KCat
02-25-2007, 05:17 PM
Well, Ming is shedding like crazy. He has an interesting coat that I've only seen in dogs with longer hair. He doesn't have the typical stiff, thin coat of a Shar Pei (his momma did). He has straight hairs - semi-coarse but not stiff, then he has these incredibly soft, downy hairs that float everywhere. Those are what he is shedding so I assume that is a sort of "winter coat" and decided I'd take a shedding blade to him. it is pretty much spring here and he's an inside dog so I don't think it's a risk to help him out on this.
Anyway - gosh I thought the hair was never going to end. But he looks soooo much better - he was starting to look a bit lumpy and brushing wasn't enough. And he seemed to really love it. We went out into the shade in the grass and he laid down while I worked on him. I think I worked on it about 20 minutes. At that point I was still getting hair but not a ton as before so i figured that was a safe place to stop. He just laid there, put his paw over his eyes and nose to keep the hair from flying in his face and ticklying (oh for a video camera!) and otherwise revelled in it.
I looked up some other threads on shedding blades and I understand they probably shouldn't be used unless they are actually blowing their coat. I assumed by the fact that even a brief pet down his side left me with a handful of that downy fur, that he was indeed doing that. :)
Is there a rule of thumb on duration of the effort? 10 minutes? 20? "until?" Will I have to use the blade again until he seems to get back to normal summer coat and if so, how many times approximately?
Bayta had only one coat type and it shed constantly but that was a skin condition. His skin is very healthy and up until recently he wasn't shedding other than what you'd expect in regular brushing (which he hates - so why does he love the shedding blade?)
Now he is very happily and loudly snoring - head propped on the chair leg. He had a good long walk, a nice grooming, a brief chew. Doggie Heaven I guess.
Anyway - gosh I thought the hair was never going to end. But he looks soooo much better - he was starting to look a bit lumpy and brushing wasn't enough. And he seemed to really love it. We went out into the shade in the grass and he laid down while I worked on him. I think I worked on it about 20 minutes. At that point I was still getting hair but not a ton as before so i figured that was a safe place to stop. He just laid there, put his paw over his eyes and nose to keep the hair from flying in his face and ticklying (oh for a video camera!) and otherwise revelled in it.
I looked up some other threads on shedding blades and I understand they probably shouldn't be used unless they are actually blowing their coat. I assumed by the fact that even a brief pet down his side left me with a handful of that downy fur, that he was indeed doing that. :)
Is there a rule of thumb on duration of the effort? 10 minutes? 20? "until?" Will I have to use the blade again until he seems to get back to normal summer coat and if so, how many times approximately?
Bayta had only one coat type and it shed constantly but that was a skin condition. His skin is very healthy and up until recently he wasn't shedding other than what you'd expect in regular brushing (which he hates - so why does he love the shedding blade?)
Now he is very happily and loudly snoring - head propped on the chair leg. He had a good long walk, a nice grooming, a brief chew. Doggie Heaven I guess.