Can anyone help?
I have a 10 month old Black Labrador dog that is continually casting large amounts
of hair every day. On average i am brushing up about a dustpan full of hair every day.
Now although Blackie isn't showing any signs of baldness or patches, i am keen to know
if anyone has experienced anything similar or should i just expect this in such a young dog.

Alternatively can anyone advise me on what to do to reduce the amount of casting.

Kind regards

ashley

welcome to the world of labradors :) all lab owners should own a decent vacuum cleaner preferable a dyson I hoover at least twice a a day and always have I always thought yellows moulted more than the blacks because I had dark carpets now I have light ones and the blacks show more.
Your puppy will have a big moult through then should moult once a year (Males) twice (females) but because we all have heating in our homes they shed hair all the year round.

There is an answer to your problem. Matching carpets! The colour of my Labs is always uppermost on my mind when buying a new carpet!!!

Best wishes, John

but what happens when u have one of each colour :)

Blackand yellow flecking works quite well! :p

John ;)

Yep - I was surprised at the amount of hair Murph is losing! I vacuum the kitchen about twice a day at the moment! It is hot and they must shed a bit more in hot weather.

TTFN

ruth

Mmmm three Chocolate Labraodours, (whoops sorry Labradors !) and I choose cream carpets throughout when we moved in ! :)

I have now got laminate floors throughout downstairs and a chocolate coloured carpet for the stairs ! :D

Lucy

Yes definately laminate flooring. The hair collects nicely in the corners so you can whip it up with the vacuum or dust pan when someone visits.

Yellows are worst (all year) then chocolate (lots, twice) then black (in our house anyway).

Julia & hooligans

On our tiled areas the hair moves around like tumbleweed blowing through a deserted Western town :o ....at least with a carpet it stays put!
:)

Oddly I've found (through trial and a lot of error!) that a palish green fleck carpet is the most 'forgiving' colour for dalmatian hair.
:)

I quite agree with the comment about tumbleweed - I've thought this in the past! We have laminate flooring in the lounge which is great for sweeping up hair but it tends to hide under the settee and furniture and comes wafting out across the floor.

Wait till you decide to move :) its embarrassing we had enough fur from behind the furniture to knit six labradors !!!

I bet knitted ones still moult :D

Lucy

Yeah, but they can't give you those wet slopppy kisses that get your tongue or right in your ear :D

Julia & Hooligans

:D

having just joined the forum i was reading with some amusement your letter on fur shedding Well! you ought to try living in spain with a yello lab. we could knitt another one the same day I find that a rubber brush one used for horses which is soft on the skin is a good thing use circular movements over your dogs coat and it will collect the hair in is as you use it it is also a good massage for the dog

Just thought I'd add to this barrage of replies! We had a similar experience with our yellow lab at that sort of age. Just balls and balls of fur coming out endlessly. I think this is quite normal, and have an idea it might be something to do with swapping the puppy coat for adult coat (although I'm by no means sure of this). It will calm down eventually, and then you'll get the same joy every spring as they shed their winter coat. However, if you're still worried, why not give your vet a call. He / she should be able to put your mind at rest (and they can't charge for a telephone call!).

By the way, I've found the quickest and most effective way of removing lab hair is a plastic nubbled brush-thing called a 'zoom groom'. My lab also seems to love it, as it seems like an allover massage. It is by far the best hair removing device that I've found.

Good luck, Imp. :)

My old Lab William used to lie down and be vacuumed he loved it :) whats a zoom groom then? how do they work?

A 'zoom groom' is just a rubber hand-held 'brush', and you use it just as you would a brush. It has raised rubber nubbles instead of bristles, and is just the best thing for removing labbie hair! As I said in my other post, my girl loves it as it seems to be giving her a massage at the same time, and isn't the slightest bit scratchy (If you go to www.petplanet.co.uk and type zoom groom into the product search box you can see what it looks like). Our local pet shops stock them, so I imagine most do. Just a tip from one lab owner to another! :)

Thank goodness for my yorkie he never sheds a hair :)

Smugness will get you nowhere :)

ha ha ha :D