Best shedding tool for Labrador?
June 14, 2015 7:43 PM Subscribe
My Labrador sheds a lot. We live in a warm climate. What's the best tool for deshedding? Bonus points if it can be used on long-haired and short-haired cats as well. (Also, how do I post pics of these furry little bastards?)
FWIW: I've used a shedding blade (the metal loop kind) and a Target brand knock off Furminator. Both are kind of meh. I also use the Furminator shampoo and conditioner.
The furminator is the best tool for deshedding. I think you're already doing everything you can.
To post a pic, you have to host it somewhere else - imgur is the easiest - and create a link here. Here's how to do that.
posted by desjardins at 7:49 PM on June 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
To post a pic, you have to host it somewhere else - imgur is the easiest - and create a link here. Here's how to do that.
posted by desjardins at 7:49 PM on June 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
We have two brushes for our Rockaway Wolf, who is kind of a miniature husky-shepherd mix and really impossibly hairy.
We have one undercoat rake, the JW Pet Gripsoft Double Row Undercoat Rake that gets more of the cottony down out faster, and a furminator, which definitely works wonders. The furminator is way more thorough, but sometimes when he hasn't been brushed in a while the undercoat rake is just more efficient. He has a definite undercoat, which is tufted and cottony and probably something you could spin into yarn if you wanted to. His overcoat is longer and straight and wiry.
If you really only want brush, spring for the furminator. If you're spooked by the price, look for NIB listings on eBay. Ours came in packaging that was damaged but the brush was fine and it certainly works.
We only really have the undercoat rake because I couldn't spend $50 on a dog brush, but then I borrowed one from a friend and decided it was worth the expense.
We never shampoo him because he hates it and it isn't worth paying for a groomer. Seriously. He's been shampooed once in the year that we've had him and that was only because he found what I'm pretty sure was homo sapien scat and rolled in it.
posted by amandabee at 8:21 PM on June 14, 2015
We have one undercoat rake, the JW Pet Gripsoft Double Row Undercoat Rake that gets more of the cottony down out faster, and a furminator, which definitely works wonders. The furminator is way more thorough, but sometimes when he hasn't been brushed in a while the undercoat rake is just more efficient. He has a definite undercoat, which is tufted and cottony and probably something you could spin into yarn if you wanted to. His overcoat is longer and straight and wiry.
If you really only want brush, spring for the furminator. If you're spooked by the price, look for NIB listings on eBay. Ours came in packaging that was damaged but the brush was fine and it certainly works.
We only really have the undercoat rake because I couldn't spend $50 on a dog brush, but then I borrowed one from a friend and decided it was worth the expense.
We never shampoo him because he hates it and it isn't worth paying for a groomer. Seriously. He's been shampooed once in the year that we've had him and that was only because he found what I'm pretty sure was homo sapien scat and rolled in it.
posted by amandabee at 8:21 PM on June 14, 2015
Slick N Easy - grooming tool most often used for horses but also used on dogs. I love them for my horses. A review on Amazon states: "I use this for my Labrador and it is seriously the only thing that works at removing the loose hair. Excellent product!"
They are cheap enough to give a try. Local farm/feed/equine store should have them. If not, easy enough to order online. [link]
posted by Sassyfras at 9:21 PM on June 14, 2015
They are cheap enough to give a try. Local farm/feed/equine store should have them. If not, easy enough to order online. [link]
posted by Sassyfras at 9:21 PM on June 14, 2015
I love this slicker brush that I ordered off of Amazon. We have a Great Pyrenees (lots of long, fluffy hair) so I can't personally vouch for how it would work on a shorter haired dog, but I searched the reviews and multiple people with labs gave it a positive review. We get a ton of a hair off of our dog every time we use it. The bristles are retractable, which makes it really easy to collect the hair from the brush. We've had it for about a year, and it's held up very well.
I also purchased this comb, which we sometimes use after we've used the slicker brush, but the slicker brush is really our primary tool for dealing with all that fur.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:52 PM on June 14, 2015
I also purchased this comb, which we sometimes use after we've used the slicker brush, but the slicker brush is really our primary tool for dealing with all that fur.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:52 PM on June 14, 2015
We used a U-shaped tool called a Shed-N-Blade on our labs. We lived in a hot climate and the shedding was really important to the guys' comfort year round.
The dogs seem to really like how it feels and, incredibly, they are willing to stand still to be combed with this device for ten minutes or more.
Here's a link which describes it as a horse grooming tool but this is exactly the same as the one we used on the dogs :). [link]
Woof,
Amy
posted by amy27 at 2:14 AM on June 15, 2015
The dogs seem to really like how it feels and, incredibly, they are willing to stand still to be combed with this device for ten minutes or more.
Here's a link which describes it as a horse grooming tool but this is exactly the same as the one we used on the dogs :). [link]
Woof,
Amy
posted by amy27 at 2:14 AM on June 15, 2015
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I've never worried about what kind of shampoo we use - it is usually some kind I bought and disliked on my own hair. But I do try to stay away from heavily fragranced, etc. for both our sakes.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 7:48 PM on June 14, 2015