My dogs all turn their coats in the spring and the fall. Toni, Caterina, and Drift will also blow their coats to a lesser degree prior to going into season.

During the "Hair Ball Season" I tend to vacuum and comb out the dogs daily when they are shedding most heavily. They will all tolerate the vacuum (Thank God for Marker Training!!!). Toni lets me vacuum her, and takes a shot at the nozzle when I turn it off When they aren't actively shedding, they still get a quick comb out daily.

A good bath and fluff-n-dry would be helpful, but I just don't have the time to do that on a regular basis. They really only get baths when they find particularly stinky horse poop to roll in.

I've seen the supplemental feeding stuff that is supposed to decrease shedding, but if the dog is on a balanced diet, the supplemental stuff shouldn't be necessary. Dogs shed... I would rather put a little effort into brushing them out and keeping the coat under control than rely on some miracle food supplement to do it for me.

My dogs really enjoy the 1:1 time when I brush them out too. They all mob me as soon as they see me get the comb and rake out!!

By brushing the dog daily, you also will notice if there are any ticks or skin abnormalities before they become a problem.

Just my 2 cents...

--Kelly

My GSD is in "shed mode" now, as is my Saint. It's hard to keep up with vacuuming my floors (laminate and carpet) when one is shedding, let alone two. Even worse is that the local stores haven't had any filter refills for my swiffer vac in the lst two weeks, so I had to order more online-really irritated that I had to do that, but I've been using the same filter for the last two weeks! All this shedding business drives my allergies insane! And being preggo and having stuffiness because of that already, doesn't make for a good time, :P lol.

Our dogs got baths after our trip to the badlands, they were stinky and incredibly dirty. The next day I took the double rake (like this, but two sets of teeth: http://leerburg.com/811.htm#undercoat) and holy cow! was there a ton of hair coming off both the girls (GSD more so, of course the German Shedder, lol). Hate it when they both "molt" and it's twice a year for both, PITA, to keep up with, but I'd rather bathe and brush them myself, because I don't have $35/hr/dog min to take them to a groomer and then I'd be nuerotic and worry that the groomer would "scar" them and make them scared of the normal grooming things I do at home (nail clipping, ear cleaning, brushing, etc.) That's jsut me though, lol.

All three of my dogs are on raw meat and HK's Preference with added salmon oil and vit E, don't think it makes a difference if you up the salmon oil or not, just my observation (have tried it to no effect).

Edited by Keleah Stull (04/19/2010 04:29 PM)
Edit reason: added last bit :)

My shepador(lab shepmix) is supposed to swim at least 2x a week. I let him swim in the lake but he sheds like crazy. He's got that self cleaning coat, but right after he comes out and dries if you pet him you take a way a furry hand. I give fish oil and vaccum, he actuually likes getting vaccummed.