Shedding

Post by **Sylvaen** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:16 pm

So, people often ask: "do Tamaskans shed?" - the answer is YES. However, it also depends a bit on climate.
IF you live in a tropical area, your Tam will have a short coat the whole year round and shedding won't be as bad for those of us who have really cold winters with very hot summers... this is because they have a summer coat and a winter coat. The summer coat is very sparse, while the winter coat is very thick. Those who are lucky enough to live in colder climates will find their Tam will develop a very wolfy winter coat. Usually the moulting is worst in the late spring (when they are losing their winter coat, in preparation for a hot summer) but Tamaskans also shed small amounts of fur all year round (though not so much in late autumn / winter). If you have mild summers, the shedding won't be so bad as those of us who have really HOT summers.

To help with shedding, I recommend the FURminator brush... a regular (weekly) grooming session that will remove the dead hairs, so they aren't being left all over the house - which entails regular sweeping and vacuuming.

Rahne · Post by **Rahne** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 11:29 pm

I was just looking at the pictures of Susi being out of coat and was thinking that Konah her coat looks really nice at the moment

It's still not very thick but it's the best i've seen it so far with her. Even my boyfriend told me that her coat looks so great now

Would be nice if maybe some tam owners could share their pictures from their dogs in winter and summer coat

Here are some pictures from Konah in summer and now in winter to compare

Post by **Sylvaen** » Wed Dec 22, 2010 12:32 am

Good idea!

Here's Vixen in the Summer (especially bald because she had her litter in May):

DSC_0243.JPG

And in Winter:

DSC_0770.JPG

wicca1 · Post by **wicca1** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 12:09 am

they all look very pretty

.

muensterland · Post by **muensterland** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 2:37 pm

Great pics

Amy · Post by **Amy** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:47 pm

Great pics

Amy · Post by **Amy** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:12 pm

Amy in summer and winter coat

Rahne · Post by **Rahne** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:56 pm

Thanks for posting!

JulieSmith · Post by **JulieSmith** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 9:50 pm

Its amazing how the coats change between winter and summer, thanks for posting.

WhiteElkStag · Post by **WhiteElkStag** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 11:04 pm

Wow, that is really cool to see. Thanks for posting!

TheNorth · Post by **TheNorth** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 2:36 pm

Great idea

and nice to see the different coats

JoshC · Post by **JoshC** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:52 pm

Dylan is losing his red coat and turning grey

Post by **Sylvaen** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:21 pm

Just to get an idea of a late spring moult...
this is from today (the weekly sweep)

DSC_0314.JPG

DSC_0316.JPG

Post by **Nino** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:33 pm

thats crazy!
happy I dont have carpet - never more!

Post by **Katlin** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:51 pm

AZDehlin · Post by **AZDehlin** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 12:16 am

Yikes... I think I will be sweeping daily once my little guy gets here.

Post by **Sylvaen** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 12:27 am

AZDehlin wrote:Yikes... I think I will be sweeping daily once my little guy gets here.

I used to sweep daily but it's a time-consuming process. One of these days I'll buy a Roomba vacuum (or several).

AZDehlin · Post by **AZDehlin** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 12:31 am

Sylvaen wrote:
AZDehlin wrote:Yikes... I think I will be sweeping daily once my little guy gets here.
I used to sweep daily but it's a time-consuming process. One of these days I'll buy a Roomba vacuum (or several).

Haha, with all that hair you may need more than a handful of Roomba Vacuum's on steroids.

Post by **Sylvaen** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 1:30 am

hehe yeah... but I figure if I have a couple of them running constantly they should be able to tackle the daily amount of hair (as long as I remember to empty them each day). The buildup only gets really bad if I leave it for a week or longer without sweeping.

Post by **Nino** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:34 pm

So I was just wondering, since Sølve is Moulting now..
Does your Tamaskan Moult now or not (and if not when does he/she or do you expect him/her to do so?)

Its so funny, I'm used to Kovo moulting then the hair is all white but Sølves is mostly very light redish

Rahne · Post by **Rahne** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:54 pm

Konah threw off her coat in May, she was very bold at the UK and German show! She is now getting her coat back for the winter, last year her coat was the best in December

Post by **Nino** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:14 pm

Rahne wrote:Konah threw off her coat in May, she was very bold at the UK and German show! She is now getting her coat back for the winter, last year her coat was the best in December

She only moults once a year?

Rahne · Post by **Rahne** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:24 pm

Nino wrote:
Rahne wrote:Konah threw off her coat in May, she was very bold at the UK and German show! She is now getting her coat back for the winter, last year her coat was the best in December
She only moults once a year?

Yes once a year, she does also loose some hair the whole year long but not much.

blufawn · Post by **blufawn** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:27 pm

I think if you brush your dog often, every day or at least once a week it makes a HUGE difference to how much hair you find floating around your house and also the brushing motion stimulates the hair folicles and helps improve new growth so you may bypass the whole 'bald' stage in summer..

Post by **Nino** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:10 pm

blufawn wrote:I think if you brush your dog often, every day or at least once a week it makes a HUGE difference to how much hair you find floating around your house and also the brushing motion stimulates the hair folicles and helps improve new growth so you may bypass the whole 'bald' stage in summer..

I gave her a big brush today when I came home - and there came a great pile off her

But She don't like the brush, think I'm gonna have to buy a new and better one.. maybe the furminator
(probably taking her into the pet store to try one out)

AngieH · Post by **AngieH** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:41 pm

blufawn wrote:I think if you brush your dog often, every day or at least once a week it makes a HUGE difference to how much hair you find floating around your house and also the brushing motion stimulates the hair folicles and helps improve new growth so you may bypass the whole 'bald' stage in summer..

Thank you!

Sounds well worth a try to avoid living in a "snow-globe" every moult.

Blustag · Post by **Blustag** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 11:31 am

I never brush my dogs ever but use a comb. When moulting starts (twice yearly) I strip all the dead hair out. Following day there it is again

Strip again and so on. IF you bathe during this time this will loosen the remaining hairs and then with an extra 'strip with the comb' all will be gone. This is the best way to get rid of the hair all in one go otherwise it will drag on for weeks on end. Also dogs kept outdoors done moult as much as opposed to dogs kept inside in centrally heated properties. They seem to moult all year round.

Post by **Nino** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 1:05 pm

Blustag wrote:I never brush my dogs ever but use a comb. When moulting starts (twice yearly) I strip all the dead hair out. Following day there it is again Strip again and so on. IF you bathe during this time this will loosen the remaining hairs and then with an extra 'strip with the comb' all will be gone. This is the best way to get rid of the hair all in one go otherwise it will drag on for weeks on end. Also dogs kept outdoors done moult as much as opposed to dogs kept inside in centrally heated properties. They seem to moult all year round.

Up until now She has moultet very little allround (a few hair here and there but not real moulting) but she is outside quite a bit so that could be why

I have been thinking about giving her a bath to do all the hairs at once, but I will probably need a hand from my sister there as she is not very fond of the baths and has started fighting it quite a bit which makes it pretty hard doing it on my own

One of the reasons I chose a breed like the Tamaskan was that its not a big moulter all the time.. some dogs you always have hair everywhere - not with Sølve (only right now) and I love that

Good to know about the comb.. it was a comb thingy we bought for Kovo (was ment for GSDs I think) and it worked rather well, though he moults like crazy!

TeresaC · Post by **TeresaC** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 2:03 am

For some reason the twice a year molting seems to last forever!! Lynn is right, a comb works great to get the shedding hair out. I went to a local pet store and they helped me find a great hair rake. It is a single line of teeth that are expecially made for long hair double coated breeds.

You should try to keep up with four dogs who are shedding. I think all we are doing is sweeping and brushing

jyotin · Post by **jyotin** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 6:47 pm

I'm not very familiar with shedding periods, etc. So if someone could clarify for me it would be great!
I thought that typically, the major "shedding" with tams occurs in the spring when they shed their winter coat for the warmer weather, with obvious minor shedding throughout the year.
But over the past few weeks logan has been shedding like CRAZY..its floating in the air its in my mouth my food LOL =/. I opened my laptop at school and his fur floated out of it. We brush him daily...vacuum daily...but never experienced this amount of shedding before.
Is it typical for this time of year for them to loose this much hair...and constantly? How long should it last?
And is this what has been referred to as "molting"?

Thanks!

Post by **Nino** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 8:59 pm

Sølve Shedded efter summer time, she has stopped now though

Tiantai · Post by **Tiantai** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 5:16 am

Hey Debby, I haven't really been following this subject very much since my relatives often deal with Snoopy's shedding problems every spring and I never had this problem with Buddy since he was a chihuahua. Although I've never owned a Tamaskan, I THINK that the Tamaskan breed, like their Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, and German Shepherd ancestors, may also shed in a particular pattern but may vary depending on the individual dog. I remember one spring when I noticed that Snoopy's front was losing his outer hair but his back was still covered in his winter coat and the hair slowly came off from front to back in a week. I believe the technical term for this is "molting". For some reasons, unlike certain breeds like the Pekingese, the northern spitz-type dogs from what I've seen at least, seem to shed in patterns instead of blowing off their whole coat all at once.

Post by **Nino** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:29 pm

nope.. no patterns here Lucas
neither with my husky/malamute mix Kovo..

and it took around 3-4 weeks for them both to loose it all..

Gaby · Post by **Gaby** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 3:09 pm

Nino wrote:
blufawn wrote:I think if you brush your dog often, every day or at least once a week it makes a HUGE difference to how much hair you find floating around your house and also the brushing motion stimulates the hair folicles and helps improve new growth so you may bypass the whole 'bald' stage in summer..
I gave her a big brush today when I came home - and there came a great pile off her
But She don't like the brush, think I'm gonna have to buy a new and better one.. maybe the furminator
(probably taking her into the pet store to try one out)

I see this message now, but I have a furminator and I found the way it works really disappointing.

It looks very good at first sight, because you can comb out very much hair. It looks like the undercoat, but that is not the case. The hairs are cut by the furminator, so you are damaging the hairs and find the result in the furminator. And that looks like the undercoat.

So if you brush a dog without an under coat, like my other dog, Rhodin, it looks like he has an under coat too, because there are all fluffy thin hairs in the furminator. Although he doesn't even have these hairs! I thought that that was strange so I tried it on my own hair and the furminator works like a little razor, and cuts of my hairs at the end. That is really not the effect you want to have, you don't brush out the dead hairs, but the damage the good ones.

I have this comb now, that works very good:

Post by **TerriHolt** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 4:48 pm

i had that brush for my gsd... it worked wonders

not so much on sam the with him been more... on the lean side (my gsd was embarrassingly over weight

) it just seemed to bounce over the bony areas and didn't do much but loosen hairs... the furminator did get rid of all the hair to the extent where he he can brush against people and leave minimal fair on pants and his coat looks good too

guess it depends on the personal preference and the dog eh?

Tiantai · Post by **Tiantai** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:10 am

Nino wrote:nope.. no patterns here Lucas
neither with my husky/malamute mix Kovo..

and it took around 3-4 weeks for them both to loose it all..

Strange. Well despite pointing out the breeds I did say that it varies from dog to dog although Snoopy who is Alusky (mostly husky) sheds in a pattern which is usually noticeable whenever my relatives sometimes forget to brush him during the shedding seasons. Maybe the environment affects the patterns making some dogs' noticeable and some barely. Or maybe I just pay too much attention to minor details that not many people care about

I think it may also due in part to him shaking his head a lot which may explain why his front hair comes off before the back. A friend's German Shepherd in King city also sheds a lot except unlike Snoopy her top hair comes off before the head and tail. (......Yeah I'm definitely paying too much attention to stuff that's not important)

Post by **Katlin** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:32 am

Gaby wrote: I see this message now, but I have a furminator and I found the way it works really disappointing. It looks very good at first sight, because you can comb out very much hair. It looks like the undercoat, but that is not the case. The hairs are cut by the furminator, so you are damaging the hairs and find the result in the furminator. And that looks like the undercoat.

I really disagree with you here. I have used it since it came out, if you look at it the "blades" are not sharp enough to cut hair. A customer though what you did and I pulled it several times through my own hair to make a point, nothing. Sorry but I will say now that it does not cut or damage the hair. Every breed (except the hair breeds like poodles and yorkies) have an undercoat.

Gaby · Post by **Gaby** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 11:34 am

Convel wrote:
Gaby wrote: I see this message now, but I have a furminator and I found the way it works really disappointing. It looks very good at first sight, because you can comb out very much hair. It looks like the undercoat, but that is not the case. The hairs are cut by the furminator, so you are damaging the hairs and find the result in the furminator. And that looks like the undercoat.
I really disagree with you here. I have used it since it came out, if you look at it the "blades" are not sharp enough to cut hair. A customer though what you did and I pulled it several times through my own hair to make a point, nothing. Sorry but I will say now that it does not cut or damage the hair. Every breed (except the hair breeds like poodles and yorkies) have an undercoat.

If I have the time I will take some pictures. My Catahoula has no undercoat though. You can compare his coat to a Pitbull or Rhodesian Ridgeback. And I don't think they have an undercoat too.

Maybe our furmintors are different, mine does really damage the hair.

Tiantai · Post by **Tiantai** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 2:30 am

The shedding season is the time when so much vacuuming occurs in my grandfather's house because of Snoopy. I think I'll be doing a lot of that in the future too but knowing that it's worth it

sequoia · Post by **sequoia** » Sat Dec 31, 2011 12:16 am

FURRRRPILE!!!

oh my goodness, that's a lot of fluff! lol

Sylvaen wrote:Just to get an idea of a late spring moult...
this is from today (the weekly sweep)

DSC_0314.JPG

DSC_0316.JPG

Sharon637 · Post by **Sharon637** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:51 pm

Here in Spain the BIG shed started about two weeks ago (Mid Feb). They are both shedding like crazy and due to all ceramic tile floors, every day bring huge dog hair "tumble weeds" drifting over the floor. A rubber brush deals with it best, vacuums just clog up too quick.

We love the furminator and think it does a great job removing all the dead hair but they shed quicker than we keep up with. They seem to shed all through the summer as it gets progressively warmer but we have only been here since August last year so they haven't had time to settle down in a pattern yet. Was a mild winter so never got a really thick winter coat on but still plenty of moulting going on.

In my house, dog hair is a condiment!

Tiantai · Post by **Tiantai** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:30 am

In Toronto's simultaneous rising and plummeting weather condition, I think this can have an affect on the shed cycle of some dogs who as sensitive to sudden temperature changes.

Saxon · Post by **Saxon** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:02 am

Hi
also, in spring, it is the finest nesting stuff in the whole world so if you can leave it somewhere , where it wont get blown away, the birds will get rid of it in no time.

Post by **Nino** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:28 am

Sølve started her spring shredding 2 weeks ago now.. so that fits with the cycle in Spain

we save the hair of Sølves for a project later on, but Kovo's we mostly left outside for the birds to take

Tiantai · Post by **Tiantai** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:50 pm

Nino wrote:Sølve started her spring shredding 2 weeks ago now.. so that fits with the cycle in Spain

we save the hair of Sølves for a project later on, but Kovo's we mostly left outside for the birds to take

That's going to be some warm fluff for their nests.

AZDehlin · Post by **AZDehlin** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:09 pm

Zephyrs coat is still thick as can be but it is still middle of winter here. Are snow normally isnt melted until mid may... March is are heaviest snow fall month so hopefully Zephyr doesn't loose his just yet.

Tiantai · Post by **Tiantai** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:19 pm

AZDehlin wrote:Zephyrs coat is still thick as can be but it is still middle of winter here. Are snow normally isnt melted until mid may... March is are heaviest snow fall month so hopefully Zephyr doesn't loose his just yet.

Well the northern spitz dogs have a coat that only reacts to the season so no I don't think he'll be shedding yet. Maybe by mid April. Dogs only shed when it's truly spring in their area.

AZDehlin · Post by **AZDehlin** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:33 pm

fangjingtuanlucas wrote:
AZDehlin wrote:Zephyrs coat is still thick as can be but it is still middle of winter here. Are snow normally isnt melted until mid may... March is are heaviest snow fall month so hopefully Zephyr doesn't loose his just yet.
Well the northern spitz dogs have a coat that only reacts to the season so no I don't think he'll be shedding yet. Maybe by mid April. Dogs only shed when it's truly spring in their area.

My cousins Malamute husky mixes start dropping their coat in March even if it is below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Not sure if it solely rides on when it is hot and cold. I have been around dogs that start getting winter coats in July.

Sibe · Post by **Sibe** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:25 am

I cant speak for the Tams yet but i also use the ferminator.........direction is important mind you. If you go against the natural fall of the coat it will damage it......also those turbo head atatchments for your vacume cleaner are really good (on carpets not dogs

) I try not to eat the hair but i am cloning a spare Husky in my left lung

Sion · Post by **Sion** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:11 am

Regards shedding, has anyone found any worthwhile vacuum cleaners? We've found the only (moderately) effective one to be a Dyson, with the best option to do without carpet altogether - only our bedroom, landing and stairs still have it.

Also never buy a washing machine whose filter can't be accessed from the front! We made that mistake (it's internal - stupid design

) and are forever having to call the service chap out to unclog it.

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