Curry Brush for Dogs Who Shed but Don't Brush Out

[JMFS]

I thought I'd pass this along. Gertie's coat is like that of a Labrador Retriever's top coat but she has no undercoat. Momo, on the other hand, has fifteen layers of undercoat and a shedding blade gets him done but does Nothing for Gerts. She's like a dry Christmas tree - if you bump against her she explodes into a shower of hair. When I brush her, though, nothing comes off. If that doesn't do it, let me paint this picture - our shower is off white. After removing four piles of Gertie hair from the drain and turning off the water, she shook. The shower floor was almost black after that and she Still had hair flying off when I dried her. I thought maybe she'd be more like a horse and a curry brush might do the trick. I had one and it worked fairly well - hair was raining down. I tried it on Mo and I had to clean it off three times before I decided to return to the shedding blade for him lest my arm fall off from all the brushing. Mo had zero complaints - he was quite enjoying the exercise.

 

This discovery kicked off an Amazon search (because I'm Totally Amazon addicted and I detest venturing out into public). I landed on the FuRminator brush after watching a few videos. Incidentally, if you attempt to Google "deshedding dogs without an undercoat," you're going to learn All about undercoats . . .. :rolleyes: So fast forward to today when the brush arrived and yep, it's quite awesome. It works about 30% better than the cheapy curry brush I had (to be fair, that one Was designed for bathing with water) and 30% to someone with an arthritic back is a 300% improvement. Gertie liked it better than the other one, too. There was a squirrel in the yard and she opted to lay down to be brushed instead. That's a huge nod.

 

Anyway, just in case others are scratching their heads as to how they sweep or vacuum up half a dog each day, but can't get any hair off their pup by brushing, give a curry brush a go. I tried slicker brushes, pin brushes, bristle brushes, and a knock-off of FuRminator's shedding tool. The curry style brush is the only thing that actually removes hair. I've been using the bathing one for three days and used the new one today and her coat is shinier and far less dense. Thought I'd give a go at helping folks with grooming questions since that doesn't really fall under the training umbrella. Monkey and Abbi even liked it. Okay, Monkey likes being touched with so much as a stick, but Abbi is picky and she was thoroughly enjoying the attention. I actually got more Dachshund hair to stick to it in 10 or so strokes than Gertie hair. All I know is that now instead of sweeping daily I'm brushing her. It's a one-off, except that expect my furniture will be less furry so I'll save time in vacuuming couches and cleaning the washing machine after washing the blankets we drape over furniture. Amazon and Chewy.com have numerous options, I just went for the FuRminator because it had several videos available to prove its worth.

[ManidaMorrell]

My Blue hates his shower and hates being brushed

[JMFS]

Aw, poor Blue. Gertie's not a fan of baths, but she jumped right on into the pool tonight, grrrr. I bathed her Just last night. At least she dries fast now after all that brushing. :D What type of coat does Blue have? If it's thick you might try a wide toothed comb intended for humans - it would get him used to the sensation and isn't likely to tug or pull. Momo tolerates baths but he rolls all over the grass after his bath. Abbi can't stand baths, but she's 9 pounds and doesn't have much choice in the matter. All three love being brushed, but to different degrees. I could brush Gertie bald and she'd ask for more. Abbi, too, but when I hit one of her arthritic spots she's quick to call it quits. Momo is too jazzed up 24-7 to stand still for it so it takes a loooong time to brush him. He has the thickest coat so we do it in stages.

[JMFS]

Here's how shiny she is now:

 

 

I used to sweep daily and get a good pile. I swept for the first time in over a week today and got a quarter of what I used to sweep up. She jumped into the pool the other day (she wasn't supposed to, but she didn't know that) and after I mumbled a few choice words to myself, I started to dry her off. She dries off far quicker now as well, so that's a bonus.