Today, I embarked on the Great Undercoat Removal Program (or GURP for short). All canines have been having a huge spring tuftiness problem and it was time for all that old winter hair to go.
I have four different brushes I use for the GURP. There’s a standard "slicker" brush that I rarely use, except for tails. Then there’s a smallish brush with a wooden handle and only about 10 "teeth." That brush is a good starter brush to use when dog is sort of a mess and you want to determine exactly how much hair is falling off that animal. After a few strokes with this brush to pull out the most eggregious tangles and hair, it’s time for the shedding brush, a.k.a., the brush that gets hair all over you.
Using the shedding brush, you can pull out vast swaths of hair. The hair sort of comes off in waves. Many waves end up on you and stay there. I looked like some kind of sickly sheep after brushing Cami, the white dog.
After I can’t stand inhaling any more hair with the shedding brush, I move to the shedding comb. This tool requires patience. It takes a long time to comb 3 very hairy dogs. Fortunately, unlike the shedding brush, the hair stays on the comb until you pull it off.
All in all it was a successful GURP. I figure if it looks like 50 albino hamsters exploded on the floor after brushing Cami, I’ve gotten most of her undercoat out. She looks quite relaxed and happy now. I’m still coughing up hairballs, however.