What are causes of a dog shedding?

Question

I have a 6 year old 1/2 Shepard and 1/2 terrier dog. She had semi long semi coarse hair. She sheds incessantly. Every single day I have to sweep up a pile of hair where she has walked thru the house. Thank goodness for hard wood floors. She has no hot spots, no mange, no bare patches, just hair falling out all the time. I think it is normal shedding since she has a lot of fur, but my husband thinks something must be wrong. She is healthy, spayed, a tad overweight.

Answer 1

It could be a number of things.  Did this just start?  If so, have you changed food?

Dogs shed because they need to get rid of their insulating undercoat in the spring.  Some shed year round, especially if they are an inside dog with a double coat, husky, shepherd etc.

She may not be getting enough fatty acids in her diet, you could try switching food or getting an additive to help supplement. Talk to your vet or local pet store.

If it just seasonal shedding gone awry, the local groomer can help.  Talk to them and tell them the problem.  PetSmart has a "lo-shed" program, PetCo calls "shed-less".  They both work the same way and remove a lot of (up to 95%) the loose undercoat.  It can be pricey, but well worth it.  I had a husky that shedded 24/7 year round and it worked wonders.

Answer 2

Weather changes is likely. When it's hot, they shed even more.

Answer 3

Shedding  is a s natural for  dogs and other haired beasts as it is for you ... you shed skin cells  regularly and consistently,, Don'T make the mistake and chose  to Over bathe  her, drying her skin too much can make it worse ... I would suggest Giving her a good Brushing daily finding a brush that works for her coat,  Not just in picking up the hair but also  massaging  her coat and skin which promotes healthier skin and coat  for her kinda wiry coat try a rubber tipped  type brush for this purpose  you should find her coat  softening and feeling great, YOU might also try some fish oil in her diet  which also helps the skin    

Answer 4

shedding is a natural process for dogs and cats and many fur animals. You might say we shed to, when you brush your hair and some is left in the brush. There are different reasons for it, some times it is the change in seasons, sometimes sickness, and mom dogs shed ,so don't worry it is normal.  

Answer 5

Okkies Sheppards shed fur and shed alot of it. As they get older they will even shed more and as spring/summer comes along they will shed more too. Its normal. The only thing yuo can do is have constant daily brushings with a good grooming brush. There is actually an excellent one thats quite inexpensive to buy that is a metal loop or a handle. Looks like a fish scaler. Works wonders with a daily brushing. You will be there a while and your backyard will look like a carpet when your done but at least it wont be all over inside. Also getting your dog washed regularly with a good blow dryer really does help as the groomer will get out all that spar hair. And one more trick is if you have a vaccum that can be reversed used that as an industrial blow dryer outside with a brush.  

Answer 6

Stress, illness, poor quality food, and the hot summer weather we've been having can all be causes of excessive shedding in an otherwise healthy pup.

I have a furminator.  Brush out both my young pups every week and manage to pull a small pup off each time.  My old lady gets the old fashioned prong brush because she sheds so much the furminator clogs with every pass.  But she's been malnourished and stressed from a previous home for a while, so we're still working on it.

Answer 7

I agree with you.  My dogs shed big time at the end of winter, but they all shed constantly, just to a lesser degree.  My Chow drops big clumps of hair all year long, no matter what the weather is.  

Overweight doesn't cause shedding......if it did, about half of the dogs around would be completely hairless.  

Cleaning up hair isn't one of the high points of owning dogs, but there's no way around it except for poodles or schnauzers, or some mixes with those breeds that don't shed.