Lab Shedding

[Jmnhunter]

quick question, i've noticed my 9 month old lab has been shedding pretty much non stop for the past month or 2, I can use a deshedder and cover the yard with hair. Is this about normal for a lab during the summer months? Hes not loosing hair in one particular area, and his coat looks good no uneven coat.

thoughts?

[Kettle]

It's normal I have had two labs and the one I currently have is shedding, if your dog can stand the noise, vacuum him/her just take the detach handle off and go to town

Kettle

[wormdunker]

First I am gonna ask if your dog is either yellow or White. The best way to get reduce the amount of sheded hair is to use a furminator brush and use it weekly or more often. We have found the brush to work great. The first time you use it you will be amazed at how much hair comes out over and above the normal amount from a regular brush.

Labs are fantastic dogs but like anything they are not perfect. Shedding is the one thing we have to live with.

I have also used the shampoos and de-shedding application products from the company that makes the brush. Lets just say they absolutely accelerate the shedding process but you better brush at least once a day for a while. The hair really sheds off of them with these products.

[jwmiller33]

It's normal I have had two labs and the one I currently have is shedding, if your dog can stand the noise, vacuum him/her just take the detach handle off and go to town

Kettle

My Golden loves to get vacuumed! To her, it's just another way of getting her belly scratched

[TylerS]

You bought a lab...nuff said! I've yet to met a lab that doesn't shed 24/7/365. It may slow down or pick up, but I've never heard of one stopping.

My advice: invest in a good vacuum!

[hanson]

You bought a lab...nuff said! I've yet to met a lab that doesn't shed 24/7/365. It may slow down or pick up, but I've never heard of one stopping.

My advice: invest in a good vacuum!

I have hardwood floors in my house and I have to sweep about every 3 days. Its nonstop.

I have a Furminator as well. I almost have to use it daily to make any kind of dent.

[Ufatz]

Well fellas, I can tell ya this: It helps to make sure you dog has a good diet with sufficient oils etc. Lab we have now turns heads and people say "My that is a GORGEOUS dog....so shiny and such a nice coat." Yes, she sheds some-at times (seasonal changes) more than others. Most dogs do. I don't go all goofy with sophisticated diets and I do NOT feed my dogs table scraps other than some few vegetables.

I don't pretend to be an expert at this but I cannot recall having a black lab with excessive shedding problems. Of course, we've only lived with them since 1963 so there may be something we missed. Check the diet. Keep brushes handy. Lots of swimming. If you have REALLY bad shedding talk to a vet.

And hope you don't meet a lovely woman, the light of your life, who is allergic to Labrador hair because it will break her little heart when you ask her to leave.

[jeffreyd]

I have two yellow labs. They both shed 3 times a year. We are heading into the fall shed now. I feed a great diet and make them fresh chicken with rice and veggies once a month just to mix it up a bit. I own a rumba floor sweeper and it runs daily. I can fill up the bigger container on it in one sweep plus lawn, branches, rocks, and anything else they drag in. Just have to get use to it, the furminator works magic.

[S.D. Ice Angular]

My Yellow Lab sheds 24-7-365, it never stops!!!!

The Furminator does bring up (drag out) a lot of hair but it does not seem to put a dent in the carpet cleaning efforts.

[Ufatz]

I find this a VERY interesting thread! I know my dogs shed some and, as I said earlier, shed a lot at certain seasons, but I have never had this excessive shedding you fellas seem to encounter.

Why would that be? I mean, what would make your dogs shed so much and mine only modestly and sometimes not much at all? Makes ya wonder doesn't it? I don't have a clue but there is much room for speculation and I'm sure we could flog the subject severely for several days.

We have one Lab now, a black (all our dogs have been) and she sheds nominal amounts in spring and fall....actually MORE in spring but she spends half her time in the house and yes.....we do have to run the Rhoomba every other day but we generally do that anyway.

Since this will be my last dog (I'm an old guy ya know) maybe I am more tolerant. When she asks to sit on the $3K leather couch I tell my current wife "Oh what the heck....it's just a brown couch and she's been working hard today."

Carry on.

[fivebucks]

Yellows vs blacks. It seems blacks are oilyer and yellows shed more, based on my experience.

[wormdunker]

I have to say based on the research and my personal experiences yellows/whites seem to shed more (often way more) than Blacks. Heck, go to Dennis Andersons HSOforum, check out this page, http://www.britishretrievertraining.com/britishway/color.html

I can tell you that this has been slightly softened since I first read it 2 years ago. If memory serves it actually said something to the degree of, "womeen have led to the downfall of the American labrador due to breeding for color, yellow...".

While their theory may be true I can tell you that my wife did not take kindly to hearing that women's desires have led to the downfall of the American Labrador Retriever. Oh by the way I am not looking to open an American vs British Lab discussion.

That said, we have owned several labs all colors and mulitples of some colors. Additionally family members have owned various colors of labs and we all conclude that the lighter color dogs we have owned have a more predominant undercoat (feel softer) and thus shed more often and to a greater extent than our Black Dogs.

This obviously will not help your current situation but I do find it to be an interesting discussion.

[DOC33]

I have owned 2 labs, 1st one chocolate, currently have a yellow. The chocolate shed seasonally, it was amazing how much hair would come out. The yellow lab sheds ALL the time, like others have said. The wife has stated multiple times, "No More Yellow Labs". She had heard yellows shed more than other labs, I was skeptical of her sources. But after reading some of these posts, it may be true.

[Ufatz]

The standard Black Labrador Retriever does, and will always, reign supreme over its weaker and inferior cousins.

It is becoming more and more difficult to obtain a black that meets the standard for the breed and is not (a) a 120lb beast of a dog with a strange head (b)a lanky,big-boned black dog with a rat tail and tiny brain compartment or © a pudgy,dumpy little dog that loves children and ladies but is afraid of water or (d) a genetically inferior dog that can't smell it's own dish

As for the blonde,yellow,white,beige,champagne and golden designer dogs of the past thirty years all us old guys KNOW what a real Labrador Retriever is.

But hey! ....that's just one guys opinion.

But old guys know things.

[hanson]

I just did a quick internet search with the words "Lab Shedding"...

1st site that came up was 'Top 10 Reasons not to own a Lab'... #1 on the list was Labs Shed ALOT!

The rest of the hits were very similar.

Number of recommendations to prevent shedding were constant brushing (w/ Furminator), good diet, weekly shampooing... basically good grooming.

I dunno, I'm a first time Lab owner and have limited experience with breed. Mine sheds alot, wish I could limit it a bit. No scientific evidence beyond that.

[MuleShack]

How many of you that have shedding issues feed your dog foods with corn or other grains as one of the prominent ingredients?

Nothing scientific here, but just wanted to see what the tally would look like.

I have a chocolate lab with a thick coat in the winter (in fact i call her my polar bear) she will be outside playing all day and love it when it is zero or even below outside. She sheds once in the spring over a couple week period and we brush her out good. Then over summer she looses a little but not much and has another molting in the fall. We feed her the champion brand that has real meats, fruits and vegetables in it, no grains...no shedding issues.

[MuleShack]

Number of recommendations to prevent shedding were constant brushing (w/ Furminator), good diet, weekly shampooing... basically good grooming.

I thought that you weren't suppose to give a dog a bath more than once a month to keep the skin oils in tact so they didn't dry out.

Also wonder if some "people" shampoo would cause dry skin which may hasten the shedding issue...

...food for thought?

[hanson]

I feed my Lab Canidae All Life Stages and have been since the vet recommended I get him off puppy food. Couple years ago, Canidae was a highly recommended food on the forums here so thats what I picked and have stuck with it. I know there are plenty other good foods as well but is there really that much a difference between "quality" foods than a grocery store food vs a higher end petfood. Canidae doesn't have corn as an ingredient. If I jump to something like Orijen, is that going to make that much a difference?

Lets just say my Lab doesn't like anything involving a bath or shower so its rare that shampoo goes near him. I've had multiple occurrences this summer of him finding dead carp on shore at the lake and having a hayday with them. Which results in multiple showers with anything that will get that smell out of him. Natural fish oil, should be good for the coat, eh?

[MuleShack]

I think the fish oil is good when they eat it, not roll in it

[MuleShack]

I feed my Lab Canidae All Life Stages and have been since the vet recommended I get him off puppy food. Couple years ago, Canidae was a highly recommended food on the forums here so thats what I picked and have stuck with it. I know there are plenty other good foods as well but is there really that much a difference between "quality" foods than a grocery store food vs a higher end petfood. Canidae doesn't have corn as an ingredient. If I jump to something like Orijen, is that going to make that much a difference?

We actually switched over to Acana back in February. It is made by Champion with the same quality ingredients but has a lower ratio of real meat and less protein, rather than the 80% protein of the Orijen.

Based on what you are feeding now, no i dont think it will make a huge difference. Comparing ingredients, the canidae does have rice and oatmeal and barley which are grains.

CANIDAE INGREDIENTS

Chicken meal, turkey meal, lamb meal, brown rice, white rice, rice bran, peas, potatoes, oatmeal, cracked pearled barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), millet, tomato pomace, natural flavor, flaxseed meal, ocean fish meal, choline chloride, sun cured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root),

ORIGEN INGREDIENTS

Fresh boneless chicken*, chicken meal, fresh boneless salmon*, turkey meal, herring meal, russet potato, peas, sweet potato, fresh boneless turkey*, fresh whole eggs*, fresh chicken liver*, fresh boneless lake whitefish*, fresh boneless walleye*, sun-cured alfalfa, pea fiber, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), organic kelp, pumpkin, chicory root, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, blueberries, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, vitamin A, vitamin D3

Question by Breanna: What is the difference between meat and meal in dry dog foods?

Example: chicken, chicken meal or lamb, lamb meal. Was wondering what to look for in a high quality dog food.

Best answer:

Answer by vail2073

meat is what humans would eat normally… the meat of the chicken or lamb or cow, etc. The Meal is the organs or small parts of the animal. Your best bet is to have a meat as the first ingredient with little or no corn or artificial flavorings.

[Ufatz]

Man their just AIN'T nuttin' nastier than a Lab that has just rolled in a dead carp! Ha Ha. Maybe a dead sockeye that has been on the bank for a week? Ha Ha!

I concur with the thoughts on weekly shampooing-seems to me rinsing off the natural oils of dogs skin and coat is counter-intuitive.

It's nice to see so many people who worry about and care for their Labs. Have been around them for 60 years and loved them all. Except my last one, this one, is a typical female who has moods (can you believe it!) and will sometimes POUT if she doesn't get her way or if I leave her at home when I take a drive! Ha Ha! But she will not quit until she finds a down bird.

So while you guys ALL have nice dogs.....none of 'em are as great as MY dog.

HA HA......love 'em all gang; they make life worth living.

[Jmnhunter]

yeah mine is a yellow, that may explain alot, feed him diamond naturals, coat looks good otherwise!

I was going to pick the furmintator brush up at Fleet but the size i needed was $54!! so I opted to buy one on line for 17 instead...

[wormdunker]

Yeah they dont give them away. One suggestion, take it easy on the dog with the FURM. I think we can all get a little carried away in our attempts to de-hair our Labs. However, the FM can be abrassive and will take a lot of hair out. Combine that with our desire to rid the house of tumble weed hair balls and I think you can see where I am going. It is easy to get carried away. I had this happen one time. Lets just say my dog got a bit uncomfortable. I felt terrible because I did not feel like I was going at it that hard.

Just a suggestion.

Probably the best approach is to do it more often than try to do it all at once.

[Jmnhunter]

is it that big of difference compared to a shedding blade? seems like the blade does a decent job

[Brocster]

You bought a lab...nuff said! I've yet to met a lab that doesn't shed 24/7/365. It may slow down or pick up, but I've never heard of one stopping.

My advice: invest in a good vacuum!

Yeah - my wife would agree!