Fellow dog owners I need your help. Midnight’s been shedding like crazy for the last month and there’s no sign of it stopping soon.
We’ve had her since November and she only shed twice prior to this, perhaps for a month at a time. The first two sheds were easier to deal with. Perhaps because she was smaller and maybe because it was puppy fur, but now she’s got her real fur and she’s really shedding heavily.
We have hardwood floors throughout the house and I sweep once a day. We have a vacuum (no closets so it’s in the basement) and I hate pulling it out because it’s big and clunky. Plus Midnight thinks it’s her special toy when I do bring it out.
I’ve been thinking of getting another vacuum – one that’s a little smaller, lighter and easier to handle. It’s got to be a good one though. I thought about getting one of those Sebo vacuums since they are good for people with allergies. Chris and I are both allergic to dust mites and uh … dogs. So it might be a good idea to get one.
I’ve been grooming Midnight every two days. I go over her coat with the ezgroom brush and then the furminator. The Furminator takes out hair from the undercoat and it’s supposed to really help with shedding. Then I go over her coat again with the ezgroom brush. It helps, but not enough. Maybe it’s just the heat causing her to shed continuously. At this rate she’ll be bald by August!
Anyone have any tips for me other than what I’m already doing? Sweeping and vacuuming the floors and then grooming the dog regularly. What else can I do?
I simply REFUSE to have one. Sorry. Being the smart ass that I am, I couldn’t resist.
to be frank, I can just say grin and bear it. hairy dogs are meant to shed fur. the other alternative is to ban them from human areas like within the house. we had to do that as our child is asthmatic
You learn to LOVE it! I have a Lab and yesterday I sat in the yard and brushed enough hair off him to make two more dogs…. and yet, tomorrow I’ll get as much off him again. Fortunately he only does this once or twice a year, it lasts for a month or so and then the hair is down to a minimum again. I wouldn’t trade him for anything, he’s a great pet and friend, but that said, my next dog will be a Labradoodle because they don’t shed!
I have 3 dogs and 3 cats, the only solution is to vacuum daily.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t, but I should. Thankfully no one in my home has allergies bad enough that I’m forced to.
Hope you find a solution.
We have five dogs who shed year round (or so it seems). You learn to live with it.
Our dogs range from black to light tan in color, and for obvious reasons, we don’t wear white pants.
We just sweep the kitchen frequently, and vacuum when we feel the need. As for grooming, only two of them enjoy it, with one actually begging to be vacuumed.
Now, in the winter, when they bring in the mud (ours is really wet sand), that’s when we have a mess… great, big muddy footprints over everything from the floor to the bedspreads to us.
Don’t get me wrong, they’re pretty well behaved… but somewhat excitable if there’s a treat involved, or if we’ve been gone and returned.
MommyKelly yeah I thought that too for a long time until we finally broke down and got our Lab in November. 🙂
BengBeng oh no we wouldn’t ban her to non-human areas even though we do have allergies (we both take allergy meds to cope). Labs are real people dogs, plus we have such a small yard (filled with roses!) there’s no room for her to stay outdoors anyway.
You’re right we’re just going to have to cope with it.
Angie is your lab light or dark colored? Ours is black and during our puppy and intermediate dog training classes lots of people said the light labs shed almost continuously. It seemed to be true from what we saw and heard. Luckily Midnight only seems to shed every few months, but this is the longest shed she’s gone through – probably because of the heat of summer (it’s her first summer).
We are learning to cope with the hair and in truth I don’t mind it that much unless I know we are having guests come by (and we get drop ins a lot!) … those hairballs don’t look so good to guests! LOL
What do you use to groom your lab? We use the rubber ezgroom brush and the Furminator. I love the Furminator it really takes out a lot of the undercoat.
Wow Nina you’ve got a houseful of furry pets! Yes vacuuming every day probably is the only solution for you … especially considering with just one shedding furry pet in this house I’ve got to do the floors at least every second day. Hmmm maybe if we had carpets it wouldn’t be so noticeable or at least it wouldn’t form clumps of fur balls on the floor! LOL
Wow Shari, like Nina you’ve got a houseful of pets too. Mud huh? Luckily we don’t have to deal with that too much, although our day at the beach last Sunday ended up bringing a heck of lot of fine sand into the house.
We have enclosed front and back porches so I think that helps keep some of the outdoor mess from getting inside the house – at least if we take a moment to brush off Midnight or ourselves. Snow has been our biggest problem so far other than the shedding.
Midnight is black so we are slowly starting to learn not to wear too much white. 😉 She also enjoys being vacuumed – had a session earlier today but she still needs to be brushed. At least it’s summer – we can groom her outside!
Thanks for your visit.
Now you’ve got me curious about the Furminator. I saw those in Petsmart the other day, and they have a similar gadget for cats. I wonder if that would help our cat’s fur issues. She’s not terrible, but any fur help is good.
Heh heh – suck it up girl! As a dog owner/lover, I’ve had to learn to go with the flow and accept dog hair in my life even though I thought it was impossible.
A small, lightweight vacuum sounds ideal. I hate dragging my monster out of the closet too, so I just bought a swiffer vacuum – which doesn’t have a great deal of suction but the cloth picks up what’s left – and it’s easy…
Tricia,
We have 2 dogs and 3 cats in our house. We used to have more problems with shedding before I changed all of their diets to a natural kibble. I am careful not to feed them anything (treats included) with chemicals or byproducts, and their coats have improved dramatically. The cats no longer have a hairball problem, and the shedding is much, much less. Omega 3 fish oils are also good for the skin and coat. Hope some of this helps.
Chris – Midnight was very sick when we got her. She looked fine when we picked her up from the breeder but we quickly discovered that she really wasn’t. She was full of round worms, pooping out the shredded pine bedding she was kept on – had a gastro infection and later ended up having both eye and ear infections. It took us about three months to get her in good health and she still gets loose stool almost daily. Sensitive stomach we presume as she is healthy now.
The breeder had been feeding her Purina puppy chow. When I saw how sick she was and read the label on the food (in pet store – – we had been supplied with some free food from the breeder) I chose not to continue her on that food because it was full of food dyes, and chemical additives.
I did a lot of research on dog foods and decided to try her on Blue Buffalo Chicken and Brown Rice for large breed puppies. As a back up (and good thing since both of these companies have had trouble with their ingredient supply lately) we also started her on Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and brown rice formula for large breed puppies.
Both dog foods are full of natural ingredients, whole chicken or lamb, chicken meal or lamb meal, don’t contain fillers like corn and don’t have added chemicals. Both foods also contain Omega 3 fish oils.
We are satisfied that the diet she’s on is a good one for her health and her coat. In fact a few weeks after we started her on these foods there was a dramatic improvement in her coat.
She’s a black lab and people are always commenting on how shiny and healthy her coat looks. Even people seeing photos of her comment on her beautiful coat.
This is only her third shed. She’s 10.5 months old and it’s her first full summer. I don’t think there’s anything unusual about her shed … we’re just having trouble coping with all the hair and extra cleaning involved. I sat outside with her yesterday grooming her and ended up with half a small wastebasket of fur! Hopefully she’s almost done her shed.
I have a straight coat jack russell and they are not a hairy dog and she sheds all over the house. Worst is to wear black as she has a white coat. Before her I had a rough coat jack russell and she also shed a lot. The bad news is dogs shed and it’s something you will have to live with. Just keep up the regular grooming and maybe increase it to daily as well as your sweeping. But just love your furry friend.
Hi Tricia,
We have five dogs in my home and they all shed; some more than others. I’ve found that regular use of a furminator and fish oil supplementation works well at keeping the shedding in the house under control. This assumes that you are already feeding your dog a high quality dog food. You can check out dogfoodadvisor for dog food reviews. I’m not affiliated with the site in any way, but I do think it is a good source of information. There are some other good ones out there too. A good diet can make a huge difference!
Hi Tricia,
I hope you and Midnight are getting along and her shedding is under control. As mentioned earlier her diet is important to maintaining healthy skin and hair. Typically, dogs should shed their fur more or less twice a year. Non-stop shedding could be an indicator of a diet lacking Omega 3 Fatty Acids, zinc and other vital nutrients that can be destroyed before packaging during the dog food cooking procedure. If Midnight has continued providing you a mountain of hair you might try changing dog food brands or ask your veterinarian for additional advice.
As an allergy sufferer (and dog lover) myself, I am afraid there is no way you will be able to toss the vacuum. I use a Dyson that does a great job and keeps those fine hairs contained in the vacuum. I also keep an air purifier going in my bedroom and do not let my dog in (very often.)
Hope this helps.