# What rake do you use?



## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

I am not pleased with my current undercoat rake, Pearl's coat is way too thick for it to do any good. It is one of the straight tine ones, they are short and widely spaced. What do others do? I've seen so many different kinds and I am tired of buying tools that just don't help. Advice? Thanks!


----------



## crazy daisy (Jul 3, 2011)

I just use a regular flea comb. It's inexpensive and does the job.


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

What are you trying to accomplish?


----------



## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

Just regular grooming, but getting down to her undercoat. He butt feathers are so thick and long she hates me going through them. I may try a wide tooth comb, the one that I have which has two different tooth widths is what she doesn't like. She will tolerate that comb for most of her coat, but not her skirt nor tail. The rake I got works well for Lila (and did for Hazel) but their coats are much less thick and short. She would never let me groom her again if I tried a flea comb!


----------



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

I use this one....Conair® Medium-Tooth Undercoat Rake - Sale - Dog - PetSmart

Bear is very thin coated, so I get more fur with a pin brush that this rake, however on my thick coated Torti cat this is a godsend.


----------



## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

That is pretty much what I have. I might just need to try one with longer tines, maybe wider. I've seen some that have curved tips, but I'm not sure if those slice the hair or not. Does anyone use something like that?


----------



## Shellbug (Nov 14, 2013)

This is my first golden, but I did have a Pom and they have similar fur. I just use a human wide tooth comb. Works great. I also use a human brush made for wet hair. Those two items worked great for me. Except I understand goldens have much more surface area to cover 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Couple thoughts.... I use a slicker on my guys. That's generally fine for when they are not blowing their coats. 

And I also now can see why Bertie's breeder recommended a bath and dry out for when I told her Bertie was starting to blow his coat. Both my guys got a bath on Saturday and a huge amount of fur came out during the bath (I take my time, sit on the edge of the tub, really get down to the skin with the shampoo, just combing my fingers through). Handfulls of fur came out - both dogs. 

Same thing when I followed up with the dryer (I love my new dog dryer). I think even if I were just using a pin brush, I still would have been getting clumps out. o_o


----------



## Conquerergold (Dec 12, 2007)

Here is a page out of my puppy booklet, if you would like better photos of the combs let me know and I can take some for you! I prefer to use these items in this order, starting off with a good pin brush, then a rake, then a comb. Always spraying with diluted conditioner before brushing/raking/combing.

Cheers
Rob


----------



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Megora said:


> And I also now can see why Bertie's breeder recommended a bath and dry out for when I told her Bertie was starting to blow his coat. Both my guys got a bath on Saturday and a huge amount of fur came out during the bath (I take my time, sit on the edge of the tub, really get down to the skin with the shampoo, just combing my fingers through). Handfulls of fur came out - both dogs.
> 
> Same thing when I followed up with the dryer (I love my new dog dryer). I think even if I were just using a pin brush, I still would have been getting clumps out. o_o


^^^^ This x a million. 

I just bathed Bear with IoD #10 and #51 (conditioner) and I got clumps and tufts of hair come out during the rinse. If you follow it up with a high velocity dryer, any loose hair that could come out is gonna come out and you will have a significant decrease in shedding for a while. (IMO)


----------



## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

Do you just leave the conditioner in? I have some earthbath that I used on Hazel but just during baths and I rinsed it out. I could dilite that and try. I might have to try some different products, I believe Megora has mentioned some. I have always been skeptical of leave in -stuff, but what do I know (nothing when it comes to grooming)?

I like the looks of those rakes, sort of really a wide tooth comb with better ergonomics.

I love the time I spend grooming the girls and want it to be enjoyable for them too. 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

lhowemt said:


> Do you just leave the conditioner in? I have some earthbath that I used on Hazel but just during baths and I rinsed it out. I could dilite that and try. I might have to try some different products, I believe Megora has mentioned some. I have always been skeptical of leave in -stuff, but what do I know (nothing when it comes to grooming)?
> 
> I like the looks of those rakes, sort of really a wide tooth comb with better ergonomics.
> 
> ...


The Isle of Dogs #51 conditioner I do NOT leave in. It typically takes me about 2-5 minutes to work the conditioner in, than I start at the head and rinse off. It takes me about 10-15 minutes for this final rinse. I hold the shower head in one hand and use my fingers to comb through the fur as I rinse out the conditioner.


----------



## Conquerergold (Dec 12, 2007)

I really like the IOD products too, as well as PurePaws, for a spray on conditioner you can heavily dilute IOD or PP conditioner with water and not worry about leaving in, or get a product made for leaving in (Ice on Ice by Chris Christensen is great). 

Personally, if my goal is to get as much coat out as possible (during that time they are shedding like crazy), I get a huge bottle of cheap cream rinse (Fructis is usually on sale a few times a year), and I dump the entire bottle on them, work it in really good, wait 5 minutes and rinse, rinse, rinse, then blow them out with a forced air dryer.

When shedding season is done, I will go back to using the more expensive doggy products (IOD or PP).

Cheers
Rob


----------



## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Conquerergold said:


> I really like the IOD products too, as well as PurePaws, for a spray on conditioner you can heavily dilute IOD or PP conditioner with water and not worry about leaving in, or get a product made for leaving in (Ice on Ice by Chris Christensen is great).
> 
> Personally, if my goal is to get as much coat out as possible (during that time they are shedding like crazy), I get a huge bottle of cheap cream rinse (Fructis is usually on sale a few times a year), and I dump the entire bottle on them, work it in really good, wait 5 minutes and rinse, rinse, rinse, then blow them out with a forced air dryer.
> 
> ...


I never thought to use human conditioner. Just the standard small size? I personally use Herbal Essence conditioner, and it's reasonably cheap (much less expensive than IOD). Maybe I should try that when Bear's blowing coat. 

Thanks for the tip!


----------



## Conquerergold (Dec 12, 2007)

Brave said:


> I never thought to use human conditioner. Just the standard small size? I personally use Herbal Essence conditioner, and it's reasonably cheap (much less expensive than IOD). Maybe I should try that when Bear's blowing coat.
> 
> Thanks for the tip!


No problem!! The bottles I use I believe are between the 300-400ml size. It's amazing how much more coat comes out this way, really cuts down on the amount of time they are blowing coat.

Cheers
Rob


----------



## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

I had no idea that conditioner helped with a blowing coat. I will have to try that. For now I'll get a new rake and some leave in conditioner. 

I'm going to do the conditioner treatment on the cat's next bath, coming up soon. She doesn't groom herself effectively so she gets a hygiene clip once a month and a bath a couple of times a year.

Thanks!

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Mr. Bojangles (Sep 15, 2011)

I use an Oster rake and have been very happy with it. 

Something like this:
Amazon.com: Oster Professional Pet Grooming Undercoat Rake, 18 Teeth Wide, Coarse: Pet Supplies


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I use a non-bladed rake with a single row of long tines. It's amazing on dead undercoat but doesn't cut the live stuff. The coat along the body doesn't require the longer tines, but the ruff and furnishings do.


----------



## CharlieBear80 (Oct 13, 2013)

Is a furminator not good for a GR?

ETA: Just did a quick search of the forum and see that they aren't really great on a GR. Glad I know that, I won't even try it on Will.


----------

