Are there any methods to help with shedding that any of you use out there? My corgi is 9 months old and recently has been shedding like crazy...though I guess they shed twice a year...we could brush him for hours but it doesnt seem to help. Any shampoos..anything?

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I have a spare Furminator if you're wanting to try one. I initially bought the small one when Molly was a wee puppy, but now that's she's graduated to full-size Corgidom we had to upgrade her to the medium Furminator. I'd be happy to send it to you if you want to try it! Just message me :o)
I'm going to say it like everyone else because it's the truth.. the Furminator is a gift from Corgi-heaven!
My vacuum cleaner used to be sitting in the storerm. After we got Keke, the vacuum cleaner works at least 3 times EVERYDAY, lol. We also vacuum, brush and furminate her. But there is no stopping to the flying fur.
The furminator is awesome! The first time you use it, you might feel like your removing too much hair like I did. Now I use it on Nibbler once or twice a week to maintain. I also bathe Nibbler every couple of weeks while using the zoomgroom from kong and I'm amazed how much fur gets trapped in the hair catcher.
Is everybody saying Furminator? Totally Furminator! I just got mine last week after living in a year of fur. It really helps, though the fur will always be part of the Corgi love, it definitely helps. Check out Ebay for good deals on the Furmintor. I have size M for my little guy.
Furminator is great, though my girl has a softer longer coat (not a fluffy) and honestly a plain comb works better than a furminator for her. For my boy, I'd go crazy without the furminator.

But I gotta say that part of owning a Corgi is getting Zen about the fur. I have learned to live with fur, everywhere. I simply don't have time to sweep, swiffer, and vacuum every day and so I live with very large dust bunnies. I'd say they shed enough fur to make a whole new dog about every 3 days when blowing coat. Which would be fine if coat-blowing was a one week event, but it goes on a good couple months. They start in one spot, maybe the hindquarters. Then the shedding moves to, say, their shoulder. Then maybe to their ruff, then back to the haunch but lower down right above the legs. *sigh* All told, you might have about 6 weeks of heavy shedding and then another month or so where odd tufts just blow out and there is lighter shedding of topcoat.
When I first got Lilliput 3 years ago, my vet said I could take her to a groomer during a blow-out to "strip the undercoat." I have no idea what that means. Does anyone else?

Julia
You could take her during heavy shedding times. Of course they shed year round but usually once in the summer and once in the winter they will shed heavily and it would help to have the groomer thin out the undercoat and remove all that loose hair. We do that with Finn and it really does help. They can do a special deshedding treatment so if you go be sure to tell them you want them to concentrate on her heavy shedding.
The Tri colors look worse when they are blowing their coat but you can get used to the hair. Just keep reminding yourself how often he makes you smile!
I am the meanie here but I do NOT like Furminators for constant use. You can use them a couple times a year but after that you're kind of burning the coat. The Furminator is just a clipper blade attached to a handle, and it has the same sharp edges as a clipper blade. It's a little like what would happen if you had your hair "razored" every week or two; eventually it gets all crispy and frizzled.

If you get yourself a forced air dryer (they're about $160) you can replicate the pro grooming results at home. They can get all that coat out because they're drying down to the skin, which makes the hair let go. You need to use a shampoo that adds some softness and slip (that's all the deshedding shampoos are; they just have more conditioners and softeners, which encourage the skin to let the hair go) and use conditioner afterward, and use water that's as hot as the dog can easily tolerate. Not tepid. Then you get your dryer and you dry down to the skin and brush with a pin brush or undercoat rake at the same time, and keep drying and keep brushing. There's a magic point where the dog finally gets totally dry and you're still adding warmth and air and they basically go "poof!" and you get a TON more hair out. That's what undercoat stripping is; it's that steady combing and drying until the whole thing lets go.

Diet is also SO key. On raw, with good oils and a little kelp, my dogs really do blow coat a couple times a year and otherwise barely shed. When they start to blow, I can shorten the process from several weeks to several days by blowing them out completely and stripping the undercoat out.

If you came to my house right now you'd be drinking dog hair with your coffee because Bronte is blowing coat and I haven't had the free time to groom her well. I've washed her but not blown her out or stripped her. It is TOTALLY grossing me out; I am used to vacuuming around the edges of the room and getting a few hairs but these dust bunnies are evil.
I'm not surprised to hear that the Furminator is flawed. We bought one because everyone raved about them and at first I thought, wow, look at all the hair it's getting, but then I started to wonder how good this tool was for the dogs skin and fur. It seemed like it was pulling the hair out from the root and sounded like it was breaking hairs as well. I stopped using it as often because the static it creates makes brushing a very slow process, then a groomer told me they are ok for occasional use but should not be used regularly or for prolonged periods of time as they can cause skin irritation, scabbing and hair breakage. That's why I started using it in conjunction with a pin bush and a slicker brush. The last time I used the Furminator on him I was seeing some hairs with dry skin at the root which I'm sure the brush was pulling out and Finn protests more to being brushed with it than any other brush. I really try to love it as much as others do but I have trouble doing so.

Which is the undercoat rake like what you use Joanna? Does anyone know what the tool is that is a silver loop with teeth on it? I see a lot of people using those but I don't know what you would call that?
I think it's called a shedding rake. We bought one for Nibbler and it didn't work too well on her, probably because she has a thinner finer coat than most corgis.

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