One of the biggest tasks of becoming a dog owner, is to learn how to deal with your dog’s fur. Whether it’s detangling, grooming or the biggest one… managing the shedding, you’ve got to know what’s best for your pup! Just like we all have different needs for our own hair, so do our dogs! Therefore, as someone who struggled with finding the perfect brush for my own dog, I want to give you some direction and ideas to try out that are best for your dogs coat. However, remember that every dog is different. Even if you have two labs of the same litter, one dog may really dislike one brush, while the other goes tail wagging, leg kicking, crazy over it! You’ll most likely have to do lots of trial and error to find the perfect brush.

The Shedding Dog:

With a few exceptions, most dogs will shed at least twice a year! And as much as you love your very furry four legged friend, this is not the best perk of having a pup in your home. Being an owner of a shedding dog myself, and when I say “shedding dog” I mean that in the most extreme case possible. With every pet, shake, or any other slight movement… hair is EVERYWHERE! This is obviously very frustrating, even for the crazy dog lovers out there like myself. So, I had to learn how to manage the shedding in the best way possible to maintain my OCD cleaning habits and my love for Drake.

Rubber brushes works wonders on Drake. This is the honest truth. We’ve tried a lot of great brushes out there, like an “undercoat rake” and a “shedding blade” but Drake is not a fan of any of these wired type brushes, so the rubber is perfect! In addition to grabbing TONS of hair with each rake, the rubber bristles also give a nice massage because they’re gentle enough to make direct contact with the skin. I highly recommend using the brush before AND after a bath.

To prevent this from turning into a blog about managing shedding, I will focus strictly on the brush type that I use. However, there are MANY factors that can help reduce your pups shedding. I encourage you do research to find more information because trust me, there is hope out there for your clean house to stay (slightly) fur free!

The Long Hair Dog:

Those long locks that blow in the wind and make your dog the talk of the town, although beautiful, can be tough to deal with. What I have learned to be the best rules of thumb was knowing that the longer the hair coat on your pup is, the more widely spaced the bristles on the brush should be, whatever type of brush that may be.

With that being said, obviously there are MANY different opinions out there, but after many dog park conversations and research I found that the wire pin brushes are typically the top choice for long haired dogs. This type of brush kind of resembles the type of brushes we use on our own human hair. Makes sense, we have long hair and use it, so why wouldn’t it work for your long haired pup too — another example of how dogs are just like us.. Hehe! ANYWAYS, in addition to to the spacing of the bristles, the thicker the long coat is, the thicker and strong the bristles of the brush should be.

The Curly Dog:

Oh the beauty of the curly q’s on that Poodle or Golden Doodle of yours! The curly coat could quite possibly be one of the cutest hair types a dog could have and also possibly the most easily matted! EEK! This can be stressful, unless you have your handy dandy slicker brush! Ok, in all seriousness, this brush type really does work wonders.

I have even used it on Drake (who is not a curly dog at all). A slicker brush has fine wire bristles, close together and on a flat service, that totally tackle that tangled and matted fur. Note that it is important to always remember to be very gentle when using this brush. Although extremely useful, with too much pressure these bristles could cause some serious discomfort to your pup!

 

 

All dogs:

After any brushing session, no matter the pup, no matter the coat, it is always nice to follow up with a soft bristle brush. This gentle practice will leave your dogs coat smooth and shiny after any detangling or deshedding you just completed. This is especially nice to use on the dogs with extremely short hair. Although they do not get matted or tangled, this soft brushing will satisfy your dog’s coat and skin, which are both equally important.

 

Remember, there are a TON of options out there for your dog and these are just a few of the many brushes you could use. I personally had to go through SEVERAL brushes until I found that “just right” brush for Drake. My hope is that this gives you a starting point and (fingers crossed) saves you a little bit of money, which you can then spend on delicious treats and toys instead!