shed benefit... your dog must still shed.. it's just the the shed hair is shorter...

A hacksaw blade is wonderful for removing dog hair from nubby upholstery.

I have a cousin who has trained a succession of boxers to enjoy being brushed with a vacuum cleaner. She dogsat my dog for a three week vacation and trained her as well.

Evidently the secrets are trust, iron will and a pocket full of delicious munchies.

Er, I've used a rake on my rugs, first. Efficient first catch.

Well, the main issue with cutting the hair completely is that it shaves that awful undercoat off aswell. With Raven (the dog), her undercoat never seemed to end! I could brush her for 45 minutes and it would still keep comming. So this was a quick solution to that.

Without that undercoat to shed everywhere, the short hairs are much more manageable!

Well, the so called awful undercoat is natural to the dog. Dogs developed as they did for certain climes, and then of course were manipulated for various reasons over centuries, but their bodies reflect their origins.

My corgi is actually an appropriate dog here in north north california, in a coastal pocket that has some relation to welsh coast..

I am aware that when I take him to Albuquerque, he'll be a bit of a fish out of water.

Dogs have coats for reasons.

I have been lax at the combing. It is actually not endless, it just seems so, and we can deal with it by combing often in key periods and relaxing when the hair is not being shed. Not to natter only at you, but myself too.

Osso, why am I getting the feeling that I've sinned for shaving my dog? You seem a bit moody on the topic.

I realize that dogs have coats. However, when a Husky mix is living in - again - humid, usually 90-degree weather, I imagine she's better off without the coat left over from winter.

I understand the philosophy behind the undercoat, though I do appreciate the lecture. I didn't intend to neglect the reasonings behind her fur when shaving it - it always grows back in perfect timing for late fall, thus the winter coat still gets used. However, it no longer causes her excess heat in the hot Oklahoma summers.

sanctuary, i shave my dog in the summer too. he is a brittany but gets rather shaggy and in the summertime he is so much happier when i shave him.

as far as shedding, we vaccuum the dog at least twice a week. he loves it. when i bust out the vaccuum cleaner, he comes a running and sits and lets me use the smaller head attachment to run it over him. he usually gets at least one or two good leg going moments. its odd, we started it as a hmm wonder if this will work and if he'll sit still. now he runs to me to get it done, even if i am just vaccuuming... here's a pic...

that is a fully shaved pic by the way...

I didn't mean to lecture, sorry if it had that tone. I was thinking out loud, essentially working out what I think for myself. I know it will be hard for my own dog to be in the summer heat of the city I'm moving to, away from the city I live now that fits his breed more (it rarely gets above 65 degrees). I'm not ethically, morally, whatever, against shaving the dogs. I do tend to like to pay attention to the natural function of things, in general, but don't mean to impose that on others when I might not stick to it myself, and I don't know if I would in your situation.

My only similar experience was living in Los Angeles - which does get hot - with an irish setter. It never occurred to us to shave him.. Still, irish setters don't have an undercoat.

I had a shepherd/collie cross who shed enough hair for both breeds.

Several years ago when I broke both legs at the same time, grooming Laddie was impossible and we had him shaved for the summer.

He seemed much more comfortable shorn for the season. De-stinking him after an encounter with a skunk was much easier.

Sorry Os, I was in a really pissy mood this morning and felt the need to take it out in the innocent.

No problem.