How do you minimize excessive shedding on a dog?

Question

I have an Akita, which we got last summer. Over the winter she shed excessively. It was a nightmare, with clumps of hair all over the house. We had hair all over EVERYTHING, including ourselves and was so HARD to clean up. Now she's starting to shed again. Is there something we can do to minimize her shedding? My fiance doesn't want to keep her outside. Help!

Answer 1

A good bath every 6-8 weeks and daily brushing with a brush designed to groom the undercoat as well. Akita's completely blow their coat 2 times a year (before winter and this time of year!!) and shed for the rest of the 365 days of the year! :)

Hope this helps!! I feel your pain! My Saints and Newfs keep my vacuum in shape :)

Answer 2

daily brushing helps. You may want to get an undercoat rake. I dont know what you are feeding your dog, but a good diet makes a HUGE difference in shedding! I used to have a husky mix and she ate cheap food for a long time. I noticed a big difference when I switched her to high quality food.

One trick Ive been told is to bathe the dog. Work a lot of conditioner into the coat.. you will want to get it down to the skin. While the conditioner is still in the coat, use an undercoat rake and brush. Im told it takes alot of the undercoat right out. I havent been able to try this myself yet, because I no longer have hairy dogs.. I have Chinese Cresteds!

Answer 3

Pedigree is actually NOT really a quality food. Do some research on the better brands and upgrade. The other thing that will help is regular brushing. The more often and more thorough, the more hair you will remove that will not shed all over your house. Makes for healthier skin and coat too. Other than that, shedding is part of life with dogs. I don't have dust bunnies, I have dust elephants.......

Answer 4

Have her thyroid checked by the vet. By a special shampoo that deals with shedding. Vacuum every day. A good brush for a double coated dog is a must. Give her cod liver oil caplets.

My lab just adopted and was spayed and the hormone change made her hair fall out in huge amounts. I feel your pain! Black hairs everywhere, you've probably got white hairs everywhere!

Answer 5

GET AN UNDERCOAT RAKE!!! People don't get them because they don't look like they will work, but they really do. They are T shaped with 20 sharp pegs across the cross bar and the downward part is the handle. Besides that you could put one or two cooked eggs in her food weekly and get LINATONE at petsmart or online pet catalogs and put that on her food also. Linatone is a combination of fatty acids dogs need for their skin and coat.

Answer 6

You got to brush them everyday when they are shedding, especially dogs with thick coats like Akitas. Just brush once a day and that should get most of it.

Answer 7

Have her groomed and then start to brush her daily.
I have a border collie with the same issue. I brush her outside to minimize the risk of hair in the house.

Answer 8

Start with a good quality dog food, if you haven't already. I can't say enough good things about undercoat rakes either. I have a black lab, and I brush him every morning outside. I have heard that there are shampoo's that help, but my lab is afraid of water (funny, I know) so he is only bathed when filthy. Also, check with your vet about cod liver oil capsules (I believe it comes in liquid also) :] I feel your pain, white tiled flooring, and 2 black doggies here!

Answer 9

You should brush your dog each day for at least twenty minutes the first month or so. If you don't have time to do that, you can get a groomer, or you can also go to Petco where you can get your dog groomed.

Hope this helps!

Answer 10

Brush the poor dog... And add some omega 3's to her diet... You can get Salmon Oil, or buy the capsules (put a whole in the capsules and then squeeze the oil onto the food.)

Good luck.