# How often do you brush your GR?



## Hilabeans (Feb 27, 2018)

Teddy is still a puppy (15 weeks tomorrow), so it's similar to you, trying to get him used to it/enjoy it. I brush every morning after his first visit outside to potty. Just using a slicker brush.
Trying to get in the habit of brushing his teeth at the same time, but that's not as regular (more like every other day).


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## Gleepers (Apr 20, 2016)

Penny is of the shorter haired variety. I often brush her daily though sometimes we get busy and it might be several to a week in between. 
I use a people brush on her most of the time because she loves it. She hates dog brushes but I try and talk her into it a couple times a month to get some of the undercoat out.


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

I tend to brush several times a week it does keep the loose hair down. I use a slicker brush and pin brush for the most part unless its shedding time then I use them and a rake or a comb in the long hair to work the loose hair out. What I use depends on how much coat they have some dogs carry a much heavier or thicker body coat. Tink not so much. For young puppies I start with a slicker that's very soft and a brush that has both pins and boars hair similar to some hairbrushes that people use. I want it to feel soft to them. Some dogs are very sensitive and can't handle the rakes very well and then they can get where they really don't want to let you use it. I pull out my slicker and my dogs come running over to sit in front of me. Tink especially loves it when I use it on her chest. Chris Christensen A5II Mark II Slicker, Small is my favorite it gets into just about everywhere and great behind the ears. The small does take longer to get the whole body but its still my go to brush over the larger one. You can get it at most dog shows or amazon.


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## hahuston (Jul 5, 2017)

Altairss said:


> I tend to brush several times a week it does keep the loose hair down. I use a slicker brush and pin brush for the most part unless its shedding time then I use them and a rake or a comb in the long hair to work the loose hair out. What I use depends on how much coat they have some dogs carry a much heavier or thicker body coat. Tink not so much. For young puppies I start with a slicker that's very soft and a brush that has both pins and boars hair similar to some hairbrushes that people use. I want it to feel soft to them. Some dogs are very sensitive and can't handle the rakes very well and then they can get where they really don't want to let you use it. I pull out my slicker and my dogs come running over to sit in front of me. Tink especially loves it when I use it on her chest. Chris Christensen A5II Mark II Slicker, Small is my favorite it gets into just about everywhere and great behind the ears. The small does take longer to get the whole body but its still my go to brush over the larger one. You can get it at most dog shows or amazon.


I have a slicker and a pin brush, too. Asher is an equal opportunity hater of brushes. He hates them all. Lol!

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## Neciebugs (Nov 18, 2017)

I am kind of lazy. At first i did it every day to get her used to the different brushes. (She still hates the slicker)... But now it's about once a week. I do vacuum every day though... But she hasn't really blown a coat yet... she is only 8 months old on the 29th.


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## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

Yes, the more often you brush, the less they will shed. That said, I'm really bad about brushing. I do nails weekly, and baths every 2-4 weeks; and honestly, I pretty much only brush right after a bath and blow dry. I might brush if I've taken her with us in the woods or something and she gets muddy or gets thorns caught in her hair, but other than that, not terribly often. If I did, I might not have to vacuum as often, lol! Its so funny, because people always pet her and say "you must brush her ALL THE TIME!" Nope, not really, lol!


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## hahuston (Jul 5, 2017)

Neciebugs said:


> I am kind of lazy. At first i did it every day to get her used to the different brushes. (She still hates the slicker)... But now it's about once a week. I do vacuum every day though... But she hasn't really blown a coat yet... she is only 8 months old on the 29th.


I vacuum daily, too. We have fur balls everywhere. It's crazy. Asher is 9 months old now. 

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## Gleepers (Apr 20, 2016)

Vacuum almost daily too
I didn’t think these guys would be worse than having a Malamute and a husky but they are. The snow dog hair clumped. Golden fur is loose and everywhere!!!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Goldens&Friesians said:


> Yes, the more often you brush, the less they will shed. That said, I'm really bad about brushing. I do nails weekly, and baths every 2-4 weeks; and honestly, I pretty much only brush right after a bath and blow dry. I might brush if I've taken her with us in the woods or something and she gets muddy or gets thorns caught in her hair, but other than that, not terribly often. If I did, I might not have to vacuum as often, lol! Its so funny, because people always pet her and say "you must brush her ALL THE TIME!" Nope, not really, lol!


Not you alone. :smile2:

I typically only brush feathering (bibs, trousers, legs) while blow drying. And that's it except when needed. That's only once a week or once every other week.

If my dogs have burrs in their coats - burrs are removed right away. 

We don't vacuum all the time. We pretty much are dog people. Dog hair is part of dog ownership. <- we vacuum or sweep when it starts getting visible without squinting.  

That said, bathing (in lukewarm water since really warm water loosens the coat and causes more shedding post bath) and blow drying does limit excess shedding. Blow drying blows out any loose under coat. And if this is done every 1-2 weeks, it keeps all shedding under control. I don't have too much hair coming off the dogs when I brush them. And the hair does not go flying when they shake. And these dogs sleep with me - and my bed is not covered with hair. 



@ Hahuston - that said, if you are getting your pup used to being brushed and convincing him it's the most wonderful thing ever. You probably need to make it a nightly habit to grab a piece of bread (or something similar), put that high up while you sit cross-legged or whatever on the floor, invite your pup into your space, and do a very quick 1-2 minute brushing. 

When training my guys to enjoy being brushed, I literally had a whole routine. I'd start with the ears, behind/under the ears, brush down over the chest and belly, get your pup to stand with one hand under the belly and do a very quick swoop down on feathering behind both legs, brush the belly, do the trousers (don't spend too much time on the tail because dogs hate getting their tails brushed). IF you have a male dog, be careful brushing the trousers because they don't like getting their gonads scratched.  Brush down the back and down the sides, and maybe finish with the chest and belly area (boy dogs LOVE getting their chests brushed). 

Give a piece of bread and send them off to nom while you put the slicker brush away. 

The whole grooming session need only take about a minute tops. You're not doing heavy duty grooming for 2 hours or whatever. It's all about getting a young pup used to being brushed and learning to enjoy being fussed over. 

Down the road, if your dog has a correct coat - you don't really need to go crazy brushing all the time. A quick once over every week or as I said every other week is fine. 

While using the dryer - I typically do not need to use anything but the nozzle and my hand on the coat. Feathering is different because you do not want to blow up and down on the long feathers (can cause tangles). That's why a pin brush is used similar to how a hairdresser uses a brush when drying/styling your hair. 

Toenails - I would always do separately because there can be some stress associated with clippers. I might tear a piece of bread into quarters and give a bit after finishing every foot.


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## hahuston (Jul 5, 2017)

Megora said:


> Not you alone. :smile2:
> 
> I typically only brush feathering (bibs, trousers, legs) while blow drying. And that's it except when needed. That's only once a week or once every other week.
> 
> ...


I never spend more than 5 minutes brushing. I really don't get much hair from him yet, but I do have to vacuum daily or puffs of fur roll across the laminate floors and my brown carpet turns golden. It takes less than an hour for the fur to be visible everywhere after sweeping and vacuuming. I did expect that though and it's a cost of owning a golden that I'm willing to bear. 

Asher is growing into such an amazing dog that I am repeatedly asked if he will be a service/therapy dog of some kind. Nope, I don't honestly have time for that but my hope is to teach him and train him well enough to let his fabulous temperament shine and make people think he really should be a service/therapy dog.

Sounds like my next equipment investment is a blower. He'll let me vacuum him, but I suspect it's not as efficient as a blower.

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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

Piper HATED getting brushed when she was a puppy. So I actually used a soft boar bristle brush on her for a long time. When she was a puppy it was 1 minute tops every few nights at first. She loves it now! We mostly use a slicker brush, and pin brush. I have a shedding blade--but she doesn't love it, and frankly I get just as much done with a slicker brush. She started to love brushing around 10 months old or so. 

Piper blows her coat twice a year, but the rest of the time the shedding isn't so bad. So she gets brushed every 2 weeks or so, and bathed about once a month or so. She actually LOVES when I use a dryer on her. Her favorite part of bath time. I only vacuum once a week--I live with a little dog hair. 

But when she blows her coat man....its epic. She doesn't have a big, flowy conformation coat either. She blew her winter coat in March and I was briefly worried something was wrong with her. I could vacuum my floors and 5 minutes later there was fur everywhere. My black yoga pants weren't fit to go outside the house after 5 minutes of being around her. Her hair ended up in the food. I could have knit myself a sweater. Brushing and vacuuming was a daily activity and even then I was always behind.


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

My girl came with some nasty little critters so began a life of baths and brushing early. Learning to love it was a process  At 2 both golden girls shove each other out of the way to get their turn at being brushed. 
Sipsy is a Yetti, the pic is at 8 months. We do nails, ears, teeth and bath about every 10 days.... but we brush daily. I have a slicker to get out debris when needed but mostly I use a regular brush I picked up at a show. I also rake a couple of times a month, especially in the spring & summer. 
Gratefully her puppy fluff has started to transition to long adult hair and not so much fluff. I still have tumble weeds and vacuum every other day. Sipsy helps :grin2:


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

I brush Shala most days - but like for a minute or two tops. Mostly because it makes her look even better! She barely sheds. Not sure if it's from the daily brushing or her natural coat (she has shorter, straight fur, not a huge undercoat). I brush to keep her clean - I rarely bathe her. Only if she gets REALLY filthy and muddy and I have no choice - or if she gets smelly from rolling in something or too much pond swimming.


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

I should mention when I say I brush several times a week it is usually for about 5-10 minutes on each dog. Slicker the body behind the ears then pin brush and or use the comb on feathers. We spend a lot of time outside and I like to make sure they are clean of any brambles or whatnot they might have picked up. Brushing is a great time to check them over for any sores or scratches that they might have gotten. I do vacuum and sweep pretty much daily like most of us do. I bath as needed and blow them out that's usually when I do a full groom and trim. I start puppies on brushing from the time they are young and I love to do it when they are tired or half asleep so they are more relaxed. Some dogs are more sensitive to the brushes especially when young and I do use soft brushes like a boar brush and just do a small area and then reward with play and or treats. Lots of small sessions lots of reward till they are at least tolerating it. I have had dogs that were more comfortable with it If I sat on the floor with them to do it others did better on a grooming table.


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## NothingbutGold (Apr 2, 2017)

I have always brushed my goldens daily with a slicker brush. My current dog is 11 months and is used to the daily routine, morning walk, brush, then breakfast. I vacuum once a week, unless it's a shedding time.


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## NothingbutGold (Apr 2, 2017)

High shedding time, goldens always shed just sometimes more than other times.


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## Neciebugs (Nov 18, 2017)

hahuston said:


> I vacuum daily, too. We have fur balls everywhere. It's crazy. Asher is 9 months old now.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


Yesterday I started brushing her while she was eating... My guess... she is blowing the rest of her puppy coat... I never got that much hair off of her... 

I was brushing her while she ate, because I was able to get her to focus on something else rather than trying to mouth the brush... HAHAH This was the first time I did it that way, and it was super easy. I think now I may put a little food in her dish and brush away, add more, brush more, then add more until her ration is gone. LOL EASY!


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## hahuston (Jul 5, 2017)

Neciebugs said:


> Yesterday I started brushing her while she was eating... My guess... she is blowing the rest of her puppy coat... I never got that much hair off of her...
> 
> I was brushing her while she ate, because I was able to get her to focus on something else rather than trying to mouth the brush... HAHAH This was the first time I did it that way, and it was super easy. I think now I may put a little food in her dish and brush away, add more, brush more, then add more until her ration is gone. LOL EASY!


Great idea!

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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

Someone here suggested peanut butter on a plate! I spread a little bit all over a dinner size plate and it keeps him busy while I brush. I've had three goldens and Murphy has the thickest coat I've ever seen. Kelly's was OK.....Casey had a very smooth silky coat with very long feathering....he was a breeze to groom. Good luck!


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## hahuston (Jul 5, 2017)

murphy1 said:


> Someone here suggested peanut butter on a plate! I spread a little bit all over a dinner size plate and it keeps him busy while I brush. I've had three goldens and Murphy has the thickest coat I've ever seen. Kelly's was OK.....Casey had a very smooth silky coat with very long feathering....he was a breeze to groom. Good luck!


I do this using sunbutter. It's very effective but he still hates to be brushed. He's getting better about other things so maybe he'll improve in regards to brushing, too.

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