ADVICE ON COAT SHEDDING NEEDED - Page 1

Hi all,
My fifteen month old dog has started to shed his coat just one month before the seiger show im really worried because he has a magnificent full coat.
is there any way to slow this process down or can we increase it so that he can be in presentable condition by the show.
one suggestion ive received here is that i should sprinkle water on him in the morning and evening this will slow the process.
Pl. share your views.

Hachiko, This question on 'shedding' is very complex and being caursed by a number of factors, which includes weather, temperature, food and other innate factors like 'heat cycle', homonal changes or inbalance, skin infections etc. Now, at 15 months, your dog, if a bitch, is supposed to have just been out of her second heat in the last 2 months(that's if her first heat came at 9 months old).was she on heat in june/july of 2010 ? Was she also on heat by novembe/december 2010 ? If 'yes', then it's natural that she'll be shedding at this time. However, i saw a 1995 picture of "ulk vom arllet" in what i'll describe as "in a shedding condition", for tail was not full as it's supposed, yet he won the sieger show of that year(ref. Ultimate german shepherd) . "Go bring the awards" . Goodluck. NigerDeltaMann.

Hachiko

Since you said your dog was a "he" that would rule out the female coming in season thing. I was thinking the same thing at first. Maybe your dog is just shedding because of the weather change? Where do you live?

I would just brush the dog every day or every other day lightly. This will do a couple things... it will take off the dead hair and also will stimulate the skin. That way the new hair may grow back faster. You can also add salmon oil to your dogs food every day. If you do make sure it is wild caught salmon oil and not farm raised. If you do add salmon oil you will need to also add Vitamin E.

What food are you feeding you dog? Kibble (if so what brand)? Are you feeding a raw diet?

thank u niger and jyl,
as jyl mentioned my dog is a he,, and it is probably because of the weather change.
im in Pakistan and the winters r almost over and we r moving towards spring.
im blessed in a sense as what ever i feed him he seems to do well.
these days im giving him dog food which is high protein, in summers ill move him to rice yogurt, boiled meat, and vegetables.
do u think by brushing him everyday the new coat will come in a month.
and also i was told that brushing speeds up the shedding process.

Hachiko, If it's a male then i think it's naural. @ 15 months your dog will shed, from 18 months hell start wearing a new look. But expect further shedding before 24 months old. Even puppies are not ruled out. I had an expirience in which all the pups i'd ever imported had this "shedding" within the first 1-2 months of arrival. I did all i could, but couldn't save the situation until nature ran it's course.

Hachiko, If it's a male then i think it's naural. @ 15 months your dog will shed, from 18 months hell start wearing a new look. But expect further shedding before 24 months old. Even puppies are not ruled out. Brushing'll definately help but expect complete recovery in about 2 months plus. I had an expirience in which all the pups i'd ever imported had this "shedding" within the first 1-2 months of arrival. I did all i could, but couldn't save the situation until nature ran it's course.

 We deal with shedding by using a Furminator and this will help to get the old coat out quickly. We also use these supplements; Hokamix, Vertex and Vectomega and we feed an all natural dog food. We have been doing this for 13 years now and our males coats are beautiful. At the age of 15-18 months it is normal for them to shed and the coat usually will come in nicely. Hope this helps.

If you have a show in a month I would give him a warm sudsy bath now, brush out daily and hope he has enough coat for the show.  If not, keep brushing and he will still have a nice coat just less of it.  Best of luck;  I would not use the furminator on a show coat.  It actually breaks off or strips the coat.  Nan

 

If you use the Furminator or any off the knock offs be VERY careful because you can really butcher the dog's coat- I have seen some really awful results in the hands of a novice. Personally, I wouldn't dare use it on my dog if I was going to show him soon. I've used a shedding blade and it does a good job of  accelerating the shedding process, but  if overused I imagine it can probably cause problems too, so be careful. As others mentioned, just brush him everyday and add some Alaskan salmon oil to his diet if available.

To remove old coat:
Not sure if this would work for show dogs but, for our show horses we keep them under lights, never use a metal curry brush (breaks the hair and can make skin tender), always use a good rubber mitt and groom every day. This also helps increase the natural oils in the coat.