Posted on 02/02/2013 11:15:00 AM PST by heartwood
A Shepherd-Lab mix, she's blowing her undercoat. I brush her daily, vacuum and sweep daily, and she's confined to the family room and kitchen. But still the little hairs are floating everywhere. When I got the carving board out of the dishwasher and put it on the counter, there were hairs on it. Washed it and put the carrots on it - hairs. Wiped off the hairs, cut the carrots and put the celery on it - more hairs, and on, and on, and on...
The vacuum doesn't pick up most of the hairs - I am reduced to scraping the carpet with a shower squeegee - that works. An hour later it looks like I haven't vacuumed for a month.
Any suggestions as to dog brush, floor cleaning devices, what kind of furniture and flooring (for whatever distant future we make changes in) would be so much appreciated. We like having a dog - we will probably get a second at some point - twice the fun and twice the fur.
My boy has never been allowed in the kitchen.
Never allowed on furniture either.
He lays by the fire place in winter and by the cold air return in the hall in summer. (change the filters often)
Other then that, he is Outside.
Which is where he is now. Rolling around on his back LOL
Ball? Forget the ball! Try a laser pointer! My border collie/aussie mix is ADDICTED to “the dot.” She will go bonkers when it gets dark, because she knows it’s almost play time, and even when she can barely stand or breathe, she’ll look at you anytime you move your hand. It’s the best non-toy toy we have for her, esp. since we don’t have a yard.
Border collies are wildly intelligent.
A LOT of shedding can be mitigated by diet. I highly suggest “specialized” brands of kibble like Blue Buffalo. Our household has sworn by Blue Buffalo for almost 10 years. It turned my mother’s aging golden from a patchwork quilt of hotspots to a glorious, shiny full coat of golden goodness in less than a month after we switched him.
My wife’s aging dachshund had terribly dry and itchy skin. We switched her to Blue Buffalo senior for small breeds, and she had a fluffy, shiny red coat with not so much as a single itchy spot on her body.
My border collie/Aussie mix has been on Blue Buffalo since we got her home from the rescue. She was “fed” Science Diet, and it left her with a dull, constantly shedding coat. Six weeks on Blue Buffalo, and she had a soft, shiny coat.
Finally, both of our cats have been on Blue Buffalo since we brought them home from the rescue. When people meet them, the very first thing every last person has mentioned was how fluffy and shiny their coats are. They’re both completely black cats, and while we do get the occasional tumbleweeds when cleaning, they’re not much for shedding and hairballs are non-existent.
So I think it’s obvious we swear by Blue Buffalo. Your mileage may vary. I love their product. Very much worth the money. Also read the feeding instructions on your pet’s food. They may be overfed, and that can sometimes stress the body in such a way that shedding is more prolific.
Finally, and I can’t stress this enough, get rid of carpet. If you have a LOT of dogs (and/or cats), we highly recommend tile since it doesn’t scratch or wear as quickly as wood. Bare floors are much easier to clean, much easier to sanitize, and much easier to spot when you’ve got tumbleweeds or otherwise need to vacuum.
Good luck, and be patient. Remember if you do switch their kibble, gradually integrate the new kibble into the existing or you might cause digestive distress.
Oh God! Aussie Shepard’s are also working dogs, who like the border collie must be worked all the time lest they develop mental problems.
I got a Lab because I know I don’t have that kind of time to work with the dog.
Aussies and BC’s are good dogs and highly intelligent but they can not abide having nothing to do or not being the center of attention.
I have finally become the alpha over my Moms Aussie and he is a good boy, but they are a LOT of Work.
Labs are pretty smart and love to wok too, but they can kick back too.
Pook can say his prayers. I say say your prayers and he puts both front legs across my lap and bows his head.
I say “Amen” and he snaps his head up and gets a treat.
I feel bad that I don’t work him more often, He would be a great bird dog.
We have a GSD... so yeah.. there is hair. Hair here, hair there, hair everywhere. I joke and say that he only sheds once a year... but the duration is 365 days. I am saving up for a Dyson animal. Some friends of mine say it works great. I think some other vacuum makers have also come out with an “animal” type.
We have a horse brush. My FIL had it for years.. and believe it or not, it works better than any other type of brush I have found. For whatever reason, it seems to get to the undercoat as well. I’ve tried fur eliminator pills purchased online.. save your money. They don’t work. Hope this helps and remember.. having a big dog may come in very handy. Our Musket scared away some teens from the carport (in the middle of the night) a few months ago. I think the were going to try to break into a shed/or one of the cars. A 100 pound GSD can make quite an impression. Hugs, Mom
Oops... I was also going to add: change your filters often. A shedding dog can clog/block/build up on the filters. A clean filter does improve the hair in the air.
I just add tuna fish and sometimes a fried egg to the kibble.
I’ve heard the opposite advice from both groomers and vets about bathing your dog.
Unless your dog is an outside pet or is regularly filthy from rolling around/playing in mud or dirt, over-bathing can dry out the pup’s skin and cause overproduction of natural oils, which can lead to itching much the same as dry skin can.
If you do wash your pup regularly, use a dog-specific shampoo(usually from the vet) and lukewarm water.
Thats what I was wondering. My neighbor has two BIG golden labs that love to hang on my porch because I spoil the crap out of them.
Last July I must have had literally two bushels full of winter fur I had brushed off em. And they are both your basic short-haired lab, nothing like a border collie or other hairy beast!
I highly recommend a Dyson vacuum cleaner. We have dogs, but they are dobermans and not as much trouble in the shedding dept.
My Dyson is one of the best things I’ve ever bought. If you have Bed, Bath and Beyond stores by you, get one of their 20 percent off coupons and use it to save on a Dyson.
My Dyson is about 10 years old and going strong. I’ve saved a ton of money not needing vacuum bags.
Best of luck to you!
She’s a bundle of fun, that’s for sure. We had her in obedience class, and she excelled above every other dog in the class. She’s very smart, and we mentally train her all the time. That’s never enough, of course, but it’s a good start.
We take her out daily to run around. She either gets to run with me on the bike, usually for 5-10 miles; or she goes to my mother’s house to play with her catahoula leopard hound, who works her pretty well; or we take her out for 30-45 minutes to “dot” with the laser pointer. On the weekends, we often have to do at least 2/3 of those tasks daily.
She’s calmed down quite a bit now that she’s out of her puppy years, but she’s still very amped up. We feel bad we didn’t research the breed before getting her (she was an outside-the-pet-store purchase), but we’d never trade her for anything. She’s a fiercely loyal, intelligent dog.
I know what you mean. I thought people that were raving about it were lying or brain damaged. I de-thatch a golden retriever with it and every year could probably spin enough hair into yarn to knit a sweater. Unfortunately, I am told that dog hair is too smooth to link into strands so it make poor yarn. Oh well, the several grocery bags of hair provide a lot of nitrogen for the compost pile.
I used to do whole, raw eggs for our old mastiff, but that got expensive. We often give our pooches fish, and they seem to love it. I catch my own fish, usually a few pounds a month, so that’s easier to sustain than buying extra eggs every week.
My Dad had a neat trick he would do with his BC
He would point a finger gun at the dog and say POW!
That dog would drop like a rock even if it was in full stride LOL
Good dogs.
They also love agility trials
That is what we worked him at and what Mom currently does with the Aussie.
Eggs are cheap and so is tuna fish, but when you get to mastiff levels of consumption it could get pricey LOL
My mutty weighs in at 92 lb.
Our dog is little, considering her likely parentage, Shepherd and Lab and lots of people say it looks like there’s Rottie in her too - but she’s only 50 lbs. Barks big, though.
Anyway, I’m glad we started with a smaller dog, because I had to learn how to be Boss Mama Alpha Queen, but the next dog - oh I love Shepherds, the best dogs I’ve known. Saw the most beautiful well-trained blond Shepherd off-leash in the park, big, big dog - first time our dog ever realized she was not the biggest dog around - and a lovely black scary-looking one named Demon escorted me around a local nursery for five minutes before the owner came out.
A hundred pounds of auxiliary muscle and teeth at my side and in my home, at my service? Oh, yeah.
Aussies are a lot less edgy than BC’s but they both have the same demeanor.
They MUST BE WORKED.
A friend of ours actually found a dog wool knitter on line - sent her his Samoyed’s fur and had a sweater made.
Someone told me that a raw meat diet helps. I don’t know about that but that’s what I was told.
As I'm sure other posters have mentioned.....get a brush. Brush said dog and then vacuum.
Even with that, you will always have dog hairs around. The disposable garment rollers (masking tape wrapped around a roller) can be had for about 2 bucks or less. Have it handy for when you are getting dressed to go to work/out in public. Roll yourself just prior to leaving the house and have another in the car for when you arrive at destination.
That said, the "hassle" and work is well worth the companionship of a dog.
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