# I can't get a golden because of the hair



## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Goldens shed quite a bit, there is no way around it. Bathing and blow drying them regularly and brushing them outdoors a couple of times a day can help, but it is a big commitment to do this. I am guessing you are a young person hoping to change your parents' minds? 

You can try showing your parents how responsible you are by pitching in without being asked and cleaning floors in your home every day. Maybe if you are consistent you can show them you could be relied on to clean floors every single day and brush a dog every single day in the future - without being asked. Otherwise, you have to use your free time reading all you can about training and caring for dogs until the day you have your own home and can have your own dog on your own terms.


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## tlvgolden (Oct 23, 2017)

Honestly, the shedding is a lot. We vacuum a few times a week, I brush daily, and bathe our dog + blow him dry weekly, and we still wind up with a lot of hair everywhere - and he doesn't have nearly as much coat as many Goldens I've seen. Especially right now with the hear, despite what we do, I still get fur tumbleweeds and furry rugs. 

If your family is really not keen on shedding from the get go, I would not get a Golden while sharing a house with them. There's no way to prevent the shedding, and it could affect their attitudes towards the dog or even result in rehoming.

I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I would wait until you have a place of your own or look at breeds that are low shedding like Poodles or Wheatens.


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## GreenTeaDarkChocolate (May 16, 2018)

While this is not a "remedy", has anyone tried a robot type vacuum such as Roomba with any success?


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## tlvgolden (Oct 23, 2017)

My good friend and a relative both use them with their GSDs, and while they do reduce the amount, they can't totally tackle it.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

GreenTeaDarkChocolate said:


> While this is not a "remedy", has anyone tried a robot type vacuum such as Roomba with any success?


I have two Roombas (one for each floor), and while they do help significantly, they don't eliminate the problem. I still have to vacuum the stairs with a hand vac regularly and even when I vacuum the whole house myself, I still find tumble dust bunnies sometimes. And I have to dust the furniture a lot.


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

My daughter has one but doesn't even bother with it when we visit... it fills up too fast 

I realize Sipsy is in coat overload but we bathe & blowdry weekly, brush & rake her daily and still need to vacuum daily. I still gather tumble weeds as I walk through the house. It's just a golden thing and that's ok with me.

So if the majority of the household is against the shedding, sorry but I agree this would be a poor breed choice. It wouldn't be fair to the dog. And a life in the yard without their people would make for a very sad and destructive puppy.

They aren't going to stop making golden retrievers  wait until you can have one on your own and enjoy. It will be worth the wait.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Yeah, I would just wait it out, too. If the family is not on board, it will be a constant source of tension. To me, they are not big shedders - but I do a lot to mitigate it. I brush my dog pretty much every day (all you need is a minute or two), and I change my clothes as soon as I get home. I get dressed for work JUST before I leave, so I am never dealing with dog fur on good clothes. I only vacuum once a week, and that is fine for my girl, but she does not have a very heavy undercoat (or top coat, for that matter). But unless everyone is on board and willing to make those lifestyle changes, it will not go well. They don't only shed either - there is always just a little bit of dirt coming in with them, etc.


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## BrianO (Apr 7, 2016)

We don’t have dust bunnies. We have dust cougars.

Flo, our roomba, does help. The fur is a fact of life here still.

Can you have a well behaved golden come for a visit as a trial run?


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## ryanf (Oct 26, 2016)

I couldn't stand dog hair previous to having our girl. I have now just accepted it as it will never going away.

Every time I think we are getting the upper hand, I realize I am just lying to myself. Literally 10 minutes after vacuuming the floors are covered again lol. She gets brush almost every day so you can't really get rid of it.

As for your family, as much as I have gotten past the hair, my parents who visit our house often clearly will never accept the hair. I think it's ridiculous but then again people who don't have a dog or any animal will never really get it and accept it.

Like mentioned above just wait until you have your own place/space and that will solve your problem.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

tlvgolden said:


> I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I would wait until you have a place of your own or look at breeds that are low shedding like Poodles or Wheatens.


To be honest, for me at least, Poodles are WAY more high maintenance than Goldens. Do they shed as much? Maybe not. But the flip side of that is they have to be brush MORE than goldens AND they have to get haircuts/visit a professional groomer WAY more than goldens (every 6 weeks on average). 

I personally groom my own dogs (cause I came from a grooming background though it feels like that was forever ago) and aside from a bath every 4-6 months when they start to stink, and a quick brushing every day-every other day, goldens are so low maintenance. 

I'll gladly take my weekly vacuuming over an $80+ grooming bill every 6 weeks


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

Brave said:


> To be honest, for me at least, Poodles are WAY more high maintenance than Goldens. Do they shed as much? Maybe not. But the flip side of that is they have to be brush MORE than goldens AND they have to get haircuts/visit a professional groomer WAY more than goldens (every 6 weeks on average). (...)
> 
> I'll gladly take my weekly vacuuming over an $80+ grooming bill every 6 weeks



As the owner of a poodle and a golden retriever, I second, third and fourth this comment! The poodle is _incredibly _high maintenance. If he isn't brushed several times a week, his coat quickly becomes matted. He also gets smelly quickly, much more so than our Golden; there's something about poodle wool that traps odours. He has to be bathed once a week on average. We also have to get him professionally groomed every 6 to 8 weeks, and have to do partial grooms in between (face mainly, so that he can see - the wool grows over his eyes: we do these ourselves). He's a toy poodle, so the groomer's bill is $55, not $80, but still ... it's a lot of money. I have an agility colleague who has a standard poodle, and he does his own grooming. However, it takes him a minimum of four to six hours per week, every week, to keep the dog's coat in reasonable condition. 



I brush my Golden once a week for 15 minutes or so, and trim his ears and feet occasionally. He's intact, so he doesn't have a "neuter" coat and we don't think he sheds all that much generally speaking. We have no rugs and all leather furniture, so the hair doesn't stick to them, but it does stick to our clothes.


I would say beware of shorter-coated breeds too. By far the worst shedder we ever had was our Labrador. You could actually see the undercoat dropping out as she walked around the house, and we still found Labrador hair in corners several months after she died.


If you have a dog, either it will shed or it will require a lot of grooming and attention.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

I also have a Golden and a non-shedding Bichon and I agree the Golden is much less trouble to keep groomed. BUT if the question is strictly shedding of hair, there is a lot of it with a Golden. I can have tumbleweeds of hair rolling around the same day that I had brushed and vacuumed. Perhaps you could find someone with a Golden Retriever who would let you come over and play with it, brush it, maybe be their dog walker until you could be in your own place and get your own dog. If I had a young neighbor desperate for a Golden, I would be happy to share some Rukie time.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

ceegee said:


> ...He's a toy poodle, so the groomer's bill is $55, not $80, but still ... it's a lot of money. I have an agility colleague who has a standard poodle, and he does his own grooming. However, it takes him a minimum of four to six hours per week, every week, to keep the dog's coat in reasonable condition.


Yes! I know most groomers in my area require standard poodles to be on a 2-4 week schedule and the LOWEST I've seen it was $80 but realistically it's more likely it'll be in the $115+ range. Poodle coats have to be fluff dried in order to do the haircut. I fluff/force dry my dogs (mostly to knock shedding fur out and thank god for outdoor outlets!) and Bear would take me an hour to dry him. A poodle's coat will take longer. 



ceegee said:


> I would say beware of shorter-coated breeds too. By far the worst shedder we ever had was our Labrador. You could actually see the undercoat dropping out as she walked around the house, and we still found Labrador hair in corners several months after she died.


I agree with the Labrador being the worst! Not only did my last Labrador foster shed like he was going bald, but the hairs were short and prickly and it poked into EVERYTHING. Clothes, sofas, carpets, corners, crevices, etc. I gladly take golden tumbleweeds.  

It got SO bad that I would just vacuum him straight up with an upholstery attachment. We did deshed baths + deshed brushing and it didn't make a dent for the 3 months we were fostering him.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

makaylax said:


> My family is so resilient on not getting a golden because of the shedding. I have dreamt of one my whole life ):
> How can I persuade them? What are some pet hair reducing remedies?


Golden "hair" is easy to pick up as it will form into what we lovingly call tumbleweeds. If you let the tumbleweeds grow big enough you can name them and chase them around the house! 

Short hair breeds have tiny hair and are much worse to clean up after. Their little "needles" get stuck in everything.

I am not aware of pet hair reducing remedies other than keeping them brushed. Even the best groomed animal will leave hair around the house and on your clothes. You might have noticed your bathtub drain gets clogged once in a while, we shed too.


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## makaylax (Jun 28, 2018)

nolefan said:


> Goldens shed quite a bit, there is no way around it. Bathing and blow drying them regularly and brushing them outdoors a couple of times a day can help, but it is a big commitment to do this. I am guessing you are a young person hoping to change your parents' minds?
> 
> You can try showing your parents how responsible you are by pitching in without being asked and cleaning floors in your home every day. Maybe if you are consistent you can show them you could be relied on to clean floors every single day and brush a dog every single day in the future - without being asked. Otherwise, you have to use your free time reading all you can about training and caring for dogs until the day you have your own home and can have your own dog on your own terms.


Yes, I am nearly 16 and have always asked for a pure golden. We had a golden lab but she passed two years ago. Also had a cockapoo and she passed 3 months ago. I feel like now I am so lonely and in need of a dog to keep company. I already, myself, vacuum every 1-2 days and we have a Shark Automatic Vacuum. I do remember with our golden lab it was a good amount of hair but we put up with it. I would brush her once every week and the hair was tolerant. My parents had a golden 20 years ago and they say they don't want the hair again. My sister made me take care of her cockapoo puppy for about 6 months and I basically owned her, I took her on long walks, trained her, groomed her, bathed her, etc. I know they aren't the same amount of work in no comparison lol but I feel like raising a stubborn cockapoo puppy proved that I am capable of taking on the challenge of a golden. I am more than willing to put up the work for a golden puppy of my own. My family want one too, but they don't want the hair.


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## makaylax (Jun 28, 2018)

tlvgolden said:


> Honestly, the shedding is a lot. We vacuum a few times a week, I brush daily, and bathe our dog + blow him dry weekly, and we still wind up with a lot of hair everywhere - and he doesn't have nearly as much coat as many Goldens I've seen. Especially right now with the hear, despite what we do, I still get fur tumbleweeds and furry rugs.
> 
> If your family is really not keen on shedding from the get go, I would not get a Golden while sharing a house with them. There's no way to prevent the shedding, and it could affect their attitudes towards the dog or even result in rehoming.
> 
> I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I would wait until you have a place of your own or look at breeds that are low shedding like Poodles or Wheatens.


They all have a special place in their hearts for goldens, but are not liking the idea of the hair. I suggested a golden doodle but their hair gets too matted and also poodles are very stubborn to train. I had 2 cockapoos.


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## makaylax (Jun 28, 2018)

ArkansasGold said:


> I have two Roombas (one for each floor), and while they do help significantly, they don't eliminate the problem. I still have to vacuum the stairs with a hand vac regularly and even when I vacuum the whole house myself, I still find tumble dust bunnies sometimes. And I have to dust the furniture a lot.


We have a shark robot vac and I vac every 1-2 days (and that's with us having no dogs!)


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## makaylax (Jun 28, 2018)

BrianO said:


> We don’t have dust bunnies. We have dust cougars.
> 
> Flo, our roomba, does help. The fur is a fact of life here still.
> 
> Can you have a well behaved golden come for a visit as a trial run?


I wish, but no ):
Maybe I can open the idea to them of fostering a golden for a trial run when we are settled in a new house.


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## Gleepers (Apr 20, 2016)

Aside from the hair, at 16 years old you will graduate HS here in 2 years or so and then it’ll be time to make some big life decisions. You may go to college, or start working a full time job. As a young adult trying to find both affordable housing and the time to care for a young dog can be really tough. 
It sounds like you have thought about fostering, you could also consider doing some part time dog walking and or pet sitting. If your family has had dogs for much of your childhood chances are they may enjoy a part time dog around too. You might also consider volunteering at a local shelter.


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## makaylax (Jun 28, 2018)

Gleepers said:


> Aside from the hair, at 16 years old you will graduate HS here in 2 years or so and then it’ll be time to make some big life decisions. You may go to college, or start working a full time job. As a young adult trying to find both affordable housing and the time to care for a young dog can be really tough.
> It sounds like you have thought about fostering, you could also consider doing some part time dog walking and or pet sitting. If your family has had dogs for much of your childhood chances are they may enjoy a part time dog around too. You might also consider volunteering at a local shelter.


We definitely have thought about fostering, we used to foster goldens all the time when I was younger. They've definitely been apart of my childhood and I think that is what I miss most, the nostalgia of it all. We found some adorable pups but feel like the time is not appropriate now, as we are moving states. But once we get there and if things are ok, my parents said we will talk about it when the next litter of pups from the breeder we want to buy from comes around. I feel like in the current situation of stress we are in, it would do us all some good to have just a little joy in our life once things settle down.


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## FURgirl (Mar 14, 2017)

You don't want to be selfish and put any animal in the position of possibly being given up so waiting is the best option. If you're committed to making it work, however, regular brushing is a must. Tools like undercoat rakes will help a lot in keeping the shedding under control. Here is the one I use: https://amzn.to/2IQeixG


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## Patricia Aymami (Jun 24, 2017)

I researched the breed before I got my Golden. Yes, they do shed quite a bit. I even bought a rumba to try and keep up with the shedding. But she is so worth the extra maintenance. My cou sin calls them little tuffs of love. Unless it is an allergy problem please don't count out getting a Golden. They are the best dogs ever.


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

I always was afraid of the shedding for our first dog, Lilly - a Golden...

I loved our clean house - I am A-type personality....

With Lilly in the house - yes it is not that clean - there is some Golden hair around us, even though I brush her every day.
But - but - it does not matter. I say to get Lilly, a shedding Golden, was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.

...and I don't care about some hair in the house.

Lilly is with us already for 9 years - and I never have regret it!

Heike


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## Barlosh (Sep 1, 2018)

I often read about grooming and shedding in the golden but after having three malamutes together for twelve years I'm not at all fazed by one golden. You'd literally get a black bin bag full of undercoat from just one dog when blowing their coats and that was just the beginning of the moult. For twelve years I hoovered every day, sometimes twice and all black clothing was totally banned, lol. They were more than worth it though. 

So - bring on the golden moult because it can never be that bad.


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## Peri29 (Aug 5, 2017)

Most of the members wrote everything. Let's say you fnally convinced your parents PLEASE STILL do not get a golden.Dogs equal to any members of the famiily deserve the same physical & psychological environment as the rest of the household. And if they sense that they are avoided , resented or treated as an outsider does not matter due to which default (!) they have, it will immediately effect their psychology and you will have much bigger problems than only shedding hairs. There is no cons or pros of taking care of an animal as your parents do not have any cons or pros of having you. Everyone in the family want a golden does not matter what. You cannot love someone halfway. I would give everything to make my dogs live an additional year so that they shed hair, bark fiercely, eat my house...........


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## DanieLin (Nov 12, 2016)

It works! I did and I felt better honestly as my wood floors are dark in color. Lucky me lol But the Roomba helped a TON.


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## DanieLin (Nov 12, 2016)

*Supplements?*

Anyone try any supplements or vitamins that help reduce shedding as well as improve their coat? I have asked on this site before and no one ever replies. lol Please advise!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

DanieLin said:


> Anyone try any supplements or vitamins that help reduce shedding as well as improve their coat? I have asked on this site before and no one ever replies. lol Please advise!


The answer is No. 

Daily grooming (brushing) and as needed grooming (burrs or other crud caught up in the coat).

Routine baths (and dried completely afterwards before bedtime) at least once a month. If you give a bath - use lukewarm water. 

Quality food known for results (not grocery store brands and not boutiquey grain free brands either)

Healthy insides = healthy outsides - this is probably the only way that supplements will help skin and coat. But you can also do things like feed fish (cod, salmon, tuna) once a week. 

Too many supplements added (like too much fish oil, for example) will upset the stomach and won't help the coat.


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## Jmcarp83 (May 4, 2018)

My golden might look like she’s shedding a lot more because she’s golden and the carpet is dark brown. However, my chocolate lab sheds like crazy. I swear I see more of her in the vacuum than I did with the prior golden (and this one is only 5 months so minimal).


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