My dog is a beagle/dachshund mix and he has short black hair. He is an inside/outside dog and loves his cuddles. I haven't had too many problems with him before as far as grooming (he just got regular baths) but now he seems to shed everywhere. I'm constantly having to pick small black hair off of me and I work with yarn so it's a complete pain. A bath doesn't seem to help and my mom got a rubber brush thing and it doesn't do squat for him. Any advice would be appreciated. I don't want to spend a ton of money on getting him groomed regularly if theres something I can do at home. Thanks again!
Seeking tips for short hair grooming
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What are you feeding him? Sometimes lower quality foods can cause more shedding.
Has he been under any stress or experiencing anything that might make him anxious? Both stress and anxiety can cause dogs to shed more.
Other then that I can recommend a Kong ZoomGroom, it's the only thing that I've found that helps with my Dach x Chi's shedding. I tried a soft cat brush, a pin brush, a comb, a cheap grooming mit that had rubber nubs on one side and a fleece side, none of them got off enough hair to make any difference in the amount of shed hair he left on me and my furniture. The Kong ZoomGroom got handfuls of hair off of him and after using it for a couple of days hardly any hair was coming off of him. If you get one make sure you follow the directions, use circular motions to brush him, I do that a couple times then use the brush like a regular one to move all the loosened hair down towards his tail so I can grab and discard it. I only use it outside because I'm lazy and don't feel like cleaning my floors after I use it. He sits on my lap while I brush him so I wear clothes his hair doesn't stick to.
This is the brush if you want to check out reviews on it KONG Dog ZoomGroom Multi-Use Brush, Boysenberry
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Make sure you are not bathing too often. I bath my dogs once or twice a year, but they are indoor dogs and raw fed. Like Rain said, food has a lot to do with it too. I use a soft bristle bush on my dane, but she has very short hair. My other two I use a comb on though the basset doesn't shed like my lab/pointer who has the hair of a lab. I've used the shed ender and it actually works pretty well. I was surprised at how well. After brushing you can also try to wipe him down with a damp towel, it should grab some of the loose hair.
I feed him 4health, which is a great high quality food, and he gets a bath every month or every 2 months since he loves mud... I really don't bath him unless he stinks or is covered in mud, and usually I'll just rinse him real good if it's mud. I'll check out that brush too, thanks!!
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Mud just dries and flakes off my dogs, I'm not sure if it's a breed thing or diet related. The boys are both hunting breeds. I haven't had mud issues yet with the 'puppy', she's a great dane so we'll see.
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@ciscorox My cousin has this problem with her beagle no matter what she feeds her. I tend to think of it as a beagle trait as it seems like every beagle I meet has had this issue. She uses a sticky link roller to "brush" Nina which helps.
P.S. I may be completely wrong about it being a beagle trait
P.S. I may be completely wrong about it being a beagle trait
@ciscorox Both our dogs have similar coats with no undercoat, and our JRT mix has a magical ability to drop half her hair if she's stressed/excited/curious/happy. I'll brush her out like crazy before giving her a bath, and yet the bathtub ends up full of her hair.
The best brush we've found is similar to the one Rain posted, but has much shallower and non-pointy teeth (I think the Kong one would hurt with really short hair). If you're on Amazon just search for 'dog brush rubber' and you'll see a bunch, around the $5 mark, similar to this: www.amazon.ca/Salon-Essentials-Rubber-Grooming-Brush/dp/B0056V9RXE
We also use Brewer's Yeast for Dogs, it really helps their coat (and keeps fleas away as a nice bonus). I ran out of it for 10 days and noticed a dramatic difference in how much hair Fin was dropping.
If you find your dog gets stinky between baths, you could try pouring a rinse over him at the end of his bath (neck down!) of 50/50 water/vinegar. It'll keep him fresher longer, plus keeps yeasty-feet away. Our Chi boy gets stinky fast but the vinegar rinse means I can go 6 weeks before it's bad (though I usually do a monthly bath).
The best brush we've found is similar to the one Rain posted, but has much shallower and non-pointy teeth (I think the Kong one would hurt with really short hair). If you're on Amazon just search for 'dog brush rubber' and you'll see a bunch, around the $5 mark, similar to this: www.amazon.ca/Salon-Essentials-Rubber-Grooming-Brush/dp/B0056V9RXE
We also use Brewer's Yeast for Dogs, it really helps their coat (and keeps fleas away as a nice bonus). I ran out of it for 10 days and noticed a dramatic difference in how much hair Fin was dropping.
If you find your dog gets stinky between baths, you could try pouring a rinse over him at the end of his bath (neck down!) of 50/50 water/vinegar. It'll keep him fresher longer, plus keeps yeasty-feet away. Our Chi boy gets stinky fast but the vinegar rinse means I can go 6 weeks before it's bad (though I usually do a monthly bath).
Sounds like you have great soil in your area! I'm envious.
http://www.dogforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
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It's clay here and sandy were my mom is. It flakes off in both places. Not sure what kind of soil WV had, other than rocky. But that too flaked off when it dried.Sounds like you have great soil in your area! I'm envious.
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The kong doesn't hurt at all. The rubber is a soft rubber and I've rubbed it on my own skin to see how it felt on bare skin without any covering at all. It kind of pulled my skin because it's rubber but it didn't cause any pain. Zody actually likes me to use it on him so I imagine it's sort of like a message on him since it does not pull on him like it did on me.
Ah, okay good to know - I figured it was meant for dogs with thicker coats and undercoats - those pointy bits look pretty intimidating.
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