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Can you use the Furminator too much?

Good grooming practices are essential for maintaining health and happiness for you and your dog. This is a forum to exchange tips and advice for proper care of your dog's hygiene needs.

  
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Charlie

786521		 
 
Barked: Mon Apr 12, '10 10:56pm PST 
I finally caved in a bought a Furminator. Charlie's shedding started off really bad this year, and I found one on Ebay for $12 and free shipping. Anyways, it works amazingly well. I saw the pictures and videos of dogs lying around huge piles of hair, and that's exactly what happened. If the Furminator only removes the 'loose' hair then it would lead me to believe that it isn't possible to over use it. However, I've used it a few days in a row and just as much hair comes out each time. He isn't bothered by the brush. In fact he tolerates it better than his slicker brush, which makes me think that it isn't actually ripping the hair out or anything.

So...onto my question: Is it possible to brush with the Furminator too much? If not, then can I just continue to brush as often as I want and eventually will less hair come out with each brushing?
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Charlie

The world is my- food bowl!		 
 
Barked: Tue Apr 13, '10 6:29am PST 
laugh out loud bol!

Make sure you're not pressing too hard. When I have a furminator session with my cats, I'll brush very lightly until nothing comes out from light strokes. Be aware that the "brush" is a clipper blade and can do a bit of damage if pressed to hard.
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ACE

550004		 
 
Barked: Tue Apr 13, '10 10:27pm PST 
YES YES you can over use the furminator. this is why i dislike this tool, b/c it is not worded enough on the box how damaging it is when used frequently, as in more than once or twice a week. its a 40 blade, which is what vets use to shave a dog for surgical procedures. using a blade that short to card your dog everyday (even every other day sometimes), can damage both the skin and coat. especially is the dog isnt used to it.

cool it with the furminator, only use it a couple times a week. it will still do its job.its not meant to be used a lot.
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Charlie

786521		 
 
Barked: Tue Apr 13, '10 10:53pm PST 
Yeah, I got a little suspicious when the amount of hair coming off never really tapered down. Still, I'm happy with the Furminator and will continue to use it more sparingly.
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Fritz

Fritz, cats are- fun when they- run
 
 
Barked: Wed Apr 14, '10 9:01pm PST 
We use our furminator once a week with a leave in conditioner. I think it can damage hair if used too much. I really like it, it gets out all kinds of undercoat, just don't overdo it.
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Daisy

Mommy's little- princess		 
 
Barked: Sun Apr 18, '10 5:57am PST 
Yes you can use it to much. You really only need to use it once a week. When you get on top of all the shedding you may find yourself not needing to use it that often even. As it can damage the coat. Even thin it out in some cases that I have seen. O ya and it can bald a short hair animal. I have seen this happen. confused This is why I prefer the zoom groom for the short hair shedder types.
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Ginger DSA- ThD TT CGC - &hearts

My Angel
 
 
Barked: Sun Apr 18, '10 12:43pm PST 
Yes you can.
When I used it on my Golden, I found it actually cut her hair around her hips (the feathering) instead of just pulling out the loose hair.
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Member Since
01/25/2013		 
 
Barked: Fri Jan 25, '13 1:20am PST 
I just went to the Vet for my cats vaccination, and to get an answer about why my cat keeps running around and lick her coat as if she has fleas. The vet said she has no fleas, but that I have removed all of her undercoat with the furminator and damaged her skin. She also said that she herself only use the furminator twice a year for her short haired cat. I should use a comb in stead of the furminator.
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Maxwell

I'm triple- superior MAD- now!		 
 
Barked: Fri Jan 25, '13 9:33am PST 
Agree, don't overdo the thing. A metal flea comb can take out a lot of loose fur too if you can get it through the coat. The comb works on Max's spaniel/setter type thin long double coat but I couldn't get it through Sassy's extremely dense lab type short double coat.

Fortunately I get tired and Sassy would give me a dirty look if I worked the coat too long and I never irritated her skin using it. I was amazed the first year, I thought she was going gray on her back, nope - super shiny healthy coat was reflecting the sunlight!

You can also try a shedding rake on dense and long coats. Again different results, worked great for Sassy and not at all on Max. I am too impatient, it is crucial not to push the tool down or you can really hurt the dog.

Less irritating than any tool is a warm bath and comb, ruffle fur and/or brush until completely dry. I live in a warm enough place and do the drying/brushing part outside during a walk. This is a pale imitation of the de-shed treatment professional groomers can do and it worked well enough to reduce tumblepuppies in the house for a week.
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Turner

Canadian- Champion, CGN		 
 
Barked: Fri Jan 25, '13 5:33pm PST 
I know this thread is from 2010, but I felt like giving my imput as well!

As a groomer, I know there are different tools for different coat types... Some people try to use the Furminator on EVERYTHING. It doesn't work that way. I find it works best on short coat. If the coat is too long it will start to break the overcoat, which isn't what it's meant to do. It's meant to be used to remove loose undercoat. That being said, YES, you CAN overuse it. If you keep using it it will start to pull out/break off the rest of the coat. I find it silly when uneducated people buy one and use it too much, then complain that their dog developed a rash because of the tool. It's because they were using it wrong, really.

I used one yesterday on a female Husky who was blowing her coat. She doesn't have a lot of coat yet, but she was blowing out all her undercoat. After using the HV dryer on her and after her bath, I brushed through her coat with as slicker then used the furminator on her. It did great to get the remainder of loose hair off, and it wasn't breaking her outer coat, so it worked great in that situation.

But I would NOT use it on a dog like a Sheltie like mine, because it's just going to break the harsh outer coat and make the dog look horrible. I know some of the furminators say for long coat or for short coat, honestly I have the "long coat" one and I use it just fine on short coated dogs. I Don't think they are really different, I think it's just the company trying to sell more. I wouldn't use one at all on a long coat.

To remove undercoat from longer coats, I would first use the slicker to untangle the hair and get most of the loose undercoat out. Then I would use a rake tool, this works great on my Sheltie, and that's the way longer coats are meant to be treated. I also find using a plain comb does a pretty good job of removing loose undercoat as well.

The Furminator is essentially one half of a 40 blade. It is the same deal as carding a coat, except they made it into it's own tool with a handle to make it easier to do. Carding was only meant to be done on certain coat types, so keep that in mind.
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