How To MAKE My Dog Shed!

[Joe Wood]

I see these deshedding shampoos that help with stopping shedding in double coat dogs, but I have this little husky, Summer's coming to So Cal, and I want her to shed! Is there a shampoo / whatever for that? Or is brushing and combing the only option?

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[Mel Fulks]

I adopted a homeless husky years ago. I’m in Virginia ,and the dog was happy with
just shade , water and food. I don’t think we sheared her. A working husky might need
the shearing.

[Michael Weber]

We used to have a dog. We bought a “furminator”. That might be spelled wrong. It removes an amazing amount of hair and keeps on doing so.

[Allan Dozier]

I've never been able to think of a scientific reason that the type of shampoo would have any effect on the undercoat of a Husky. Just comb and comb and comb

[Paul F Franklin]

+1 on the furminator brush/comb. Worked great on our husky/golden mix. We also found that brushing her (gently) with a regular dog brush during her baths, when she was all lathered up, seemed to get a lot of the loose fur out.

[Erik Loza]

Husky owner, here. Another vote for the Furminator. It’s the only brush we have found that actually works on getting his undercoat out. When it’s shedding season, the brushing is an ongoing process. Good luck to the OP.

Erik

[Joe Wood]

OK I'll be picking up a Furminator today! Luckily this little girl has a short coat!

[Jim Becker]

From the title, I thought this was going to be a build thread for a dog shed. LOL

Seriously, some dog species are tough when it comes to seasonal changes, particularly those with the "double coats". That's really helpful to them in the cold climates for sure, but summer/south, not so much. I'm glad folks had some advise!

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

There are several options. Furminator can be useful, but it can also damage your Husky's guard hairs that she needs to keep. Furminator makes a rake that has rotating metal teeth that help remove the loose undercoat hairs without damaging her guard hairs. I lent my rake to my late neighbor to use on her darling of a Husky and she liked it so much that she ordered one for herself. While I don't have Huskies, my breed also has the thick undercoat and guard hairs. One of my dogs had a particularly thick undercoat and I gave him a warm bath to loosen up his hairs and then used a fine tooth metal flea comb with a comfy ergonomic handle on him. It was slow going, and I did it in short sessions all day to give us both a break, but afterwards, everyone who saw him at the training club the following day was shocked at how I managed to have such success in his coat. (My neighbors also asked what the hair explosion was in the pasture....) I also use different horse curry combs on my dogs to help remove their undercoat. The metal sawtooth ones will damage their guard hairs while pulling the undercoat out on my dogs who have longer guard hairs. The silicone glove-like horse brushes with all the fine teeth in them also work great in removing a portion of undercoat and is nice to use on a daily basis during shedding time. A warm bath always seems to get all my dog's coats to have a hair explosion everywhere. Make sure you massage all the way down to the skin.