How does everyone manage the shedding?

[castin]

Hello Everyone!

I am thinking about getting a GSD, but I know they are notorious shedders - and I am a bit of clean freak.

A family friend has a beautiful White German/Swiss Shepherd, and every time I visit, it looks like a small animal has been massacred in the living room (due to all the hair).

I've been reading up and I found this post about how to "manage" GSD shedding - here were the tips:

"So, how do you manage this? Well, here are our top 4 rules for managing GSD shedding:

1. Daily brushing is a must. I know, “daily“ sounds exhausting - but it makes a huge difference. Just 5 minutes a day is all it takes. The idea is to catch the dead undercoat hairs with your brush before they fall out all over the floor and on your clothes.
2. Keep your GSD indoors as much as possible. This is particularly true if you live in a cold climate. The longer they are outside, the more their body’s responds to the adverse weather, the thicker their coat will grow, and the more shedding they will do at the seasonal change.
3. If your GSD is a female, consider spay surgery. Female GSDs shed like crazy after they’ve been in heat, so spay surgery is a good idea to reduce shedding. In fact, there are no health benefits in not having spay surgery done (at the appropriate age), as long as you do not plan to breed your female, of course.
4. Book a professional groomer! Set up a regular grooming cadence. I recommend every 4 - 6 weeks. Washing their coat is a major de-hairing process that is key to keeping the shedding down. The washing and drying part of grooming is one of the messiest (and often most difficult) parts of grooming, so let a professional do it. Try to introduce professional grooming as young as possible."

from here: https://dasshepherd.beehiiv.com/p/how-to-fix-your-shepherds-add

If I were to follow these 'rules', how manageable is the shedding really? Keen to hear from all you experienced GSD owners!

Thanks everyone

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@castin you just accept there is going to be gsd confetti everywhere.

 

[isisoblivion]

@imagebeastmarkbeast We have embraced the floof, now I step over piles of sentient GSD Tribbles and hairy tumbleweeds run our home. I have considered starting an Etsy for hand felted GSD mittens. Good luck to all.

 

[brooke127]

@castin We do not brush daily, spend lots of time outside (if not walking then garden/balcony) and have never been to a groomer. We don’t heat the house much and that helps a lot. If we vacuum 3x a week and wash the floors 2-3x a week it’s not a problem. If we get lazy then there are visible hair bunnies on the floor. We got used to wear slippers in the house instead of walking barefoot, and tell the visitors to keep their shoes on if they prefer.

Once you have the dog you’ll also get less sensitive and your standard of what you consider clean will probably drop .

If you play with the idea of keeping your GSD indoors a lot just to lessen the shedding, consider rather getting another breed.

 

[lupetnen]

@castin Mostly a lot of vacuuming and ocd tuft removal. We have a lil schedule and every day I just vacuum the areas she’s in the most for a little bit (say 20 minutes). We also have a roomba and thankfully we’ve avoided the poop smearing but it’s been pretty good!

Honestly, once a week of manual vacuuming has been more than okay. I just do it more often because my girl loves vacuum time. So it’s bonding time and maintenance in one.

I think what probably works the best for us is I just bring a brush with us when we do our daily fetch and when she takes a break I’ll just brush whatever side is available. She has no problem with being groomed but she gets antsy so it’s better for every one just to knock it out while she’s catching a breather after some good ol fetch.

We’ve got a TON of birds in a tree out front and folks tell me they love dog hair for their nests so I let them have it. Everything seems to work out that way. I’ve received a comment here and there that you can’t tell we have a dog by fur around the house so I guess it works out.

My personal philosophy though is that I live with a dog so I expect to see that manifest itself haha. I do what I can but I’m not gonna run after her as she spreads her toys around the house or I miss a plume of fluff she’s flung somewhere. It’s her confetti and no one questions her decorating choices.

 

[idreamofjesus]

@castin I don’t know if I have just been lucky or I am managing better than I thought, but my 1yo doesn’t seem to shed much. I have a shark vacuum that runs every morning and I will take a normal vacuum out 1-2 times a week. We also have a doggy door so she is able to go outside whenever she wants. I don’t brush her, though I have tried, she HATES it! And in the summer she is in the pool any time we are, and that takes a lot of her hair.

 

[faithpalm]

@idreamofjesus My guy was great for the first year. Then it all blew up!

 

[mjr88]

@faithpalm Ours, too. I thought I’d hit a jackpot of the world’s only nonshedding GSD. Then all of a sudden she blew out her puppy coat and has never stopped shedding since.

 

[idreamofjesus]

@faithpalm No!!!! don’t tell me that

 

[faithpalm]

@castin -It sounds like your family member isn't keeping up with their cleaning TBH.

-I do not brush daily- just a few of times a week during shedding season and as needed after that.

-I vacuum daily during shedding season & every couple of days otherwise. I'm also getting ready to purchase a robot vac to keep up with the little bit in between.

-Bathing a GSD every 4-6 weeks is excessive and will likely lead to skin problems. They really only need it a few times a year, some even less.

-I also have my dog outside as much as possible. They need the exercise and activity.
IDK anything about "Dasshepherd" but none of what you posted seems like sound advice. I mean, maybe the daily brushing if you wanted to but the rest is kind of random.

 

[morrisnjogu]

@faithpalm This is the answer. All dogs shed, gsds are just good at it.

The trade off is the dog that comes with the shedding, loyal, willing to do whatever, hike, walk, explore, have a beer in the garage, swim in the lake, or have a nap.

Best friend in the world. Lost him 2017, took this long to decide to do it again, but going to pick up a new friend tomorrow.

Last one was a white gsd, and this one is sable working line gsd, and the breed is well worth putting up with a little bit of fur.

 

[fletch22]

@castin Not just an accessory, but a condiment too!

 

[stalinlazer]

@castin Just get a shop vac. They are cheap, they last, easy to drag around and they work great on dog hair.

 

[teadrinkerdeepthinker]

@castin 2 and 3 is bullshit. Don’t get a GSD if you’re going to keep it inside all the time. They need physical and mental exercise and keeping them indoors is a recipe for a dog with behavioural problems due to boredom.

Also spaying does absolutely NOTHING regarding shedding. Our female is spayed and I can tell you with certainty that there is no difference pre and post op. She sheds as much as she sheds.

Honestly even 1 isn’t that true. GSDs don’t need daily brushing. They have a fantastic coat in that they don’t need grooming that often, unlike other breeds like collies and poodles who get stuff caught in their fur all the time and get mats. GSDs are very clean and whenever we take ours into the woods it’s easy to just brush leaves off her coat and if she does pick up burrs or seeds, it’s much easier to pick those out compared to some of her doodle friends.

Can’t comment on 4 cuz we do our own grooming.