Brushes for Shedding Doodle

[Erin]

I've read the previous discussions on how to get your pup to not run and hide when she sees the brush coming at her. We've tried everything, but the slicker brush - she HATES it. Unfortunately that's the only brush we have that really gets the shedded? hair off her. I think it's too sharp and scratchy, and have seen your reviews for the pin brush with rounded tips. Would that be good for a Labradoodle with scruffy lab hair that sheds? Or is that just good for curly poodle doodles? Anybody use it to help decrease shedding? Also, has anyone used the Zoom Groom by Kong? It's a rubbery one, so I thought she might like that a little better too...

[2m42srv7vi6sq]

When Cealeach was little, she hated ALL brushes. By accident, I came across a double sided brush, in Sally beauty supply, that has very soft bristles on one side and stiff bristles on the other. The bristles are natural boar bristle and don't scratch. Cealeach loves to have it used on her sides and belly. the stiff bristles do a good job of getting down to the skin where her fur is NOT matted and the soft bristles make her practically purr when used on her belly. After a few days of using this brush, we reintroduced the slicker on her mats, and she was fine with it. We always start a grooming session with the double sided brush and work up to the "serious" tools. LOL

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Chris Christiansen also has a new "pin" brush which has all WOODEN pins...absolutely no scratching at all, and extremely gentle for that first starting brush-through! (I know exactly what you mean by "working up to the serious tools", lol!)

[Leslie and Halas]

I saw this the other day. I want to get it for Halas. The wooden pins sound great. I wish they had it in the T-brush style, because that one sounds pretty easy on the wrists.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi Erin- I use a pin brush on Jackdoodle, it works well to keep his coat brushed through and does get a good amount of the shedding hair off. But then, what you really want to use after you brush her through is a shedding "rake"- it's a single row of fairly large rubber or metal "teeth" very similar to an actual rake. I'll try to find a photo of one...I got it at the pet supply store, not at all expensive. Of course, you could always spring for a "furminator"- these are great for shedding dogs ( NOT FOR NON-SHEDDERS!!!!) but they're pricey.
Here's the rake I use for Jack- very inexpensive:

http://k9healthsolutions.com/safari-rake.html

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Do you use the one for short hair or long hair? This rake looks much better than the comb I have been using. Ned's fur is pretty long and curly. Thanks

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You know, I'm not sure which one I have, because I just picked it up at the pet supply store some time ago, and don't remember if it said long or short hair, but I'd say you need one for long hair. The prongs on mine are about 3/4 of an inch long, but Jack's coat is not very thick or curly. There are a variety of different ones available, usually the package will say what type of breed or coat it's recommended for. I hope it works for you...it definitely pulls much less than a comb, and gets more of the loose fur off.

[Sandy]

I have just started using a shedding rake on Toby, and the hair that is coming off is unbelievable! He doesn't shed, so this must be the puppy stuff. He has a very curly top coat, so this is either the undercoat, or puppy hair. Either way, the rake is doing its job.

[Adina P]

I would try one of the Chris Christensen pin brushes or their slicker brushes--the pins on those are very gentle and not scratchy. If you go to our reviews section (see tabs at the top of the page) do a search for Chris Christensen or organize the listings by category and look in the grooming category. You'll see its popular with a lot of people and allowed me to. brush Rosco's legs.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I use the slicker brush on my Springer Spaniel but he only needs his ears, chest and feathers brushed with it. He seems to like it. Now that I have a pin brush for my doodle, I use it on the Springer sometimes. It also works, but for that silky Springer fur, the slicker is better. I use whatever I can grab for as long as I can on the doodle. I think both types of brushes work but do somewhat different things. If Ned would hold still long enough I would use the slicker, pin and the comb but I would have to use heavy drugs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL! I have never yet had a dog that likes to be brushed. My poodle would try to run away from me if she even saw the brush! Jackdoodle will lie down up against an ottoman or sofa and tuck his tail & legs underneath him so that as little of his body is accessible as possible. I usually have to manually move, turn, & lift him to get a decent job done. Maybe it's the doodles who need the heavy drugs instead of us!

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas doesn't shed, so I don't have this problem with him. But we used to have huskies, and they shed an unbelievable amount of hair. We used a shedding blade on them (link below). It doesn't have bristles. You can kind of see in the picture what the surface is like. What's nice about it is that you don't have to keep pulling hair out of the brush. The hair just falls to the ground. I don't know if this would work on a doodle's coat or not, but it worked great for the huskies. And I think it was comfortable for them. It was more like getting scratched like we'd scratch them with our fingernails, so it wasn't like the scratching that bristles can do.

[Adina P]

it depends on the coat. i don't think it would be as useful for most doodles because they have curly hair or at least wavy...shedding blades work GREAT on straight haired, double coated dogs like my border collie...but Thule has a single coat and sheds so it is just harsh on her I think. Then Rosco..sheds, but it doesn't do much on his random curls/waves. Maybe on a very labby doodle...