I have a gsd bitch she is a short haired but i am getting worried as she is continously loosing hair. I groom her every day and seem to end up with more than a carry bag full. I have tried all kinds of brushes but as soon as i stop and go back to her five minutes later you can see loads of loose hair on her again. I have also tried cod liver oil and coat conditioner but they seem to make no difference. Its getting to stage where i am finding it hard to cope with our dog as everywhere is getting covered in hair.

Can someone please advise me what to do.

Its quite normal at this time of year & all you can do is keep stripping out the dead undercoat-it's probably worse at the moment due to the hot weather

Something like this rake is good at getting the coat out

thanks for getting back to me

Is it the time of year?? Our retrievers maulting too, come to think of it he maults all year round, our carpets are covered in his hair and when he accidently brushes by you when your wearing black trousers . . . . Arrgghhh!!
If you are concerned tho, give the vet a ring :)

lol snap!

thanks for getting back to me

LOL our GSD girl looks like she has never had a groom in months despite having carrier bags full of coat taken out every day If she wasn't such a big girl I would have bathed her by now

can i just ask does the moulting process slow down

Moulting is a good time to send a long haired dog to a groomer who is experienced with that type of coat and has a blaster.  90% of the dead coat can be removed in one go if it's blaster after a bath.  Worth a though??! ;)

Val Kate's bitch has a correct coat ;)

Yes she will still shed all year around but not as much as in the summer by any means & a once a week groom will suffice

I have a friend in Germany who has grey(called Sables here)GSDs & they are the very worse when casting their coats, I send her Biotin powder(which contains vegetable keratin)which is meant for horses & she gives her dogs a level teaspoon a day for two months & then non for a month & her dogs always look in coat & after they have shed they quickly look aback to normal. They do seem to shed less too. Hers are working dogs so need to be in top coat condition all year around

>I have a friend in Germany who has grey(called Sables here)GSDs & they are the very worse when casting their coats, I send her Biotin powder(which contains vegetable keratin)which is meant for horses & she gives her dogs a level teaspoon a day for two months & then non for a month & her dogs always look in coat & after they have shed they quickly look aback to normal. They do seem to shed less too.

MM, I thought Biotin powder for dogs was for dry, itchy skin and allergic conditions?  Not moulting.  As biotin deficiency can cause poor hair growth and dry skin. Or have I misinterpreted? :-D

It is given to horses as a hoof/coat supplement & I used to give it to my beardies to encourage them to come back into coat Keratin is of course what hair, nails, hooves & fur is consists of

This is not the very expensive veterinary tablets/powder but a naturally produced horse food supplement that has been used to good effect in dogs with soft nails, poor coat etc. I know nothing of what vets prescribe their version for

Sounds like a typical moult of a double coated breed!  Keep brushing it out and feel sorry for those with long haired double coated breeds!!!!

Unfortantly hair everywhere is something a majority of dog people have to put up with!

yes it does slow down, when all the hair is out.  can be anything upto 2-3 months by the time it has fully stopped and the hair starts growing back with some dogs/breeds!

Thats true, like i said our big bears always shredding! His my mums dog tho, i opted for a dane, as short as you like :) his hair i mean :)

Kate, I'd be asking how long the moult was lasting for and how much hair has your dog got left. I.e. is she going bald in places?  The reason I'm saying this is that I had a shorthaired bitch years and years ago that wouldn't stop mounting all spring and summer and it was bad.  Carrying bags virtually every day.  The wind would blow her coat and a sheet of hair would blow off.  It got worrying but she was a rescue dog and very nervous and after she settled and was put on a good diet, the moulting eased.  In the years after that, she never moulted as bad again.  Now in her case, I put it down to stress and malnourishment.  (Please don't think that I'm suggesting that this is the case with your dog because I'm not)  :-)

Not all GSD's moult all year round and not all of them moult in the summer. The dog I have at the moment has a hefty moult in the spring, normally over a period of two months (Carrying bags of it, daily) and then I have very little.  He moults again late summer, early autumn.  My bitch has been known to moult dribs and drabs all year round, but she doesn't have as big a moult in one go as my dog has in the spring. 

At the moment I have very little hair round the house, but mine go swimming every week and I use the blaster as Val says to remove any dead hair.  I also use a shedding comb and a rubber brush that Dill suggested to me and there is a lot less stray hair about this summer.  In fact I have very little.  I do actually groom mine every day, sometimes every two days; mainly because they enjoy it more than anything else and so do I for that matter. :-D

But the moult should slow down.  I have yet to meet a GSD yet that lost bags of hair on a daily basis over a long period of time that wasn't contributed to some reason or another. 

Just given baby Freya (labrador) a good grooming and heavens to Betsey!!! Enough fluff to knit another labrador!     She didn't even look as if she was loosing her coat either - just thought she looked slightly dusty after having been bouncing through the lucerne.   Tomorrow, probably, she is going to be introduced to .....The Blaster!!!!

Aussies have already been blasted - now look half the size :D

Margot

i would just like to say thanks to everyone who has already replied to my add. Can someone tell me can you buy a blaster and how much am i looking at.

Kate, I have access to one at the hydrotherapy centre so I've never bought one.  Maybe those that have would be able to advise you better as to which ones are the best, etc. :-)

But I did find some on this site.  http://www.hubintsecured.co.uk/acatalog/Blaster_Dryers_Metro_Professional.html