Seasonal undercoat removal in long coat

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

It looks like have yet again lost the genetic doodle lottery in terms of seasonal shedding (Luna shed seasonally as well).  The last few weeks as it's been getting warmer there's been an increase in hair "tumbleweeds" around the house and I've noticed more mats in Riley's hair during her daily brushing.

I spent a good part of my day today attacking Riley's coat with a de-shedding rake and got about a soccer ball sized amount of undercoat.  She feels a lot less "bulky" now but I'm definitely not done yet!  

I initially started using a combination of the pin brush and metal comb:

It worked okay but the comb felt quite inefficient and the pin brush wasn't getting a ton of hair out.

I switched to this style of undercoat rake:

That seemed to work a lot better but I'm not sure it's the right tool... though it does sound like that's what it's supposed to be for.

Any tips?  We have a furminator too though I think it's the kind that's supposed to be for short coated dogs and would damage Riley's hair.

I may just be in need of some technique tips since with Luna I would just brush her hair in short strokes with the grain and that's all that was needed.

Riley's hair is quite long though and the short strokes don't work too well.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I had a larger undercoat rake with a double row of long rotating pins for Jack. Worked really well and was not expensive. I'll have to see if I can find a similar one online to show you. 
I also used the Chris Christensen T-brush style pin brush, also with long pins. 
I can't help you with combs. Never used one on Jack, and for Jasper I havge a greyhound comb that looks like the one you have, but Jasper of course doesn;t shed. 
I found the Furminator just ruined Jack's coat. It made it all choppy and uneven, and frizzed the ends. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

IF Riley doesn't have an undercoat, using the rake is painful and you are ripping out their one and only coat. I bought a rake by mistake for Ned - it was not  a fun tool for his coat! :-{   I'm not sure if shedding always equates with having an undercoat - others may know that. We use a slicker brush and comb.  The slicker I use is made by Activet/LesPoochs.  A cheaper version is by MGT (only one side is useful but for the money it works pretty well, but not quite as well a the Activet.)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, Bernese Mountain Dogs do have double coats, and they do shed most in Spring and Fall, so I'm guessing Riley does have a double coat. 
But I'm not sure that Jack did, even though he was a very heavy shedder, and the rake did not hurt him, or pull out anything that was still attached to him, lol. I do know that the brushes and grooming tools I need for Jasper are very different from the ones I needed for Jack. 

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

We use these brushes as well. Don’t think I’d want to have doodles without these brushes. I love them. It really pulls out the loose hair and it works out the matts painlessly. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

It's hard to tell if she has a double coat because all the hairs are either very black or very white with no colour variation.  With Luna it was easy because her top coat was apricot and winter undercoat was white.

The other possibility is that what I'm brushing out is her puppy coat since she is only 8 months but the timing with the weather would be awfully coincidental.

There is definitely a lot of "loose" hair which is why I think she is double coated.

I'll try to get a picture of her hair texture later, she is having her usual crazy morning right now and impossible to photograph lol.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

9Pics.. I had a really close look at her hairs and to me it looks like there is a downy undercoat in there but not a super dense one.  She doesn't have the traditional "wiry" top coat though, it's soft and wavy.  Down by her skin in both pics you can see scraggly bits of shorter hairs.  

Also when I use the undercoat rake I get these.  They are about 1 to 2" long and her top coat is about 5" long.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

She has an undercoat. And boy, does she have a nice thick coat!!! 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

She has SO much hair!  Her nickname is Rileybear with good reason lol.  Giant fuzzy bear of a dog.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Yogis coat is very thick like this too.  I often thought when he was 10 months to a couple years I’d never make it through without the Activet brushes. I have the green one for both of them, and then I have the red/purple for the rare occasion that he gets a matt or when his hair is longer before a grooming. I’ve gotten so I really like their body hair shorter, much easier to care for and cute too. ;-)

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Wow those brushes are expensive on Amazon.ca  $100 yikes.

I think I will hold off for now, the undercoat rake and straight comb duo is working okay with lots of elbow grease.  I just got a grooming table from Costco and a nice pair of straight shears so going to attempt a longish scissor cut soon.  I have been watching lots of YouTube for tips we will see how it goes :p

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

The brushes ARE expensive but IF they are right for the coat, they are worth it and they last years and years. But if you have other things that work for Riley’s coat then that is what you need to use. Periodically I try something  new, but for Ned especially, I go back to the Activet slicker and the simple steel comb. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

What is his coat like? Riley's hair is very cottony, soft and fine but her coat is dense and long with waves.