I guess most dog owners on the Northern hemisphere are starting to notice that the fur of their dog is changing. On plants I know that amount of sunlight and temperature play a role on when the leaves start to fall. But on animals I am not sure what is the biggest trigger is for a dog to start shedding.
Here in the Netherlands the weather has been really nice over the last couple of weeks, but previously when it was colder already this is was also the time on where the dog started to shed out his summer coat.
When shedding season starts, the undercoat is the one that changes the most and what you will see sticking out of the fur, just waiting for it to be pulled out. Which you literally actually can do, pull it out by plucks. Time for a decent combing session!
I have a Bernese mountain dog and these guys are notorious for having an undercoat under their fur for total insulation in the wintertime. And that works! Because when it is snowing outside there is nothing this guy would rather do than park his butt into the snow and act like he is on the beach somewhere.
What is weird is that you can see in his behavior that something is off. He is very lazy and licking the floor more, signs of being uneased because something is going on. But when I start to comb my dog...That is when he acts like I am going to kill him.
'Stop harrassing me mom!'
Running away, lying under tables, no snacks in the world will help once he has decided that the brushing is finished. But as you can see....it is never finished. This pile is from not even 5 minutes of brushing and not even being finished. I could grow a whole new dog from this pile and I know he isn't done for the time being as yet!
And yes, I do this inside the house because otherwise he will run off into nomansland because he really doesn't like me at all. Using snacks as bait? Not even interesting while he is hiding under the table. Something meaty which is his favorite? Like it does't even excists.
Just for the idea of how much hair this actually is, I have put tea spoon inside of the end disaster. Do you see how big the pile is compared the spoon? Why isn't this dog not bald as yet?
'You suck!'
And now ofcourse I have to deal with winning the trust back of the animal who I have just chased through the house to comb a piece of him.
As you can see...he is not happy with me at all keeping his distance and looking grumpy. Poor thing....
I am sure this will not be the last of the combing sessions this shedding season.
How do you deal with this? Is your dog a fan of combing and brushing? And tips for making this more enjoyable for the animal? I'm open to suggestions.
