# Need Grooming Help & Cleaning Suggestions



## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

Most puppies don't shed much until their adult hair begins to come in and all the puppy fluff begins to come out. Hate to give you the bad news but goldens shed, a lot. You can use a rake (inexpensive) to help with all the undercoat, I do this daily. I also bathe and blow dry (commercial dryer) 2 or 3 times a month. I still vacuum the tumbleweeds daily. Sort of comes with the territory.


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## GPup4 (Mar 16, 2017)

Thanks puddles! I totally knew that my golden would shed a lot before I got her, I just wasn't prepared with the right tools. I knew she/we would get to this point -- we got away with 8 months of very little shedding!


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## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

Hi! You're puppy is likely shedding out her puppy coat and getting her adult coat right now. I am a professional groomer and my 3 favorite tools are a slicker brush, undercoat rake, and greyhound comb (used in that order). You can probably find them cheap on Amazon. Just to give you an idea of what to look for, I've included links to some.
Slicker brush: https://www.amazon.com/Millers-Forg...&qid=1504044473&sr=1-8&keywords=slicker+brush
Undercoat rake (this one is a double row rake, you can get a single row rake for cheaper, but I think these work a little better): https://www.amazon.com/Master-Groom...id=1504044595&sr=1-24&keywords=undercoat+rake
Greyhound comb: https://www.amazon.com/Andis-2-Inch...qid=1504044739&sr=1-3&keywords=greyhound+comb
I bathe my dogs every 2-4 weeks, but it is not necessary to bathe that often if you don't want to. It does help loosen up the undercoat and makes brushing easier. One tool that I absolutely CANNOT live without is my high volume blow dryer. I have a Chris Christensen Kool Dry, which is very pricey (about $400). You can get dryers that will fill your needs for half that. I would strongly recommend saving up for one, once you use one you'll wonder what you ever did without it! It will loosen up the undercoat and blast it off the dog as you are drying. As an example, I groomed a husky recently who had not been brushed in a year and her coat was absolutely packed with undercoat-the dryer literally did 90% of the work for me and the brush out was easy after that.
As far as cutting her hair, I strongly recommend you do NOT cut her hair. I've posted my opinions on other threads, but short version is that it ruins the dog's coat, ruins the dog's ability to cool off/warm up (think of the coat like insulation on your house-makes it warmer in winter and cooler in summer), and can cause heat related health issues. Depending on your groomer, even using the word trim could end up with a shaved bald dog, so if you only want feathering shortened be very specific (like please trim about 2 inches off the tail, the backs legs, etc.) Some friends of mine didn't realize I was still grooming after having my baby and they took their golden to Petsmart and asked for a "light trim" and when they went to pick up their dog, she had been shaved with a 10 blade (that's like shorter than a lab, almost bald). Needless to say, they were in shock and will be coming to me next time. Anyway, hope this is helpful.


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