# De shed or not to De shed



## pb2b (Nov 8, 2013)

I would be concerned about the effects to my dog's coat if it were me. What do they mean by"deshedding tool"? If it's the same as the furminator, I wouldn't use it. Both my breeder and my vet said it can mess up the way the hair grows back. 

Think about it like this, they have all that fur for a reason. Constant vacuuming is a pain, but their beautiful coats are one of the reasons why we love them


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

If it was MY dog, I'd opt for ONLY the blowout on step4 and not the "deshedding tool" which is typically a Furminator. The only tool I'd Ok is an undercoat rake. 

The rest of the steps are exactly what I do with Bear and my double coated fosters before events. (Granted my blower is just a hair dryer. One of these days I'll afford a high velocity blower ).


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## xoerika620xo (May 25, 2012)

pb2b said:


> I would be concerned about the effects to my dog's coat if it were me. What do they mean by"deshedding tool"? If it's the same as the furminator, I wouldn't use it. Both my breeder and my vet said it can mess up the way the hair grows back.
> 
> Think about it like this, they have all that fur for a reason. Constant vacuuming is a pain, but their beautiful coats are one of the reasons why we love them





Brave said:


> If it was MY dog, I'd opt for ONLY the blowout on step4 and not the "deshedding tool" which is typically a Furminator. The only tool I'd Ok is an undercoat rake.
> 
> The rest of the steps are exactly what I do with Bear and my double coated fosters before events. (Granted my blower is just a hair dryer. One of these days I'll afford a high velocity blower ).


I actually didn't even notice the "de shedding tool" i totally skipped over that part, im definitely not a fan of the furminator.


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## Martin (Feb 21, 2011)

I hope this doesn't hijack the thread, but what is wrong with using a Furminator? I have one to use on Dolce's back. She doesn't mind it, it gets out quite a bit of loose undercoat, and her coat looks beautiful. I wouldn't use it on areas where she has long hair, though. Drifter had back pain and couldn't tolerate it, but he couldn't tolerate a comb or pretty much anything else, either. Is there a downside/danger to the Furminator that I'm missing?


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Martin said:


> I hope this doesn't hijack the thread, but what is wrong with using a Furminator? I have one to use on Dolce's back. She doesn't mind it, it gets out quite a bit of loose undercoat, and her coat looks beautiful. I wouldn't use it on areas where she has long hair, though. Drifter had back pain and couldn't tolerate it, but he couldn't tolerate a comb or pretty much anything else, either. Is there a downside/danger to the Furminator that I'm missing?


 Furminator has come out with additional grooming implements, the one we're suggesting the OP avoids is specifically their "de-shedding" line. 

On goldens (really any long haired, double coated breed), the furminator ends up cutting the top (or guard) hair, damaging the coat, revealing the undercoat which loses it's efficiency by being exposed. An undercoat rake will slide through the top coat, and only pull out loose hairs in the undercoat. Another option is to simply bath your dog with quality shampoo and conditioner, and then use a high-velocity force dryer to blow out the dead and loose under coat. 

Aside from damage to the hair, the furminator is often used excessively, which can lead to abrading the skin. When the groom parlor I worked at offered de-shedding services, we used a combination of the Kong Zoom Grooms (totally safe for golden coats, but works especially well on coarse short hair coats) and the furminator deshedding tool. We had to CONSTANTLY check the skin for redness or irritation and it NEVER did a good enough job to warrant the risks or the time involved. 

Here are some threads re: the problems surrounding the furminator deshedding tools...

Is it bad using the FURMINAToR??
Can you use the Furminator too much? - Grooming Forum
Groomers BBS: Furminator on double coated


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## xoerika620xo (May 25, 2012)

Martin said:


> I hope this doesn't hijack the thread, but what is wrong with using a Furminator? I have one to use on Dolce's back. She doesn't mind it, it gets out quite a bit of loose undercoat, and her coat looks beautiful. I wouldn't use it on areas where she has long hair, though. Drifter had back pain and couldn't tolerate it, but he couldn't tolerate a comb or pretty much anything else, either. Is there a downside/danger to the Furminator that I'm missing?


Thats fine =) your not hijacking at all. I agree with what Jen said.


I just dropped chester off, and spoke to the groomer she seemed really nice & told me in no way she would shave him, i showed her pictures of him and made sure to tell her not to use the furminator. Over all i feel comfortable but a bit nervous, it's going to be around 3-4 hours before i can pick him up.


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## jenlaur (Jun 24, 2009)

I am not a groomer. But I do groom my dogs because I don't care for the way the groomers do it. Both of my dogs have very thick coats. I brush them several times a week and then use a rake on them about once a week. When they are blowing their coats I rake them several times a week. When I'm done it looks like it has snowed in my yard! My boy, Jaxson, gets these tiny micro mats on his shoulders and hips twice a year when he is blowing his coat. Only way I have found to get them out is to rake him. Sometimes I even have to use a fine tooth come to get them out.


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