Furminator - Page 2

My favorite grooming tool is the Zoom Groom.  It's a rubber curry brush made by the people who make the Kong toys.

1. Place it firmly in your hand.
2. Raise your hand above your head and behind your kneck.
3. Now propell your arm in as fast a manner as you can in a forward direction letting go of the furminator as you reach optimum speed.

Definitely not to be used on a show coat. 

Otherwise as Rik says, useful for dogs blowing coat.  Like any tool, you can use it correctly or incorrectly - my pet dogs look great when I use it during their sheds, but I've seen other people use it and show me all kinds of nasty, broken coats.

And  yes, the cats love it and will come and line up when they see me pick it up.

As to what to use instead, I asked show people what they used and was shown a round bristle brush (you can buy in a people store), not too big around, and that's used against the grain to give that fuller coat look.  GSD are double-coated so I don't strip out the undercoat totally. A bristle brush or pin brush works ok for maintenace and health (I use a slicker for shedding unless it's way overdue and then the Furminator comes out), and the old trick of a few times a day rubbing your hands backwards in the coat helps to spread the coat oils, increase circulation, and over time helps keep a nice coat (James Moses told me that one).

If I was showing, I'd also keep in mind to never brush a dry coat - slightly mist with water first, or dampen dog and run your hands through.  Dry hair breaks easily.

my favorite tool for a blowing coat is an undercoat rake. also warm baths help to remove the dead coat and speed up the process.

on a healthy coat ready for show, I use a pin brush and a comb. As mentioned, also a good idea to lube the coat with mist or conditioner.

Never use a furminator on a gsd coat it cuts the coat, Zoomgroom and an german undercoat rake and a good grooming spray,  A good bath when blowing the coat. 25yrs as a groomer and would not use this tool on a clients dog let alone mine

I dont use for regular grooming, but a handy tool to have if theres a heavy shed to clear it up a bit i thought!

The Furminator removes insane amounts of hair from my cat, who I swear is part gremlin and seems to have little furball babies every day in the house. I have been using a slicker on the GSD.

I love them especially when dogs blowing coat but i use them all year with no problem, my dogs are all working dogs , shiny coats and look great but I will admitt they are not show coats what ever that is..

i use it on my retired dogs, it keeps the dust bunnies at bay.

Someone asked what a show coat is.  A show coat is a prime coat that we work hard to acheive before a show.Force dying, fluffing, adding sprays etc.  sadly this is also the coat our top show bitch manages to blow one week before the big show GRRRRRR  Nothing like taking a bald bitch in the ring.....