Do shed, or not do shed, that is the question.

I am often asked what can be done for a dog that sheds a lot and the first thing that comes to my mind is, what breed of dog are we talking about, because some breeds are prone to seborrhea, red mange, or hypothyroidism. So top of the list would be a health check. Second guess, barring any medical problem, would be plain old dry skin and dull coat from not enough omega fatty acids. I always try to supplement my dog’s food with 3-6-9 fish oil gel caps from Puritans pride. I don’t go nuts over special shampoos that claim to help shedding because if you really think about it, the simple act of washing, then brushing, and drying your dog is going to rid it of the dead hair for about a week anyway. You can probably remove just as much hair with a slicker brush and it takes less time. If you have a short haired dog, get a large spray bottle, fill it with water and a bit of some doggie cush, cush cologne, spray the dog and wipe it down with a dish towel. You’ll be amazed at the amount of dirt and hair that comes off the dog, and again, less time consuming than a full bath. Don’t get me wrong, if the dog has dry or itchy skin a good oatmeal bath can do wonders, so bathe away my friend, but don’t buy into non shedding shampoos, unless of course you have money to burn.


A dog’s skin and coat are conditioned just as much from the nutrients it gets on the inside as it does with daily brushing on the outside, so giving omega fatty acids daily can make a difference in a dog’s coat within two weeks. For those interested, Puritans pride usually has a sale going on, and I have not yet found a better deal in a drug store as I have found online with Puritans pride. (Click on the title of this article and it will take you to their site) I also found that fish oil pills help greatly with… well… dog and people stinkers! Please don’t even ask how I discovered that, just know that it works! ( and I say this with a little dignity, very little!)


My last group of six dogs was very different from the six I have now. They consisted of, 1 Belgian Sheepdog, 1 Chow/Lab mix, 1 Sheltie/St Bernard mix,(I know) 1 Bearded Collie, 1 St. Bernard and 1 Cocker Spaniel. All very different breeds with very different coats, all ate the same food, and all had equal inside and outside time, so which do you think caused most of the problem with shedding? Most would think it a tie between the Belgian Sheepdog and the Bearded Collie because of the long hair, coming in second may be the Sheltie mix, and St Bernard, then the Cocker, and lastly the Chow/lab mix with its very short hair.

Of course we must factor in the seasonal changes, colder weather brings in more of a coat than warmer weather and with the winter thaw comes more shedding to get ready for the spring/summer seasons. If there’s a female heat cycle happening you can also expect some extra hair loss at that time. Well guess what, all six of my dogs seemed to shed the same amount of hair! Hmm, why? They were different breeds, different sizes, and different coat lengths.

Dogs actually shed all year long, there is no real start point, and what I mean by that is that new hair does not push out old hair, it is continual and although it does have something to do with the cold and hot weather, it also has to do with the amount of time the dog spends in natural light (sunlight) as opposed to spending time in artificial light (inside lamps). Why? Enter photoperiod (The duration of an organism's daily exposure to light), which triggers the amount of shedding you will see in your dog. Dogs which spend a lot of time in natural light will shed more at one time in the spring/summer than a dog that spends more time in artificial light. The dog in artificial light will continue to shed all year long as well but it will be consistent so it may seem like lesser amounts at once than a dog that spends most of its time outside in natural light.

By the same token, some breeds have slower hair growth then others and the hair may stay in the “resting/transitioning phase” longer which can contribute to less shedding, thus leading some breeder’s to play on the words "This breed doesn't shed." . in order to sell their dogs. All dogs shed, all year round, so really what they should be saying is that breed X has a slower hair growth rate so you won’t see as much shedding as you might see from breed Y.

Of course genetics, health, and feeding have a lot to do with it as well. A cheaper grain filled food may yield dryer skin leading to a poor coat condition by causing hair breakage and loss. Illness such as hypothyroidism will cause poor appearance of the skin and coat, as well, stress in a dog can also cause hair loss.

So, getting back to my dogs, in the end it seemed like my short haired Chow /Lab mix Maxie was the worst shedder out of all 6 dogs, but actually, I think it had more to do with her hair length because it seemed to stick like tiny needles into every nook and cranny of every piece of furniture I owned, whereas the longer haired breeds lost their hair in a clump which was much easier to clean up. What did they all have in common aside from the food? All spent the same amount of time in artificial light.

I would have to say that if you want your dog to have a nice thick coat some of the things that can help are natural light over artificial light, a dog food that is well balanced (always with a meat listed first, not grains) and good overall health. Supplements that contain omega fatty acids such as the fish oil or Derm Caps are a nice added bonus as well but check with your vet before using any over the counter meds even if they are just vitamins. Vitamins are the most poorly regulated meds on our store shelves. You want to get the right amount into your dog and some of the omegas do come in your dog's food.

Here are the different growth phases that your dog’s hair goes through.
1 Anagen: is the phase of new hair growth
2 Catagen: is a transition phase where the hair stops growing and the outer root sheath attaches to the hair.
3 Telogen: is the resting phase where the hair doesn't grow or shed.
4 Exogen: is when the hair falls out and the hair follicles move back into the anagen stage

A good article on omega fatty acids: what they do for the body and what to use as omega fatty acids. I use fish oil but you may choose to use another source.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1662&aid=666

For a list of breeds that shed hair at a slower rate making them more allergy friendly copy and paste the below link. When you see a dog of interest click on it and a separate page will open on that breed. http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/lightshedders.htm

Christmas Puppies? Good or bad idea?

Pics: Forrest gump and Casey and Litter of six week old pups waiting patiently, the hats were added later just for the holidays.

Surely this posting is too late for this season, but any breeder, pound, or rescue in their right mind will tell you do not give a puppy for a Christmas gift. The only ones that will talk you into getting a puppy for a gift is a pet store. But here we are, Christmas has come and gone and we have a new puppy, figuratively speaking. The new puppy is causing havoc with the old dog that does not have the patience to deal with puppy antics. What do you do?

Step one: Ring the neck of the person who gave you the pup.
Step two: If the idea was yours, roll up the newspaper and smack yourself!

Okay so here we are, the old dog is growling and snarling at the pup, mouthing the pup’s neck trying to let the pup know what is acceptable and what is not and you’re scolding the old dog for bad behavior which makes any friendship between the two even more stressful. Soon, you will end up hating both dogs and wish you had gerbils instead!

How to handle the situation is a question I hear often. First, if the old dog is not getting vicious with the pup allow it to let the pup know the boundaries that will be tolerated. This is the fastest way for a pup to learn. If your older dog is a bit possessive of items, pick up all toys, bones, bowls, beds etc. that belong to the old one and put them away for now, this will give the older dog no reason to feel like it must protect or possess. Keep water dishes located in more than one room of the home so all animals feel safe enough to drink.

The next step is to start getting your puppy under control through obedience training, the sooner you get the young one under your control the more at ease the older one will feel. Its hell to be a parent and no older dog wants that thrown upon them and then asked to be gracious about it.

So now you not only have house breaking to do, but obedience training as well. Pups can start learning what you expect of them at four to six weeks old, as soon as their little legs are sturdy enough to carry them places. The trick? Consistency! Too many of us fall from grace when we begin to change the rules and confuse the pup. If you don’t want the pup eating human food from the kitchen table, don’t ever give him food from the table! Let one person in the family give in and it can lead to an annoying dog that no one wants around them. I’m not saying you can’t give leftovers as a treat, I’m just saying to put them in the pup’s dish after you have left the table. Also, be mindful of the human foods that can be toxic to dogs and know what to do should you find yourself in that situation.

Teach your pup manners so you can stop him from annoying the older dog before things get out of hand. Too many of us make the mistake of trying to stop a dog from a situation we don’t like when the situation is actually happening. I suppose this is because it is frightening or upsetting to us in some way and so we react. Here we are, the older dog has the little pup’s cute little neck in its mouth and it looks like things are about to get ugly and what does the human do? We act inappropriate. We start yelling at the top of our lungs, slam books or pots to try and prevent the inevitable from happening. Okay so if not screaming and slamming things what should we do? Well, as much as I hate to say it, we should have prepared ourselves for this beforehand.

In other words, we see the older dog getting antsy with the pup, we see by a body language change it is not going to be pretty if the pup is not soon stopped. Now, if you had taught your older dog a firm ‘leave it’ command before hand you could have given that command calmly to the dog while you removed the pup from the situation and averted any escalation between the two.

Teaching the pup the ‘leave it’ command should be right up there at the top of the heap with mom’s sweet apple pie. The leave it command means, “Leave anything and everything alone that you are even thinking about getting and bring your attention back to me so I can tell you what I want you to do next.” If you can teach your rambunctious little pup just that one command, you can avert a lot of trouble and keep the pup fairly safe from harm, not only from another animal, but from car chasing, eating something toxic, or running off down the road after a squirrel.

So if you have found yourself with a new pup this Christmas season, enjoy, they can be pretty neat to hang with. At the same time, make them a dog that you always want to hang out with, not a dog that grows up to be bothersome to others, the dogs with bad manners often end up back in the place they originally came from and that’s just not fair.

To learn how to get your pup off on the right paw, check out the below site for clicker training. Clicker training is easy, rewarding and not expensive. Plus it makes a pup think, and when a pup has to think, it gets tired and a tired pup is a good pup! Just remember to keep training sessions short for young pup, as soon as they show boredom stop the training and start again later in the day. They really are like human toddlers; they can only focus for so long and steps have to be repeated to them throughout the day before they get it!

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!

click here for step by step` Clicker training
videos of how it is done http://www.clickertrainusa.com/clicker-training-videos.htm
clicker teachers network http://www.clickerteachers.net/