Here's why I won't have any more Saint Bernards

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

And also why we don't host any dinner parties. Sweetest dogs in the world...just big ol' loveable goofs...but the first pic is of the hair I swept up this morning, not counting the bedrooms. We sweep regulary on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. After this broom sweeping, LOML will empty the cannister on her electric broom thingy twice after going over what I just broomed. I put the food dish in the picture for reference, and to illustrate just how nasty it gets in a week. And only one of the two drools. I feel sorry that the cocker has to eat out of the same bowl.



Lest you think maybe I need to brush them more often, here's a pic of the hair I've brushed off them since last Saturday. I kept it this week just to see how much there was. I run the brush over them in the morning when I get home from work, 5 times a week. And frankly, I quit when they start getting tired of it...not when hair stops coming off.



Granted, this is probably the worst time of the year...but jeezopete, you simply can't imagine it until you experience it firsthand...or maybe with pictures.

KC

[Doug Shepard]

Sheesh. Guess I should count my blessings. Mine doesn't really shed. You can comb loose hair out of her coat, and she'll kick come loose by scratching, but no shedding to speak of. The worst I've ever seen puts your's to shame though. A previous next door neighbor had a Kuvasz (big white Hungarian Great Pyrenees look-alike). That thing use to drop so much hair that it always looked like someone had been shearing sheep in his back yard and missed bagging some.

[Jim O'Dell]

Just about the right amount of hair for a puppy!! I know what you mean. We kill the vacuum regularly with our Irish Setters hair. The more rescue/fosters we have at any one time, the worse it is of course, multiplied by the fact that when there are more dogs, there is less time to clean.
You might go on line and look for a Marrs Coat King. It is a wicked looking contraption, but it pulls the dead hair out, and leaves the rest. My wife swears by them now. If you can't find it, PM me, and I'll find a link for you to order one, and if you'd like, I can take a picture and send to you so you know what it looks like. Also note the plastic handled ones are cheaper than the wood handled units. Jim.

[Norman Hitt]

KC, I feel for you on the Brushing thing, but maybe I have a solution for you. We have an OLD Dog, (a Rottweiler with a LOT of hair), but doesn't move around much and get a lot of exercise anymore because of arthritis, so his winter coat doesn't release and shed in places like when he was young. We brushed and brushed, many times, but could never seem to get all the hair, and one day last summer after another brushing session, I had quite a pile of hair on my shop porch, that I sure didn't want blown or tracked into the shop and the Brain Lightbulb came on. I have a shop vac that the motor unit can be removed and a large blower wand can be attached and it becomes a portable blower so I blowed off what I hadn't swept up and then decided to see if I could blow any more loose hairs off the dog that had been loosened by brushing.

When I directed the blower to the dog, "ALL" the dead hair started just flying off and Old "Hoss",(the dog), must have thought he was getting a massage, because he Loved it. I spent almost 15 minutes on the blowing operation, and he was Clean as a Pin, and no loose hairs. I spent about 5 min a week later doing the same thing, and the next week, very little hair came off when I did it again. There was almost NO Hair showing up in his normal hangouts with a good Blowdown every couple of weeks after that. It sure is easier than brushing and it's kinda funny that he gets so relaxed from the massage action of the air blowing on his skin that he can hardly stand up before I'm through, and then he lays down, (if he hasn't already), and takes a looong nap.

[Pete Lamberty]

hi KC, You should save up all of that hair and have someone spin it on a spinnning wheel. Then have it woven into material and have a sport coat made out of it. Bet it would be warm.

[Lee DeRaud]

JYou might go on line and look for a Marrs Coat King. It is a wicked looking contraption, but it pulls the dead hair out, and leaves the rest. My wife swears by them now. If you can't find it, PM me, and I'll find a link for you to order one, and if you'd like, I can take a picture and send to you so you know what it looks like. Also note the plastic handled ones are cheaper than the wood handled units. Jim.

Is that the widget that looks like a piece of bandsaw blade folded in a loop? Used to use one when I had my Corgi: I could pull a pile of undercoat out of that dog big enough to stuff a throw pillow...from a 32lb dog.

[Norman Hitt]

Is that the widget that looks like a piece of bandsaw blade folded in a loop? Used to use one when I had my Corgi: I could pull a pile of undercoat out of that dog big enough to stuff a throw pillow...from a 32lb dog.

We have one of those things, and it was what we used Before I discovered the blower thing. It doesn't even begin to compare to the results from the blower.

[John Hart]

I feel your pain KC...we have a long hair German Shepherd. She has a shedding machine that never breaks down. Brushing sends the machine into overdrive.

[Dennis Peacock]

I feel your pain KC...we have a long hair German Shepherd. She has a shedding machine that never breaks down. Brushing sends the machine into overdrive.

Hey John,

Sounds like you need a pair of "clippers" for your dog!!

KC,

I feel for ya buddy....but I learned those lessons early on and decided that I didn't need that extra chore as I got older. I sure hope the shedding stops soon or you will be able to open your own SB Thread Store!!!

[Glenn Clabo]

Kirk,
I feel your pain. We have two labs! There's a constant battle to keep ahead...but we wouldn't even think of getting rid of them. One of them is lying at my feet right now looking at me like she knows I'm saying something about her. Replace them when they go to the big back yard in the sky...now that's another question.