Help with Shedding

[mspeach]

As some of you may know we got Ollie a few weeks ago, and he is a shedder, he turned 10 weeks this weekend and is shedding like a dandelion in the wind. He eventually is going to live with my daughter, but in the meantime I am having to live with this adorable little shedding puppy with my allergies and asthma. I need some advice, first do any of these shampoo's for shedding actually help, and if I gave him a haircut would that help?

On another note, I know he definitely has a very strange coat, soft in some places, coarse in others, sort of fleecy close to his skin. My daughter and I both are wondering even though he is obviously not curly, does anyone have an opinion on whether he will have the characteristics of a doodle. I'll put another picture here. Thanks again for any suggestions.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Cutting the hair will do nothing. You will have short hairs all over the house instead of long hairs. Your allergic response would be to the proteins in the dander and the saliva, and that will not change by cutting his hair. It also cannot be changed with any shampoo. How much and how fast a dog sheds hair is related to the growth cycle of the hair. That can also not be changed with shampoo. 

Ollie is going to be very, very doodle-y looking. He is going to have that adorable, shaggy "Disney Dog" look, like my Jack, who of course is the cutest dog in the world. ;) 

[mspeach]

Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate the input. Also, Jack is super cute :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thank you, so is Ollie! 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna sheds like crazy.  Thankfully no one in the house is allergic but it does make a mess!

Using a de-shedding tool every few days (like a Furminator) cuts down on the amount of hair around the house.  Vacuuming frequently also helps because it makes sure the allergens don't build up.

He's so cute!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

 He's just a doll. I'm so sorry things didn't work out for you two.

There are several products available that claim to remove dander from dogs but I have no experience with them. Here is an example:

https://www.chewy.com/cat/natures-miracle-dander-remover-coat/dp/47...

I have used other Nature's Miracle products and have been very happy with them. 

I am not allergic to Tara but during the Spring and Summer she brings in, on her coat, other allergens to which I react. During that time we wipe her down frequently with a damp cloth and it helps keep the pollen levels down in the house. It's not a perfect system but it is helpful. So maybe just wiping him down with a damp cloth a few times a day would be helpful with the dander. Also, we upgraded our furnace filter and leave the furnace fan run all day during those times of the year. 

I don't know of a way to cut back on the shedding issue though other than, as J suggested, lots of vacuuming and dusting and that would help with the dander issue too. 

[mspeach]

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I sweep, mop and vacuum every day, I have all dark hardwood on my main level. ugg.. 

I gave him a bath today, he hated it, it was so pitiful. He whimpered like a little baby, I dried him off and brushed and brushed, he hated that too, he has a little cujo in him I think.

I'm sad that it didn't work out as well. He's a pretty smart cookie and is catching on to potty training already, he also sits when I tell him. He's a pretty mellow little dude, except when he acts like cujo a few times a day, he bites and snaps no matter what I do, the more I tell him no or try distracting him the more pissed off he gets, lol. He usually gets a timeout if nothing else works. My daughter will be taking him to puppy classes so I'm sure that will help with the biting. She is head over heels in love with him and they seem to have a really special bond. He's really acts differently with her, she was the first person to hold him when we went to the breeders and he just snuggled right up to her. She comes down for the weekends to spend time with him and he always gets so excited. Maybe it was just meant to be :) 

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Awww...poor little guy. Everything is so new and scary for them at that age. He'll learn though. :)

I remember Tara's  cujo stage! OMD! Those little teeth are killers! It sounds like your handling him well though. 

At least with your daughter taking him you know that he is in a home were his is well cared for and loved.  Plus he will still be in your family-just as the granddog! It's hard not to get attached to them though.  Hugs

[Emery & Watson]

Ollie is so cute :)

I've used a de-shedding shampoo and I"m not entirely convinced that it is more helpful than a regular bath.  My understanding is that they make their de-shedding claims because it is a moisturizing shampoo/conditioner that helps when the coats are dry where fur may break off vs falling out.  It does make him fluffy and soft though, and it smells nice so I'll continue using what I have left.  

Otherwise, wipe downs and frequent brushing and vacuuming is how we manage our shedding doodle

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Nature's Miracle has wipes and a spray that breakers down the inactive proteins for pet allergies. I personally have not used it, but on the bottles they have a stamp that says its guaranteed or your money back. I have used their air spray for allergies though, if I have friends stopping by that are allergic I spray this through out my house and since I'm not allergic I can't tell you if it works or not but it does have a nice clean smell. Usually my friends who have bad allergies are just quickly stopping by to pick something up or we are running out to dinner so while they haven't had any problems, I can't say it's because of the spray or because they are hardly doing anything at my place. All three products are at pet co. Here's the links to them online through amazon though. 

this is for the air spray that I have:

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Miracle-Allergen-Blocker-Surface/dp/B...

This is for the wipes:

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Miracle-Allergen-Blocker-NM-5443/dp/B...

This is for the pet spray:

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Miracle-Allergen-Blocker-NM-5441/dp/B...

and apparently they have a carpet cleaner/shampoo too:

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Miracle-Allergen-Blocker-NM-5439/dp/B...

If you decided to get any of these make sure you get the ones for dog not the cat ones, (personal mistake!) They look so similar. good luck! 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Oh I forgot to add that if the shedding is a huge issue I have friends who swear but the furminator brushes and products but I think it's largely the brushes that help to keep it manageable. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jack is a heavy shedder and the furminator tools did nothing for us except make his coat look choppy. Granted, we stopped using them a few years back, so they may have new "brushes" now, but back when we tried it, it was more a shedding blade than a brush. 

What I've found more useful is a shedding rake, which is a lot cheaper than the furminators. But it really doesn't stop or lessen the shedding, it just allows you to collect some of the loose hair before it ends up all over your house, lol. 

In both cases, if you use the tool all day long, you keep getting hair all day long. At least, that's how it works with Jack.