DeShedding Your Dog

There are a number of reasons why you will want to help your dog shed their undercoat of fur. First and foremost though is the health concern. All dogs shed and some dog breeds have double coats which produce much more shedded fur. Your dog needs to shed its unhealthy hairs as more healthy hair is produced. Your dog's shedded hair if not removed becomes tangled and knotted in their fur causing mats to form and those mats can tighten, pulling on the dog's skin and making them very uncomfortable. By regular grooming you can help your dog's fur from becoming matted, causing discomfort. It is also helpful for the production of the new hair growth of your dog's coat if the unhealthy hair is removed regularly. As well removing the old unhealthy hair from the fur of you dog's coat helps your dog's body expel unwanted body heat, making them cooler and more comfortable.

Another good reason to help your dog shed is to help limit the amount of fur tufts that collect on your furniture and in your carpeting or get scattered throughout your home. Regular brushing and helping your dog shed its inner coat tremendously aids in keeping your house free from all that unwanted fur flying around. Lastly, by regularly deshedding your dog you can inspect their entire body for any skin problems that might be developing. Any lumps or welts or scabs or hair loss patches can easily be spotted while grooming and such ailments are much easier to treat when discovered in the early stages of development.

There are numerous dog grooming tools available on the consumer market, but having the right tool for the job is always an advantage. Dog fur brushes are made in many different shapes and sizes and depending on the type of coat your dog has some styles work better than others. Some brushes have many soft nylon bristles which seem to work well on fur the does not shed too much because the bristles tend to get matted with the fine undercoat hairs after a few strokes. Once the brush becomes matted it needs to be cleaned otherwise it just rides on top of the coat and does no brushing at all. Then there are brushes that have only a few steel spikes and they seem to work well on thick coats, but because of the distance that the spikes are set apart these brushes do not remove the fine hairs from the shedding undercoat. The combination brush is quite popular containing both the nylon bristles on one side and the steel spikes on the other and these types of brushes are ideal for helping with the grooming of your dog's coat, but they are not very good for deShedding the fur.

Another type of grooming tool commonly used on dogs is the metal comb. The comb has one really good purpose and that is to remove mats or clumps or tangles from your dog's fur. The metal comb is rigid enough to allow for some sturdy pulling on the tangs or teeth to get through the tough tangles without bending or breaking the tool. The groomer must always exercise caution though to not pull with the comb on the tangles hard enough to hurt the dog. Just like combing the tangles out of human hair the groomer can often hold the dog's fur below the mat as they are combing, reducing the pulling sensation on the dog's skin.

As with the purpose of the brush and the comb the deshedding tool has a specific job of its own. You would not have too much success attempting to finely dress your dog's coat with a deshedding tool; its sole purpose is to remove the fine hairs shed from your dog's undercoat. Made much like the metal comb with a large durable handle the deshedding tool has only one row of very closely set short fine spikes for teeth. It is the design of this tool that allows it to penetrate deep into the dog's outer fur and with a raking action gather the loosened undercoat hairs.

Because the deshedding tool is comprised of a single row of short thin steel teeth it can be very uncomfortable to your dog if the groomer uses too much weight on the handle of the tool when the fur is raked. A certain amount of pressure is necessary, but excess pressure will only hurt your dog. When raking the fur with the deshedding tool it is always a good idea to lay your free hand on the dog's fur in the area where the raking will begin. A little pressure with your free hand helps to hold the dog's skin and coat in position as the raking action of the deshedding tool pulls away from the free hand. This technique will help to limit any discomfort that your dog might otherwise feel. With the deshedding tool you will want to always rake in the direction of the fur growth - never go against the grain of the hair follicles. Once the raking action begins the groomer will want to move around the dog raking all the areas of the body changing raking angles frequently as the direction of the fur growth changes.

By regularly deshedding your dog the advantages to you as a homeowner are that you will like have less fur tufts floating around you house and less fur accumulating on your furniture and getting woven into your carpeting as well. But the biggest advantage of deshedding is to your dog. Deshedding helps your dog stay much cooler by allowing them more easily to expel body heat when all that unnecessary hair is removed from their fur. Deshedding also helps your dog feel much more comfortable by removing all the mats and tangles that are likely causing the dog's skin to pull. Regular deshedding also allows the groomer to regularly inspect the dog's body for any problems that might be developing. Catching any skin ailments early usually makes them much easier to cure. The final advantages of deshedding your dog regularly is that your dog's coat will look great and your dog will love you for it and you as the dog's owner can feel very proud of that.

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