Well, folks, I've had my furminator knock-off for about a week and I'm very happy with it! I have tried the furminator at the petstore and based on the fact that they look exactly the same and, as far as I can tell, work just as well, I think this knock-off is just as good. After using this, the slicker brush is just a joke! I also bought a $3 undercoat rake which works almost as well. I would say the undercoat rake is easier to use on the long hairs and the deshedding blade is easier on the shorter hairs.
Also, sucks to slicker brushes. Why is it that everywhere I ever read said that slicker brushes were good for removing undercoat? I don't think I'll ever use mine again.
After all the rave reviews, I think I'll get a furminator too. But here's a question...Mika blew her coat in November, while Keigo is in the middle of his heavy shedding. Why did Mika blow her coat so early? Like most Akita's, both dogs only shed twice a year, but Mika is always much earlier than Keigo.
My luck, of course. It means the house is a complete mess 4xs instead of just 2.
grandemu - Kuma is shedding now too, so I guess that Sora and he are on the same schedule. I don't have a furminator but I do have a shedding rake that works quite well.
I was thinking it may be a heat cycle thing too, but like sujewel, most of our females are fixed (Loa is the only one that is not fixed). So I dunno that it is related to heat cycles... maybe it is related to some sort of mothering quality - like they have to have a more stable body temperature to properly carry and nurse young. (???) So that makes their bodies more proactive while the boys are more reactive (to the environment).
When your dogs got fixed, did both ovaries and uterus got removed, or just the uterus? Because, even without the uterus, the ovaries still produce hormones that regulate a few things.
I have no clue how the vets fixed our pets, but Brad made me think about something when he said 'stable body temperature'. Women have a thicker layer of fat (or so I'm told) around their bellies to help protect or keep the baby warm. Perhaps female dogs have the same layer of fat, making bitches more sensitive to temperature changes? Any doctor's, nurse' vet's, etc out there? I'm an Engineer. I don't know if this makes biological sense.
oh man...kiba is shedding like crazy...we have to furminate him everyday. his fur is so fine it floats around all over the place! i guess this is what "blowing the coat" means. I've never experienced this before...with all of the fur that has fallen off, we could have made an another Kiba!
do you know how long this lasts? everything we own that was once black is now speckled with white!
I feel like Ryu has been shedding ever since we got him! They are really fine wavy hairs that literally fly off him when he shakes. We also used a slicker brush but I feel like it's a bit too rough for his 5 month old body? Maybe I'm being too paranoid; should I brush him with it every day? I just wonder if this is him blowing his puppy coat like Brad said or do they shed like this all the time on a normal basis?
Our shed all the time, but when they blow their coat is is super hectic - i mean it is really a lot of hair... so I think what you are describing is just a normal shedding... plus you are in a hotter climate, so Ryu will probably shed more often.
What do you feed Ryu? Food can have a big impact how much a dog sheds. We add "Seameal" by "Solid Gold" and Fish Oil to our dogs food - it seems to really help them not shed as much.
phew....puppy coat blowing is worse than the seasonal kind....i'm gonna have to tell drew since his allergies have been driving him nuts. Thanks for the info Brad!!
oh and Ryu - Kiba is 5 months old too...and the furminator also seems a bit rough, but we've been brushing kiba everyday...and he is ok. As long as you don't use as much pressure, i'm sure it is fine. I could be wrong but it sounds like Ryu is shedding his puppy coat. I have a book about Shiba Inus that says they shed this at around 4 months. (wish they had books on Shikokus...but with this forum...i don't think i need it!)
Brad: We used to feed Ryu Science Diet but we recently just switched to Nutro (I don't know if they sell it on the mainland? Dog food variety is pretty scarce here ) which is a holistic brand that contains no ground corn. Its the only brand I could find that didn't have corn. I looked up Orijen but in order to ship it to Hawaii, it would be $90 per 15 lb bag... I'll definitely have to look into the Seameal and fish oil though! How much of each do you give them?
Shan: I think we are either developing allergies or just now noticing them! It isn't too bad unless Ryu is doing the Shiba 500 and his hair flies all over the house I'll have to start brushing him more frequently and maybe that will help with the shedding....
Sounds like some of your are new to double coated breeds - it is always an experience the first time they blow their coat, that is for sure! Brushing and bathing (or just rising with water) will help it blow faster. When I had 3 Siberians at one time they all seemed to blow their coats in a different month and then there was hair around the house for 3 straight months. Some dogs seem to blow a bit faster than others.
It is always amazed me how much fur you can pile up from one good brushing session (basically a whole 'nother dog). Brad, I am sure you go thru this with 6 dogs! I thought 3 blowing at the same time was bad enough!
Kuma just went to the dog groomer today. I figure that she could get out the major chuncks of hair with the bath and her blow dryer will get out a lot more too than just brushing alone. Right now it looks like she got most of the blown coat (for now!).
We have found that 6 dogs means that basicly, with the exception of maybe two months out of the year, one of our dogs is always blowing. It blows (pun)!
Comments
The zoom groom is also a nice brush to use in between furminating sessions, since you shouldn't furminate everyday, even during heavy shedding.
Well, folks, I've had my furminator knock-off for about a week and I'm very happy with it! I have tried the furminator at the petstore and based on the fact that they look exactly the same and, as far as I can tell, work just as well, I think this knock-off is just as good. After using this, the slicker brush is just a joke! I also bought a $3 undercoat rake which works almost as well. I would say the undercoat rake is easier to use on the long hairs and the deshedding blade is easier on the shorter hairs.
Also, sucks to slicker brushes. Why is it that everywhere I ever read said that slicker brushes were good for removing undercoat? I don't think I'll ever use mine again.
After all the rave reviews, I think I'll get a furminator too. But here's a question...Mika blew her coat in November, while Keigo is in the middle of his heavy shedding. Why did Mika blow her coat so early? Like most Akita's, both dogs only shed twice a year, but Mika is always much earlier than Keigo.
My luck, of course. It means the house is a complete mess 4xs instead of just 2.
I was thinking it may be a heat cycle thing too, but like sujewel, most of our females are fixed (Loa is the only one that is not fixed). So I dunno that it is related to heat cycles... maybe it is related to some sort of mothering quality - like they have to have a more stable body temperature to properly carry and nurse young. (???) So that makes their bodies more proactive while the boys are more reactive (to the environment).
Or maybe it is a coincidence.
I was under the impression that just the ovaries were removed and not the uterus...
Anyway, I think females mature a little quicker than males (as seems to be the case with a lot of mammals).
I was under the impression that they removed both the uterus and ovaries on all spays. And I checked here and it says the same:
http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/dogdiseasess/a/spaying.htm
oh man...kiba is shedding like crazy...we have to furminate him everyday. his fur is so fine it floats around all over the place! i guess this is what "blowing the coat" means. I've never experienced this before...with all of the fur that has fallen off, we could have made an another Kiba!
do you know how long this lasts? everything we own that was once black is now speckled with white!
Our shed all the time, but when they blow their coat is is super hectic - i mean it is really a lot of hair... so I think what you are describing is just a normal shedding... plus you are in a hotter climate, so Ryu will probably shed more often.
What do you feed Ryu? Food can have a big impact how much a dog sheds. We add "Seameal" by "Solid Gold" and Fish Oil to our dogs food - it seems to really help them not shed as much.
phew....puppy coat blowing is worse than the seasonal kind....i'm gonna have to tell drew since his allergies have been driving him nuts. Thanks for the info Brad!!
oh and Ryu - Kiba is 5 months old too...and the furminator also seems a bit rough, but we've been brushing kiba everyday...and he is ok. As long as you don't use as much pressure, i'm sure it is fine. I could be wrong but it sounds like Ryu is shedding his puppy coat. I have a book about Shiba Inus that says they shed this at around 4 months. (wish they had books on Shikokus...but with this forum...i don't think i need it!)
Brad: We used to feed Ryu Science Diet but we recently just switched to Nutro (I don't know if they sell it on the mainland? Dog food variety is pretty scarce here
Shan: I think we are either developing allergies or just now noticing them! It isn't too bad unless Ryu is doing the Shiba 500 and his hair flies all over the house
Sounds like some of your are new to double coated breeds - it is always an experience the first time they blow their coat, that is for sure! Brushing and bathing (or just rising with water) will help it blow faster. When I had 3 Siberians at one time they all seemed to blow their coats in a different month and then there was hair around the house for 3 straight months. Some dogs seem to blow a bit faster than others.
It is always amazed me how much fur you can pile up from one good brushing session (basically a whole 'nother dog). Brad, I am sure you go thru this with 6 dogs! I thought 3 blowing at the same time was bad enough!
Kuma just went to the dog groomer today. I figure that she could get out the major chuncks of hair with the bath and her blow dryer will get out a lot more too than just brushing alone. Right now it looks like she got most of the blown coat (for now!).