A.L. asks from El Dorado Hills, CA on December 22, 2008
Fur Crazy!!
We have a year old English Mastiff. He is a pretty big dog and sheds EVERYWHERE! It's driving my husband and I insane. Even if I vacuum 2 times a day, we are still covered in hair. Does anyone has any suggestions on how to fix it? I do brush him and a ton of hair comes off. The only thing is that after 20 mins or so of brushing, there is still a ton of hair coming off. Someone told me to use a vacuum on him. Has anyone tried that???
More Answers
G.B. answers from San Francisco on December 25, 2008
You could shave him like a poodle...
K.G. answers from San Francisco on December 23, 2008
Our Aussie Shepherd is the same way. We bought something called the Furminator, and it is a amazing. I won't say that you'll be fur-free, but you will be a lot better off. Between the Furminator and our Dyson vac that's specially for pet fur. Do note, though, that the Furmiator comes in different sizes. Be sure to find a big one for a Mastiff!
J.H. answers from San Francisco on December 23, 2008
A.,
I hear your pain! We have a long haired cat that we adopted from the SPCA - at that time, she was short haired! Anyways, I bought the ferminator online. It's a brush that they sell at the pet stores. Kind of expensive, but it really pulls the hair out. Only thing is, I noticed that it takes A LOT of hair out and you want to be careful not to pull out the winter undercoat. Also, we had a Roomba that I used to turn on everyday. You know, one of those automatic vacuums. Ours worked great for about two years..until it broke! It had to be cleaned out frequently and if you've got a lot of hair, it might get caught up in the wheels and other parts. About 1x/mo I would disassemble the thing w/ a screw driver and pick out the hair. Lastly, we have a sponge that we use to pick up the hair on the couches. You can buy it at the pet stores for about $10. Good luck!
J.S. answers from Sacramento on December 22, 2008
I have an American Bulldog (150 pounds and 45 inches tall) and although he has short hair, he sheds a ton! Brushing doesn't work at all. I have tried vacuuming him but he does not like the noise. However, if your dog will take it, vacuum him with a handvac or an attachment on your regular vacuum. Hand vacs are good because they won't suck up skin. Be careful using a regular vac with an attachment. Sometimes they are too powerful.
What we found works best is if you give him a bath once a week. Total pain in the rear but it does keep the shedding down. Just make sure to use a shampoo for sensitive skin. All that washing can cause skin irritation. Don't waste your money on all those shedding pills....they don't work.
Good luck!
C.D. answers from San Francisco on December 23, 2008
I have not tried a vacuum on my dogs but I really like the "Furminator" dog brush which goes deep and removes alot of dog hair. You can find it at most pet stores, Also try to invest in a Roomba, a robot vacuum with the pet attachments so that you can just turn it on and not have to vacuum yourself and watch the hair go away
good luck
R.H. answers from San Francisco on December 23, 2008
Try putting a tablespoon of oil in his dry food. That works for my dog.
A.W. answers from San Francisco on December 23, 2008
Try something called a shedding blade.It gets off tons of fur! Far more than brushing so do it outside! It helped me alot! Good luck!
C.A. answers from San Francisco on December 22, 2008
Have you tried the furminator? We use it on our lab and love it. One caution is to buy the right one. We got ours free because my aunt has miniature Australian shepherds and the hair was too long for the comb and someone said it could cause damage to the fur. Despite the fact that English Mastiff's are one of my favorite I'm having a brain-fart on how long their fur is.
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