I thought since it was shedding season and probably some folks are sick of the hair, I’d post a guide to grooming tools. Not all tools are made equal and what will be best depends on your dog’s coat type.
A standard metal comb is best for long-haired breeds - yorkies, maltese, shih tzus, lhasas etc. Especially curly coat types such as poodles and bichons, this is the main tool you should be using and you should be able to start at the skin and pull the comb through your dog’s coat to the ends without snagging to remain matt free. If your dog needs to be combed, you should be doing it daily to prevent matts.
If you DO get matts, depending on how severe, you can remove them fairly easily with another tool.
An undercoat rake like this will remove large matts and is especially useful on dogs like golden retrievers, newfies, collies, shelties, and any other dog that has tufty long flagging on the rear and under the belly. As long as you keep the blunt side of the blade against the dog, it’s a lot safer than it looks, but watch your fingers. I damn near sliced one of mine off with one of these once.
A matt breaker is a similar idea to the matting rake, but it’s much smaller and better for small dogs and sensitive areas such as the face or in the armpits or behind the ears.
If the matting is severe than you should consider shaving your dog instead of dematting. It’s not particularly pleasant and you shouldn’t force your dog to tolerate a full-body dematting. Yes, your dog will be a little naked, but the hair will grow back. If you’d like to keep it longer in the future, invest in the first tool on my list and use it every day.
If your dog has a double coat, DO NOT SHAVE IT. Your dog’s coat will never grow back the same, you’ll make your dog hotter in the summer, colder in the winter, and you’ll expose them to sunburn. If you can’t stand the shedding and that’s your argument, there are alternatives and shaving will not stop your dog from shedding, it’ll just make the hair that’s shed out shorter.
A Kong brand “Zoom Groom” tool is best for dogs with a short, flat coat type: boxers, mastiffs, rotties, bullies, beagles, and labs. It will pull out dead hair like you wouldn’t believe and it’s extremely non-abrasive so most dogs really enjoy being brushed with this tool.
A shedding blade is another tool good for shedding dogs with short flat coats. If your dog’s coat resembles a horse’s coat, this tool will work well for you.
Furminators are pretty great if your dog is shedding. However, you must use caution with them. They are extremely abrasive brushes and if you have a heavy hand with them you’ll give your dog brush burn. They come in long and short haired options, so choose appropriately for your dog.
An undercoat rake is good for long-haired double coated dogs - goldens, collies, newfies and also nordic breeds and spitz type dogs. Like the Furminator, you must be gentle with this tool as it can be very abrasive if you brush too heavily. You should always monitor your dog’s skin during long periods of brushing and stop if you see signs of irritation.
This brush is useless. Don’t fucking waste your money on this piece of junk.
A slicker brush is a finishing tool more than anything. It’s good for backbrushing if you’re trying to cut hair, and it’s nice for picking up dead hair that you’ve loosened up with another brush, and it’s great for smoothing down a coat at the end of everything, but this is an accessory tool. This should not be your main brush and you shouldn’t try to dematt with it.
I saved this brush for last because it’s not a brush it’s a magic fucking wand. You want a brush that can tackle single and double coats alike? Boom, the stripper tool is your pal. You want a brush that can break up matts? Check. Remove undercoat from long OR short hair? Checkarino. Want a brush that you can really go to town on brushing your dog without fear of scraping the first 3 layers of your dog’s skin off before you’re done. This. Is. Your. Tool. This is everyone’s tool. Buy this tool.
Seriously, it is worth every single penny you will pay for it and I love mine more than I love any other thing in my groomer tool box. As you can see the number of blades varies and the price goes up with the number of blades. These are also great for wire-coated dogs that should be hand-stripped instead of shaved - schnauzers, cairns, westies, pointing griffons. This will made carding the coat a dream and they’re way easier to handle than the stripper knives - but that’s coming from a lefty and I cannot for the life of me find a lefty set of stripper knives, so I’m a little biased.
But hopefully this helps someone out there who is drowning in a sea of hair. If that’s the case, you should also give your dog a bath, use a conditioner which will loosen up the undercoat for you and blow-dry your dog with a forced air dryer if they’ll let you. This will cut down significantly on the amount of brushing you have to do. You should only brush your dog when they are 100% bone dry. Brushing a wet dog increases the risk of injuring your dog with an abrasive tool and is a million times less effective.
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