First Coat Blowing!! yay

haalumnihaalumni
edited December 2015 in Shikoku Ken (四国犬)
Hi Guys and Gals,
So Miya started blowing her first coat last week and daily brushings have begun. Of coarse before taxing the long road trip from Dallas to tampa for christmas!

Any advice from you pro's on surviving fur-mageddon? Anything I can do to help the process? How long did your pup blow their first coat? What has been your experiences?

Comments

  • WrylyBrindleWrylyBrindle
    Alternatively, it's "Arma-sheddon" ;)

    3 of mine have seasonal sheds, the 4th doesn't have a double coat so I can just greyhound-comb her. One prefers me to fluff him out by hand and scritch out the excess fluff when it feels good to him to get that off. My girl enjoys brushing (but not the TAIL, please!) and the last- who is much bigger than the full Kais- gets gently brushed with a undercoat rake against the grain, then the nice brush with the grain. We work on it little by little and over a few weeks. Someone who is a real groomer or has show dogs will come along and tell you the right way to do this. :)

    The puppy coat is nothing compared to adult sheds, so wait till next year!
  • emi802emi802
    My boy loves being scratched or pet when he's shedding but as expected, the fur is EVERYWHERE afterwards. We vacuum more often when he's blowing coat and leave lint rollers at the door/in the car. I gave up on cleaning the fur out of my car until he was done.... ._. it was pretty gross in the back seat for a while. I think we took him to a groomer near the end of his puppy coat blow and they washed or brushed out a lot of the remainder?
  • PoetikDragonPoetikDragon
    Personally, I find it more satisfying to get it all out in one or two sittings than a little at a time. So I will usually put it off a little while so that more hair is ready to come out and I can get 70%+ at once. Then I just do a little light brushing to get whatever remains over the next few days.

    I made a time lapse video of combing out Bijo. This was after I'd already combed out about 25% before deciding to make a video... and then I waited another full week so it would be *really* ready to go so it would make a better video. This is 30 minutes or so real time. I just use a regular comb, I don't like furminators because they cut the hairs that aren't ready to come out yet, damaging the coat and possibly making them shed more frequently.

    https://www.facebook.com/KaijuKennels/videos/997048513640676/
  • PoetikDragonPoetikDragon
    edited December 2015
    Oh - if you have hardwood floors like we do - we have a stationary vacuum like the ones used in barber shops and salons and we love it. Just sweep the hair right up into it.

    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011G20QY
  • emi802emi802
    @PoetikDragon
    Just curious. How long did that take you? I tried it to get as much out as I the first time, but maybe I just wasn't thorough enough. Regardless of how much I brushed him, it just kept going!! It didn't seem lighter the following days. Either that, or maybe I didn't wait long enough, so his fur wasn't all ready to come out yet. Do you have any tips on telling that?

    It could also just be different for shikoku since their blow coats in a weird way... They get that crazy molt. Not sure if JA do too? It's like different patches for him come out. Starts with the back legs, then the front area and slowly works his way up to his back. When just the strip of back is left, the strip thins and then kind of sheds from the rump to the head. I've seen photos of shikoku completely brushed out too though, so I'm guessing it's not actually a problem.
  • PoetikDragonPoetikDragon
    edited December 2015
    @emi802 The original clip was something like 36 minutes long before I sped it up. Not all of it was spent combing.

    If you notice at the beginning you can see a very clear line on Bijo's side. I'd already combed out her belly the week before. I work at the line that separates bare guard coat from the plush undercoat that is coming out. Just keep working the line back until it is even all the way around. Usually it starts on the hips of my dogs, and I work it up towards the spine and forward towards the shoulders.

    Bijo blows coat more completely than my other dogs - I can work the line all the way to her chest, neck, and cheeks. The others often only have that clear delineation on their rear and may not lose any undercoat on the front at all. Sometimes they blow coat in the front, but as you said, more of it keeps coming out - it doesn't just all come out at once like it does for Bijo.

    ETA: The line I am talking about -
    image

    Working at the line moving towards her spine -
    image
  • haalumnihaalumni
    Thanks guys! Miya has only had some small patches like that on her hind legs. Most she gets these light colored tufts of fur that stick out here and there and are obvious b/c of her darker coat. She funny though about brushing. she really likes it for about 2 minutes and then gets tired of it and then tries to bolt. Silly Pup!
  • WrylyBrindleWrylyBrindle
    Bijo is almost like a sheep! :)
  • emi802emi802
    @PoetikDragon Awesome! :) Thanks for the examples. I'll see if I can see a line like that with Katsu too next time. Also, Bijo is super fluffy looking <3
  • haalumnihaalumni
    So, I think Miya's coat is starting to calm down a bit. no more giant chunks of fur. but still lots of light hairs finding my floors. :-) Ironically, her head feels fluffier than before! I tried the furminator on her but I agree with poetic, It seemed to really cut her coat. I'm going to try to use a good comb with her next bath.
  • AtlasUnderfootAtlasUnderfoot
    @PoetikDragon, thank's for sharing the video! It was so satisfying watching the hair fur line get higher and higher. And Bijo looks like such a good girl just waiting patiently!
  • TheYetiTheYeti
    It has begun...

    photo 07FD3271-719A-4678-80AF-9FE0ED525697_zpsxnm3ev4d.jpg
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