Getting Ready for Spring: Shedding

It's that time of year again...

When your vaccum is ready to quit...

When your home feels like the wild west with all the fur tumbleweeds drifting through it...

When you can't sit on your furniture without putting a fur sweater on...

That's right. It's shedding season (commonly referred to by non-pet owners as Spring).

Before I get into how to reduce shedding I would like to start with how NOT to reduce it...

DO NOT SHAVE your double, or triple coated dog.  While shaving your dog will help to reduce the amount of fur flying around your home, there are other solutions that are much healthier for your pet.  

I will NOT shave your husky!

The issue with shaving a double-coated dog is that their coats act as a natural layer of insulation, both against heat and cold.  During summer a heavy coat will actually guard them against the heat from the sun's rays and keep their bodies cooler.  In addition, if shaved,  their skin will be exposed to the sun and they become more susceptible to sunburns. Instead, help thin the coat out,  I often clip back the hair on the bellies to  offer relief during the summer months.  For more information on the myths of shaving double-coated dogs, check this article out.

So what to do??

Regular brushing is the best thing you can do to get rid of the fur by speeding up the shedding cycle (in a healthy way).  Brushing will allow you to get that coat out on your own terms instead of waiting to find it in patches on the couch. 

One of the most popular and effective de-shedding product lines is made by Furminator.  This is a fantastic line of tools as well as shampoos and conditioners that work very effectively to lift the undercoat from your dog.

Furminator tools (brushes) are more expensive than your typical pin or curry brush, but everyone I know that has one stands by them -- and with good reason. Furminator tools dramatically cut down the amount of time spent brushing when compared to a typical brush.  They come in different sizes and models so you can select one that is best suited to your dog's breed.

Notice the ends of the brushes?  They are designed to actually grab the fur from your dog's coat, rather than simply pass through it.

Bathing your dog regularly will also help to reduce shedding. If you use a de-shedding solution/conditioner during the bath you will find the Furminator brush will work even better since the fur will be loosened before attempting to brush.

While bathing and brushing are the most obvious fixes to shedding you may also want to consider what food you are feeding your dog.  Low quality foods may actually increase the amount your dog sheds while a high quality food can help to reduce it.

Are you sure this is normal?

Finally, if the amount of shedding is abnormal for your dog's breed consider taking them to the vet to ensure that is is not due to a medical problem. According to the ASPCA,  it's time to see your vet when there is evidence of:

• Skin irritation (redness, bumps, rashes, scabs etc...)
• Open sores of any kind
• Bald spots or thinning of coat
• Dull, dry hair that pulls out easily
• Scratching
• Constant foot licking or face rubbing

I hope you've found my de-shedding tips helpful!



-Peter

Keeping Your Dog's Coat Beautiful: Food

In an earlier post about keeping your dog's coat beautiful, I said that brushing was the #1 most important thing you can do.  This post will focus on the other thing that is tied for 1st place;  feeding your dog a high quality food.

As many of my close friends can attest to, I bring up the topic of dog food pretty often... To be honest, I'm a little obsessed with what people feed their pets.  This is because as a groomer I see first hand the health benefits that feeding your dog a high quality food can make.

High quality foods have sufficient nutrients, including essential fatty acids to maintain a healthy, shiny coat.  On the other hand, a dog that has flaky skin and a dull, sparse coat may not be getting these essential nutrients that are part of a balanced diet.

Another contributor to skin and coat issues, as well as chronic ear infections, are food allergies.  These can unfortunately often be attributed to the most common ingredients in dog food; beef, dairy, chicken, lamb, fish, eggs, corn, wheat and soy.  In order to help your dog overcome allergies they should be eating a food that either has limited ingredients (to identify/avoid the allergen), novel ingredients (ie ingredients that are not included in the list of common ingredients dogs are allergic to) or is hypoallergenic.  Low quality foods will not have any of these characteristics and thus are far more likely to aggravate allergies.

Other signs that your dog may be on the wrong food are outlined in this Pet MD slide show.  If your dog is having medical issues always ask your vet if a change in diet could help.

While most dog owners will acknowledge that putting their dog on a great food is important, sometimes that is easier said than done.  Two generations ago dogs were fed table scraps and leftovers from human food. It wasn't until the 1950s that the pet food industry started down the path of becoming highly commercialized.

Today, we are so inundated with advertising that it is difficult for the average consumer to separate high quality foods from low quality foods with good marketing campaigns. We are made to feel that only the priciest foods provide adequate nutritional value for our pets - or conversely, that the priciest foods aren't worth it since the lower quality foods advertise the same benefits.

The packaging doesn't help to make food selection easier nor do the ingredients that are almost impossible to decipher.

For example, here is the packaging of a low quality dog food

This food could be classified as a mid-quality dry food 

And now take a look at the packaging of this high quality food...

Did you notice that the packaging of all three of these foods featured pictures of at least one happy dog, carrots and meat?

Along with many others, I found myself duped by dog food marketing when I first brought home Wallace.  When picking the best food at the pet store I assumed that the mid-priced foods would offer the best value and be comparable in quality to one another. It wasn't until I found the site Dog Food Advisor that  I realized this was not so.

I initially fed Wallace what I thought was a reasonably high quality, grain free, food. Once I looked it up on the site I realized it was a decent quality food but I could buy another much better food for the exact same price.  This brings me to my next point.  For many dog owners the cost of food is a major consideration when choosing a food. A little research can help to ensure your are getting the most nutritional bang for your buck.

Whenever the topic of dog food comes up I always recommend checking in with Dog Food Advisor. Dog Food Advisor provides reviews and ratings for over 3,300 varieties of wet, dry and raw dog foods. It's pretty interesting when you take the time and browse through some of their reviews.  Their method of evaluating the food is straight forward and thourough; they go through every ingredient listed, define it, list its characteristics be them positive or negative, and give a final overall rating ranging from 1-star to 5-star.  By and large, the lower ranked foods have more fillers and less nutritious grains and cuts of meat, whereas the higher ranked foods are for the most part free of grains and fillers, opting for more natural and easily digestible options.

There are countless other ways that a good dog food will help your dog's long term health.  Research the food you are feeding your pet to make sure you are getting the best value for your money. A well fed dog is a happy (and pretty) dog!

-Peter

Getting Ready for Spring: Fleas

It's one of those dirty words that makes you (and your dog) itch just thinking about it; fleas.  Perhaps the greatest fear of pet owners during the spring and summer months, fleas are external parasites that live off of hitching a ride onto a mammal (not just dogs and cats), biting their skin and sucking their blood.  These tiny vampires are very small, about the size of a sesame seed, so they can be very difficult to detect on your pet until a full blown infestation is underway.

                                 

How can I spot fleas?
During our first spring with Wallace, we noticed him scratching himself more than usual, and upon inspection, we noticed his armpits and belly looked a bit dirty. It turns out this was flea dirt.   Generally the most tell-tale sign that your dog has fleas are deposits of flea dirt rather than the actual fleas. Flea dirt is dried blood that the fleas have passed through their body -- Basically, it's flea poop. The fleas and flea dirt can most commonly be found hiding in the armpits and between the hind legs.  Fleas can be especially tricky to spot on darker coloured dogs since the dirt and fleas tend to blend in.

Flea dirt is usually the easiest way to detect fleas on your pet.

Where do fleas come from?  
One of the most frustrating things about being a groomer is hearing from a client "my dog got fleas from your shop!"  This is not impossible (that is to say, nothing is impossible) but it is extremely unlikely. Good groomers will take precautions to make sure that all fleas found on a dog in their care are immediately eradicated and the shop is properly cleaned and sprayed with insecticide.

In reality, fleas prefer warm, humid habitats such as sandy areas, crawl spaces under houses and gardens or under leafy vegetation.  As such, the most common way for fleas to get onto your pet is from out in nature....  This has become increasingly true in recent years as the use of pesticides is becoming more and more rare, due their being outlawed in many regions.

So no, your dog has probably not gotten fleas from other dogs at the groomer's but likely picked them up in your own backyard! 

Fleas live out in your yard, so make sure you're protecting your furry friends from them!

I found fleas! What do I do?
The first thing to remember is to not panic and the second is to call your vet.

When we first found the fleas on Wallace we immediately ran out to the pet store and bought a shampoo to give him a bath and went about vacuuming every inch of carpet and upholstery in our house every day for a week straight, sprayed insecticide all over and took all of the towels, bedding and curtains to the laundromat. Our house was very clean, but the fleas were still there and Wallace was still scratching...

If only we'd spoken to our vet!  It turns out that although Wallace was on a flea prevention program, our indoor kitten, Bridget, was not, and should have been. After Wallace brought the fleas into the house they would hop onto her and multiply. 

After speaking with the vet we decided to keep Wallace's flea treatment the same and start Bridget on a program as well.  Wallace is on a product called Trifexis which is a pill he takes once a month.  It's very effective as it not only kills adult fleas that try to feed on his blood, but also sterilizes them so they cannot ley eggs either. We also like that it's made in Canada.  We use a different product for Bridget called Advantage that is a topical application.  Generally cats get topical "spot-on" products since getting a cat to take a pill is not fun.

Again, consult with your vet  before using any flea treatment; these products are intravenous, meaning they are absorbed into the bloodstream, and some products sold in stores (Zodiac, Frontline) may have severe side effects.  

Getting Rid of Fleas - Step by Step

1. Call your vet. Book an appointment to put all indoor and outdoor animals on flea prevention programs.
2. Put your dog's bed, blanket and fabric toys in the wash.
3. Give your dog a bath with medicated flea and tick shampoo for immediate relief (or send them to the groomer to do it).
4. Vacuum your home paying special attention to corners, behind curtains and by the baseboards.
5. If your dog spends a lot of time in the backyard consider treating the leafy shrubs with insecticide as well.  There are specialty sprays available at pet stores.

Keep your pets free from fleas this summer with a preventative treatment from your vet!

Fleas are a very common pest that can cause agony for your pets by making them itch horribly.  To make matters worse, incessant scratching and licking often leads to skin irritation and infection.  Make sure you nip this problem in the bud and get your dogs (and cats) on a prevention program from your vet from spring through fall to keep them healthy and happy!

-Peter