Shed blade

edited April 2012 in Akita (秋田犬)

What are the signs that someone used a shed blade or furminator on my pup? (i asked her not to cause they can be damaging)

At the pressures of my boyfriend, I have decided to take Toki (JA, brindle) to get professionally groomed cause massive amounts of fur is flying off him. I am waiting to pick him up in an hour or two.


But I have this feeling in the back of my head that she is going to do what she wants regardless of my wishes.

And I get this is sort of an odd question, so, sorry in advanced, ha.
«1

Comments

  • aykayk
    edited April 2012
    Never did the shed blade, but with the furminator, the guard hairs are cut if the furminator is overused.

    With a regular brush/comb, the loose undercoat and loose guardhairs would just come out completely. So you'll see sparseness but not damaged guard hairs.
  • What kind of brush/comb/grooming device is best?
  • aykayk
    edited April 2012
    According to my show friend, a bath followed by a complete blow dry in the opposite direction of the hair is the best way to get out all the loose hairs.

    It depends on the coat on what brush/comb you'll want to use. During the massive shed, I can use a rake on most of my dogs to get out the undercoat, but on one dog with not-as-dense undercoat, it wasn't very effective.

    An example of a generic rake:
    image

    For that dog, I skipped the rake and just use a slicker brush to get out the undercoat. A slicker brush is also good for getting out loose guard hairs.

    An example of a generic slicker brush:
    image


    When dogs are not shedding so massively, I put down the rake comb and use a brand name pin brush by Chris Christensen. All the dogs love this brush and it does a decent job with undercoat. However, I like it primarily as a skin massaser. You can't brush too hard with this brush:

    image

    Two other equipment that my show friend uses but I don't are a Buttercomb (to help lift up hairs) and a Mason Pearson boars-hair brush (to distribute oils). The Mason Pearson brush is very expensive.


  • edited April 2012
    @jellyfart they typically charge more (at least here) to do furminator on the dog instead of just a basic brushing - about $50 extra. As @ayk said, look for short hairs. His fur should be just as long as it was before, but a little flatter because the excess undercoat is no longer making him so fluffy. If he looks especially "neat" (eg. all the hair is the same length, like a long velvet pile) it might have been cut/furminated. Its much like having a fresh haircut, and all the ends are squared off instead of tapered.

    When my dogs blow their coats, fur will fall out when you pet them, but they don't chew/groom it out themselves. Mostly the loose undercoat stays on them. So I wait until almost the entire coat is looking patchy and loose and then get it all out in a single combing session (it takes 2-3 hours, starting at one spot on the rump and going over every centimeter of the dog until its all done). Doing it this way, I don't have to go over it again until the next time the dog drops its coat. I find that groomers don't do a thorough enough job and the dog will still have to be brushed out again two or three more times, so I stopped paying them to deal with it. Easier to wait until its all ready to go and just do it once.

    @sachismom When cleaning the dogs, I use a zoom groom while the dog is dry and then a slicker brush when the dog is wet. For pulling out a coat that is ready to be shed I use a metal comb.

    Zoom Groom
    image

    Slicker Brush
    image

    Stainless Steel Comb
    image

  • also powerful hair dryer works well too. http://www.amazon.com/B-Air-Bear-Power-Dryer-BPD-1/dp/B002NXM4X8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333407109&sr=8-1
    i use bear dryer and it works good when they are shedding. but beaware!!! you will make mess on your back yard! but I rather clean my back yard instead of brush my poor dogs for hours.
    And i use this dryer regularly to keep my dog clean and blow all the dirts.
  • edited April 2012
    Since others have already answered your furminator questions--I have some suggestions! :B


    I always use an undercoat rake (similar to the generic rake, but the brush/metal part has a hook to it) at work when I'm grooming double-coated dogs. I find it's more effective than any other tool, especially when shedding, and it leaves the guard hair completely intact.

    This is the tool my groomer uses on my Malamute, and I've never actually seen a furminator even IN his shop. He's a small, local business. I didn't have a good experience at a Petsmart groomer - London came home nervous (which could have just been from being away from me, admittedly) and he ended up developing hot spots that encompassed his whole neck. I feel completely comfortable with this new groomer (even if it costs $100 just for me to get him a BATH - no "details" like nails and ears). It's all about finding a groomer you're comfortable with! If you're leery of this one, shop around if you can!


    The under-coat rake


    Other than the under-coat rake, I use a generic rake and a slicker brush. Typically, no matter the dog, I'll start with a slicker and then move on to more "specialized" brushes. We also have a pressure dryer at work so if I need a little help loosening up a dog's coat, I'll use that, too (I use this method most often on GSD & Huskies that come in - but we have an Akita and a Kuvasz I've used this method on).

    Hope that helps! o/ Good luck with your groomer and with Toki! I hope he looks fabulous after his grooming. London always looks amazing for -days- afterwards (his guard hair is always super-fab and flows with every little breeze, it's pretty funny).
  • picked up Toki and i'm pretty positive they cut into the quick of his nail because there is a red dot at the end of one of his claws and he keeps messing with it :/

    Other than that, it doesn't seem like there is any damage because his coat looks the same, except maybe a little less guard hairs, but the fur doesn't seem flatter and does seem tapered off, not cut off, so maybe she didn't use the furminator/shed blade. I mean, I didn't expect to see a huge change because I don't think he is blowing his coat, per say, but shedding his puppy fur/summer season, though it was coming off in small clumps.

    I think I am going to absorb all of this info and either find another groomer or do it myself next time, or at least go to one of those groomers where they provide the equipment and you do it yourself. I would love to get my hands on one of those badass blow dyers.
    At least Toki smells good now. He was so excited to see me he accidentally shoved his big clumsy head in my face and busted my lip a little bit. Silly puppy :P
  • edited April 2012
    @Crispy The last time I took my dog to Petsmart to be groomed (before the AKIHO show in 2011) she came back with a nickle-sized circle of fur and skin missing from her hip by the base of her tail. I don't know if they caused it (I suspect so), but even if they didn't, they sure as hell should have notified me of it when they found it. I was livid; I haven't been back. We dressed the wound for a few weeks and eventually it scabbed over and healed. It took two full changes of coat to grow back properly though.
  • I use a Mason Pearson, a grey hound comb, pin brush and slicker. On some dogs I brush each daily against the grain with the Mason Pearson and a quick water spritz. As Ayk mentioned, the best grooming is a warm good bath and blow dry against the coat to help get the dead coat out.

    I have used a shedding blade and stripping knife to help shape a dog with a very thick coat prior to showing, but it takes a great deal of skill not to cause naked patches.
  • edited April 2012
    Good info. here and thanks for the pics of the different kind of tools, because I have no idea what they are for the most part. We use a rake, and I sometimes use the furminator too, but only during coat blow and I don't use it too much. I'm pretty lackadaisical on the whole grooming thing, so we only brush to get the undercoat out, and then occasional spray baths with a quick brushing. Oskar needs a bit more work than the Shibas because his elbows get matted, so he gets sprayed with show sheen and brushed a bit.

    I know I asked this before but have already forgotten the answer--for getting out mats, should I use a slicker brush? or a comb? I have something vaguely like a slicker brush--it's a one of those two sided brushes with regular bristles on one side (which is pretty much useless) and metal pin type brush on the other. Thats what I use.

    I don't really get what the zoom groom does? Just a basic brushing?

    There will be a bath in Toby's immediate future. He doesn't know yet. It is his bi-annual bath.
  • Try a greyhound comb to pick out the pieces of the mat bit by bit. There is also a really wicked looking dematting tool called a mat breaker. They work well too.

    http://www.amazon.com/ORRCO-INC-Matbreaker-Dematting-Tool/dp/B000FGAAEU

    Grym broke my cheapy two sided brush with his long coat, so I bought a All Systems Pin Brush to replace it, and undercoat rake

    http://www.showdogstore.com/1-all-systems-dog-brushes.aspx?gclid=CPaEna-ioq8CFcyP7QodfndDaA


  • You can use the Zoom Groom during baths to sud up the dog all the way down to the skin.

    You can also use the Zoom Groom when the dog is dry. It does a great job at pulling out the shorter hairs on the head and legs. Works very well for short-haired breeds like labradors and dalmations.
  • Thanks! Too bad I didn't have a zoom groom today for Toby's bath!
  • Zoom groom works nicely on longer haired dogs (normal coat akitas) as well. I get these beautiful little flat mats of fur just comes off nicely.
  • edited April 2012
    I bought the zoom groom a couple months ago, and my bed is now min pin hair free :) I love that thing. And you should see Sevuk's face when I brush him with it, looks like he's in heaven.
  • Oh, the Zoom Groom is great. I finally got one a month r so ago. I've been using a regular horse curry comb and while it works, the ZG is a lot more effective on dog hair. It's amazing for my mutts, who have something like a short, yet thick, Border Collie's coat, and can get both the over and undercoat hairs.
    It's good for everyday brushing, for shedding season, and for getting dried-on dirt out of a coat,a nd can be used on any part of the dog. I sometimes even use it as a toy since it bounces all funny-like.
    I like how it's effective when a dog is wet too. Instead of using my fingers I now use the ZG to work water and soap into the dog's coats when I wash them. And with Conker, that can be hard, since right now his coat is very thick. You can douse him with a bucket full of water and it'll just slide off his back like a duck.
    The best part though, like Araks said, is using it to get dog hair off the furniture. Can't event ell there's a dog in the house after "brushing" the bed with it!
  • Wow, really great info. I will be back to refer to this page. I love how helpful everyone is.
  • agree! everyone is super helpful!!! :)))
  • I just got my new Zoom groom in the mail from Amazon and tried it out on the dogs (Oskar the AA seems to be doing his first real coat blowing. Woohoo!) Anyway, I was surprised how much it pulled out given that it is not an undercoat rake. I like it! Thanks for the tip!
  • gotta buy zooom groooom!!!
  • oh wow i need to buy the zoom groom now! after having a chow around, that stuff is EVERYWHERE. Bongo just has tufts blowing in the wind, just from walking around, no matter how much i've brushed him. So beautiful, but the hair has seemed impossible to get off of nondog items!
  • OoooKay... so now I've gotta go look up the zoom groom too... I'm always searching for ways to reduce dog hair in the house... a futile effort I know...lol
  • If you live in a house and not an appartment all you need to get rid of the hair when the dog is shedding is a powerful professional blow dryer and a slicker brush. You can do it yourself and not go to a professional groomer. I have a K-9 and it works wonders.
  • .... I see in my future many training sessions with a hair dryer....lolol
  • Was thinking of this thread since Oskar is in full coat blow. Yesterday, I decided to do a test: which gets out the undercoat better, the undercoat rake or the furminator? Tried them both, and at least on my wooly boy, no difference. The undercoat rake may tug more--it has deeper tines so it can get in there and really pull out the undercoat, and I do think it's a bit irritating to him the way it pulls. The furminator gets it out more smoothly but perhaps not as deeply.

    The furminator may be less irritating to him in certain areas.

    But now that I've tried both, I guess I don't feel I had to have the furminator. Luckily it was super cheap on amazon when I bought it.
  • Sweet! I have an undercoat rake, so I'll keep that one around. I really neeeed to get a zoom groom..... I think I will ask that of my guests at my house warming party since I will be moving next week. baha!!! That and toys for Toki and explicit amounts of syrupy stout beer ;)
  • Mirra actually squeaks with the rake no matter how gentle I try to be with it, I tried using it again this season after not using it for a few years.... went right back to the furminator and she relaxed and let me get a butt load of fur out... I think we have enough fur out now that we can bathe without clogging the drains...lol
  • @Caraboo...yeah, I could see how some dogs wouldn't like it, because the tines are pretty deep. I mostly use it where the hair is thickest.

    I think Oskar likes it best because he seems a bit itchy under all that shedding, so it probably feels good to him, or at least I think it does, since he seems to move around so I can get new areas when I'm raking out his undercoat.
  • Totally off topic, but...

    @jellyfart - If they sell it in your area (for some reason, I am thinking you are West Coast), you should pick up some Brooklyn Brewing Co.'s Mary's Maple Porter. It is ridiculously delicious. And the mix of maple syrup and alcohol is VERY fun.

  • She is in Texas.
Sign In or Register to comment.