Define Shedding

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

One of the questions on the DK member profiles is “does your doodle shed”?  Well, I initially answered “No”, but now I am not so sure.

Every time I give them a good brushing (when their coats are long), I pull enough fur out of the brush to build another doodle, but since I find hair in my own styling brushes I am pretty sure that this wouldn’t be classified as shedding.  The shed/no-shed debate becomes a bit confusing when I look at some of the different surfaces in my house.  Some fabric surfaces have absolutely NO doodle hair on them what-so-ever but others fabric surfaces might as well be lint rollers. Most pairs of my black work pants have cream fuzzies on them and I have given up on wearing khaki pants because I couldn’t deal with the black fuzzies that stuck to them regardless of what I did to remove it.  I am currently on a mission to remove anything fleece from my house because that material seems to attract any last stray hair that comes off the dogs.  Anytime I wash a fleece blanket, I pull a wet clump of misc doodle fuzzies from the washer (it is gross!).  I don’t have piles of hair on the floors and I don’t really get much fur off of the carpet when I vacuum. 

I can’t really identify any individual hairs on my furniture, clothing, etc., but my doods just seem to give some items an overall fuzzy appearance.  So does this count as shedding? I do think the general fuzziness in my house may have gotten worse since I started doing all of the grooming myself. 

So help me out.  Do you consider your doodle to be non-shedding?  If so, does that mean that you have zero dog hair floating around your house?  If your doodle sheds, can you actually see hair on things as opposed to just a general fuzziness (if that even makes sense).  Every time I am out with the dogs and meet someone new, I am always asked if they shed and right now I haven’t figured out the correct answer.   

Thanks for the help!

[Denis and Rhonda]

Hi Amy,

No, I would not consider non-shedding to be "zero hair around the house".  A non-shedding dog has hair like you and I do, not fur.  I am sure you find plenty of hair in your shower drain or on your pillow.  This is also true of a non-shedding dog.  The "shedding" dog will leave huge mats of fur behind each year when it's coat changes. You would know if your dog sheds... your clothes, sofa, carpets, everything would be covered with fur.

In addition to the dropped fur, shedding dogs leave a considerable amount of dander, or skin flakes around.  Dander is what most people with allergies are allergic to.  Non-shedding dogs do not produce dander and are thus considered "hypoallergenic". 

Our dog, Hero, is non-shedding.  That doesn't mean that we don't get a lot of hair in his brush... we do.  And we expect it to increase as he transitions from his puppy coat to his adult coat.  But our clothes are not covered in hair; we find a few hairs every now and then, but nothing to speak of.  Hero lays on comforters, sofas, and our laps and does not coat us with fur...just lots of kisses.

[F, Calla & Luca]

We all produce dander but it is held by the coat in the doodles I think. Dander is dead skin cells and all of us humans and doodles have it too.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jackdoodle sheds the way a German Shepherd does: year round, day in and day out, and not only do you see hair on surfaces, you see hair flying off of him when he shakes himself, scratches, or runs. It is NOT seasonal, either.

On the other hand, my purebred poodles never left hair anywhere. The amount on the brush after a brushing was nowhere near what is in my own brush after I brush my hair, or what's in the shower when I wash my hair. There were occasional small tufts (not individual hairs) left on the carpet, but in a month, there wouldn't have been enough to make a wig for a Barbie doll. They never left any hair on my bed or my clothing.

I have read that the non-shedding genetics in poodles are classified as having "incomplete dominance". In other words, a doodle may shed less than his retriever parent, but not as little as his poodle parent. I do not know if that's true or not.

[Christine & Camus]

Karen's description of Jackdoodle's shedding is the best way to describe the way Camus sheds. The flying hair is really noticeable when driving in the car with the windows open. If Camus didn't have so many allergies I would be tempted to use hairspray to keep the hair on him instead of me!

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

lol...a doodle sized can of aquanet. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Neither of my ALDs shed.  I don't find any dog hair on the floor, their beds, or my clothes....even the black pants.  I only comb them once a week, and there is some hair in the comb, but not much.  Also, I've never seen "fuzzies".  I consider myself to be very lucky.  Guinness has very much a Poodle coat, but Murph is a soft fleece non-curly Dood. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

No, I don't get more than a rare hair on my clothes unless I've been grooming the doodles, either.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

The only time I see hair from Sophie is what is found in the brush when I brush her, and it is not much. Winnie on the other hand is a shedder and I am often cleaning up balls of his fur with the vacuum. I have to empty the brush at least once when I am brushing him because it gets all clogged up. He leaves fur on my clothes and furniture. That being said, he is not nearly as bad as some dogs I've seen.

[Ginny Nightingale]

" Non-shedding dogs do not produce dander and are thus considered "hypoallergenic". " I don't want to get into  debate about this--but I believe it was disproven by some research a few months ago--it was referenced here on DK --they researchers found no difference in allergic reactions with "hypoallergenic coats" vs. "normal coats"in dogs--does anyone remember? I think there is general agreement that the hypoallergenic claim is really not proven and depends on the dog and the person living with them since you can even be allergic to the saliva--am I right about that?

Anyway, I recently de-shedded an australian shepherd for a friend--OMD, I got gobs of hair and could have brushed him for days without it stopping. I eventually called it quits after 3 hours and he was much better, but handfuls would still come out if you pulled on his hair. I had long hair (or I guess it is fur!?)  stuck to everything I had worn and it took a few washings to get it all out. I have never had a true shedding dog, so this was a real lesson. My 3 doodles do shed a bit--in that hair flies when they shake and I get dust bunnies of hair that accumulate over a few days, but NOTHING like that dog. Now I appreciate it! I bought a stretchy cover for my couch from Sure-fit and I find that their hair sticks to that like glue, but I only get a handful of hair when I vacuum it each week. Not bad!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Yes, you can be allergic to the saliva and to the dander which doodles do have. Hair and fur really are the same basic structure but it seems to be a convention to call the coat of animals that grows long hair, and fur for the same thing when it's all shed when shorter.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri sheds JUST like yours do - I would say she "sheds lightly"...it only appears on my fleece pants and some sticky materials that seem to just be magnetic for dog hair. But there is nothing on a leather couch or tufts in the corner, anything like that. 

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

how do you get the fleece clean?  Even after washing, my fleece items (blankets, shirts, pants) still have fuzz on them.