Suggestions to ease coat blowing??

[tmsl]

Well Bella is into her first real good coat blow. I brushed out what looked like a small white dog from her rump this morning after pulling out by hand a few tufts. She had a big shed as a puppy but has not really blown her coat until now. Took her with us to run errands, let's see we picked up coat and skin vitamins at Pet Smart and a dust mop at Home Depot.:EEK: I'm hoping the vitamins will help, we have been feeding her a fish based food while the vet was out of the duck we usually feed her. Reading some past threads on the subject, her age (2) and the fish based food have some affects on a coat blow. Does anyone have any other suggestions for dealing with this? Would a bath help or not? She is not really dirty but if that would help, I'll certainly give her one (much to her dismay).

I see the dust mop in my hand a lot in the forseeable future....

[LoveMySadie]

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Corgis! I had no idea that they could be big shedders when I got Sadie, and she is definitely among the biggest. I've tried supplements, shampoos, and gypsy spells to no avail...all that works is a good brush, a good vacuum cleaner, and a good sense of humor! :LAUGH:

Good luck!! :WINK:

Leslie

[taflar]

Well Bella is into her first real good coat blow. I brushed out what looked like a small white dog from her rump this morning after pulling out by hand a few tufts. She had a big shed as a puppy but has not really blown her coat until now.

'Tis the season!!! :WINK:

Took her with us to run errands, let's see we picked up coat and skin vitamins at Pet Smart and a dust mop at Home Depot.:EEK: I'm hoping the vitamins will help, we have been feeding her a fish based food while the vet was out of the duck we usually feed her.

Vitamins won't help. Different food won't help. She's got a double coat. It blows twice a year. It's the way Mother Nature made corgis (and all other dogs with double coats). They NEED to blow it twice a year. They get rid of the old coat and grow a new coat for the coming season.

Reading some past threads on the subject, her age (2) and the fish based food have some affects on a coat blow.

Age, yes, food - fish based or not, no. She's going to blow no matter what you feed her.

With females, IF they are intact, it's connected to their heat cycles. If they're spayed, they blow more like males, twice a year, usually towards the end of winter and the end of summer. It just happens, nothing we can do about it.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for dealing with this? Would a bath help or not?

A bath will speed up the process. Meaning it'll loosen any dead hair that's not already loose. That means there will be even MORE coat to comb out or vacuum up. But it might shorten the time she blows.

I see the dust mop in my hand a lot in the forseeable future....

Yup, that or the vacuum. It's the life for those of us who chose to live with corgis.

:BIGGRIN"
Peggy

[Kassie]

Corgi hair-R-Us! Sometimes more, sometimes less, but always up for a good coat blow. I brush multiple dogs out of the girls every time (and somehow they manage to blow their coats one after another, not at the same time.) The groomer uses some low shed shampoo, which helps a little but corgis are corgis!

[Dillydoodle]

I do find that a bath helps.. but only by making them shed even more for a shorter time.. I find that the bath does loosen the hair and then it combs out easier. or falls out all over your rugs.. then you have to vacuume.. in my house , i do not vacuume the rugs for two or three days after the bath as it is a losing battle. I wait until a few days have gone by with me brushing them daily and getting out as much hair as i can.. then i vacuume on the third day... and still have a ton of hair on my rugs within a day or two LOL!

They really do shed a lot. You know, funny story... when I was researching corgs before getting one, I went to dog shows and talked to a lot of handlers, breeders, show people etc and always asked them to tell me the best thing about their breed and the worst thing about their breed.
I got all kinds of answers to the "best thing" question but got the same answer for the "worst thing" All of them answered me with "you know they shed , right". I always thought that was odd, I mean almost every dog sheds.. then i got Dillon and for about 1 1/2 yrs i thought ," what was all that fuss about shedding?" then he started blowing his adult coat.. and I finally "Got" what they were trying to tell me LOL!

[peep_erz]

I have a lab and a corgi. If there isn't huge fur balls of under coat coming off of Strummer its tons of over coat sticking to every piece of clothing I own.

The dogs along with the chinchillas who blow their coats at different times. .. yeah. . .I should just make my next house out of fur. lol

Bath's really help loosen it up and out. I actually just gave Strummer a really good scrub and rinse. No shampoo. Just wanted to help the fur out.

[tmsl]

I think a bath is in order. She has been shedding for a few weeks and I don't mind loosening the fur in order for a short blow period. Thank goodness we had hardwoods installed last year and carpet removed. Easier to chase fur balls around the house (and dust mop as opposed to heavier vacuum). And yes we were told about the shedding, and doesn't bother us as we have cats, too. I do think more of the fur is Bella's and not the cats.

[taflar]

I think a bath is in order. She has been shedding for a few weeks and I don't mind loosening the fur in order for a short blow period.

"Shorter" not short. It will lessen the time some but not make it short. Sorry. :ARG:

And yes we were told about the shedding, and doesn't bother us as we have cats, too. I do think more of the fur is Bella's and not the cats.

Cats are lightweights compared to corgis!!! I have both too!

When I had someone interested in a puppy who didn't quite understand what I meant by "blowing coat", I left one of my corgis unbrushed so he could see what I meant when they came to see the puppies. Danny was tufting big time and looked like he was molting. Then they got what I meant.

When I talk to people I tell them when a corgi is blowing coat it will come out "in handfuls".

A great link to corgi coat blowing: http://www.terenelf.com/SpockShedding/Shedding.html

Peggy

[Abbykat]

One of the many grooming sessions we had at the beginning of our Autumn this year - this pic was taken on the 3rd March.
Now we are 13 days into our Spring, and Abby has not yet started tufting ....... I think this is because we are still having unseasonably cold weather.
One can only hope the imminent coat blow will not be too horrendous.

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq70/Bodrins/C2bC/2011%20C2bC/99d0f215.jpg

[Dillydoodle]

Abby looks pretty happy to have all that hair out of her.. and that sure is a lot of fur!!!
When mine are really blowing coat like that, i will usually do an initial combing in the house but then i take them outside and use the shed blade or zoom groom (which i see you have for abby) which makes a huge mess of fur everywhere.. and a lot of it blows away and gives the birds nice fur to line their nests .

[Jespah]

Abby looks great - a happy smile to be rid of all that old hair. :BIGGRIN"

[mtoy]

I noticed if you massage a little hair conditioner (something cheap and mild like Suave) into the hair and rinse after washing it will get a lot more hair out. It was a major help when Millie blew her coat, she was a champion shedder.

[tmsl]

We bathed Bella last week and we use shampoo and conditioner on her and after drying, we brushed a ton of hair out of her. Our yard looked like Abby's!! She has been shedding less, no tufts, since then so we got a lot of the worst over with. She doesn't mind being brushed, but she is glad mommy is not making her sit so much to be brushed!!!

[misspiz]

WOW abby!!! congrats on the puppy....oh wait sorry thats just fur lol. looks almost like another dog hehehehe. i can't believe how lucky i got with daisy, she is not a crazy shedder (at least not yet), at least in comparison to abby and other corgis. but she has a different coat than most corgis i come across.

[alijutt8]

sounds good to me will come back soon and leave further comments

[Redwood Corgi]

All the discussion about shedding reminds me that yesterday I had one of those "corgi moments". Corgi hair in my coffee! :TWITCHY:

[funnyfarm]

:TWITCHY:I think the very best advice is to have a sense of humor!:BIGLAUGH:

[Jespah]

I think that alijutt8 is possibly a spammer and that comment was left to build posts. I'll be keeping an eye out. +POLICEMAN+

[tmsl]

I think that alijutt8 is possibly a spammer and that comment was left to build posts. I'll be keeping an eye out. +POLICEMAN+

Maybe the RCMP Rupe should come on duty....:BIGGRIN"

[Jespah]

LOL! Rupe is always on duty - spammers beware! :BIGGRIN"

[mtoy]

From Link: did someone say Spam? Yes please!

[joecorgi]

I think that alijutt8 is possibly a spammer and that comment was left to build posts. I'll be keeping an eye out. +POLICEMAN+
I hate the sneak-attack posts to be filled in later. Or the regular post is clean, but links up and down the profile or signature. I can never remember to check them again.

[Jespah]

Yes, it is annoying for sure, but part of running a forum.

[jeepgal]

I always hear that fluffy coats don't shed as bad as normal coat corgis! Now, I don't have a normal coat corgi, but my fluffs are always shedding it seems and they blow their coats a couple times a year too. My daughter will sit there and pick the tufts of hair out of them at times.

Generally, extra brushing and grooming/washing seems to help. But it only minimizes the hair and doesn't get rid of it at all. I will take them in to get them groomed and will have the furminator treatment done on them, which is the shed-less shampoo (not sure if it actually works :TWITCHY:) and then they get thoroughly combed out with the furminator as well.

These pictures are of the fur I took out with only about 5 minutes of brushing on each. And it's kind of compacted a little.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w192/jeepgal71/Trixie_hair.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w192/jeepgal71/Murphey_hair.jpg

[Fluffypants]

Yeah - that looks familiar! :LAUGH:

[Jespah]

And I shall call him "Billy". :LAUGH:

[Dillydoodle]

Oh the photos are great! look at the expression on their faces! LOL cute! That is a lot of hair.. and i have sure seen my share of that during coat blowing season ( aka , NOW) I just gave my two a bath sunday and they remind me of Pig pen from peanuts.. there is a cloud of corgi fur surrounding them LOL!

[mtoy]

Every time I complain about dog hair and brushing and vacuuming, Karl says "you know there's only one way to get rid of the dog hair...". Of course he's only teasing, he's so crazy about Link he gladly accept the mess (that I vacuum, lol).

[Dillydoodle]

that sounds like my husband.. only when i complain about hair or barking , he says " You wanted dogs.. so that is what you get".... I hate when he says that since WE wanted dogs.. and *I* am the one who gets to clean up the hair, pick up the poop, walk them, feed them, take them to the vet, etc... you see a pattern here? I get the work part of owning a dog, he gets the fun part! I am not really complaining since i love the " work" of having dogs.. they are worth any little inconvenience !!!

[taflar]

I always hear that fluffy coats don't shed as bad as normal coat corgis! Now, I don't have a normal coat corgi, but my fluffs are always shedding it seems and they blow their coats a couple times a year too. My daughter will sit there and pick the tufts of hair out of them at times.


I have limited experince with fluffies, but the one I fostered, well, he blew his coat as much as the normal coated corgis.

First there are two kinds of fluffies. One is like yours with the undercoat (think sheltie coat on a corgi).

The other is more like a long haired dachshund and doesn't seem to have as much undercoat.

The second thing, is how much the dog gets brushed. Some fluffy owners are more diligent about brushing their dogs than many of us with the normal coat. The more often you brush your dog, the less undercoat there is going to be, the reason because you're taking it out a little at a time and you don't notice as much. (Or so the theory goes. I haven't really tried it myself.)

Peggy

[Fluffypants]

First there are two kinds of fluffies. One is like yours with the undercoat (think sheltie coat on a corgi).

The other is more like a long haired dachshund and doesn't seem to have as much undercoat.



I have one of each now! Jackie has the sheltie-like coat and Ukee has the dachsund-like coat! Ukee is MUCH easier to keep clean! It does help to brush them every other day or so. I can't imagine the undertaking it would be if I didn't brish them that often! :SWOON:

[thebeach.corgi]

Been brushing Cooper more as I was plucking tufts from his rump. Got a large ball again yesterday. Vacuumed two floors and had a canister full.

He stress sheds in the car, too. Using a rubber dish glove seems to work well followed by the vaccuum.

I find when I reach "critical mass" regarding the hair, the shed has peaked. Cooper is also sharing more top coat with me.. I carry a bit o'corgi hair wherever I go. Keep a sticky roller by the front door, in the bedroom and one in each car.

A bath does help loosen the hair, followed by a blow dry and good brushing shortens the shedding time. Not on Cooper's fav list but he says the treats are good.

Life with corgis.... is far better than life without them, hair and all.:BIGGRIN"

[colbycorgi]

two fluffernutters here and a new baby on the way so sorry, no tips....we pay someone to groom them at the moment

[MVons]

Chester's molting butt summoned me to comb him with the flea comb on the sunny deck where it was warmer outside than in. I let a few fluffs fly for the many birds making their nests. But his big grey clump may appear as a mouse on the ground?

[elrond]

I try to brush them once or twice a week and scoop up the giant fur ball during the week and vaccum once a week.