Few pet brands have become more popular than Furminator.
In case you haven’t heard of them, they provide pet products mainly in the area of grooming.
One of their most popular products to date is the Furminator Deshedding Tool – which comes in a range of sizes, and models for long hair and short hair dogs.
They can save you a TONNE of vacuuming and picking up of fur around the house, particularly when your GSD is blowing it’s coat.
But, which size FURminator tool should you get for your German Shepherd, and what’s the difference when comparing the long hair vs short hair tools?
We answer these questions in this guide, along with a few other common questions you might have when using a FURminator on your GSD, or any dog for that matter.
Using A FURminator For Your German Shepherd: Long or Short? And What Size?
FURminator long hair vs short hair – which to use for German Shepherd?
- The long hair Furminator Deshedding tool is designed for dogs with coats longer than 2 inches.
View the FURminator deShedding Tool, Long Hair, Large (on Amazon)
- The short hair FURminator deShedding tool is designed for dogs with coats 2 inches or shorter.
View the FURminator deShedding Tool, Short Hair, Large (on Amazon)
You find find out the length of your dogs coat by pushing up a piece of hair and simply measuring. Easy.
FURminator size for German Shepherd – which to get?
The bigger the size of the tool, the wider it is and the more hair it will remove in one stroke.
For a German Shepherd, most people will use a Large or Giant sized FURminator deshedding tool.
The sizes are as follows:
- Medium is for 21-50 lbs dogs (orange colored tool)
View the FURminator deShedding Tool, Medium (on Amazon)
- Large is for 51-90 lbs dogs (yellow colored tool)
View the FURminator deShedding Tool, Large (on Amazon)
- Giant is for dogs that are 90lbs + (red colored tool)
View the FURminator deShedding Tool, Giant (on Amazon)
Tips for using a FURminator deShedding tool on your GSD
1. Remove tangles and matting from your dog with a comb prior to using the tool
2. Brush with short strokes instead of long strokes
3. Make sure your dog’s coat isn’t wet when brushing
4. Don’t press too hard down on your dog – try to let the tool do the work while simply dragging across the coat
5. Try not to stay in one spot on the coat for more than 1 or two strokes – move around the coat evenly, and on both sides of your dog
6. Don’t forget the tail!
7. Brushing your dog outside will save you cleaning up the hair you remove, or at least make it a lot easier
A quick brush should take no more than 5-10 minutes, whereas a comprehensive brush will take a bit longer.
Undercoat rake vs FURminator – which is better for a German Shepherd?
So, we know the FURminator deShedding tool removes hairs from the undercoat and other loose hairs without cutting the top coat.
Consider what Rakes do, as we explain in our guide on brushing your German Shepherd:
“In terms of types of rakes, there are standard rakes, and undercoat rakes.
Standard rakes will remove dead fur, and fur that has shed from the body. They tend to have either straight pin or straight cone shaped teeth which ‘rake’ through the fur.
Undercoat rakes are the rakes that have the curved sharp teeth on the end that are hooked. They are designed to remove dead and shedded fur from the undercoat, but will sometimes cut the top coat in the process. For this reason, some people choose not to use an undercoat rake.”
So, it depends what the specific rake or FURminator tools actually does and what you want from the rake or tool as to which is best for you.
Read the product description to see what the product was designed for to get a better idea.
NOTE: FURminator does have rakes and slicker brushes available as well, so it’s possible you may get one or several of these tools.
Does the FURminator deShedding tool actually work?
Good question.
Here’s a quick demonstration of a German Shepherd owner using the Furminator on their dog so you can make up your own mind whether it’s worth your time and money:
How Would You Practically Groom Your GSD?
The bare minimum you would want to do for any dog would be:
- to wash and shampoo them every few months
- Slicker brush, and Rake or deShed daily or every few days – especially during times when they are blowing their coat
A full routine might look like:
- Shampoo and condition your dog every few months
- THEN daily or or every few days >
- Slicker brush to remove mats and tangles
- Rake or deShedding tool to remove loose fur from the undercoat and coat in general
- Comb the coat to have it looking neat
Specifically with the shampoo and conditioner, make sure you follow direction of use so you aren’t using expired shampoo/conditioner on your dog.
You can check out the other Furminator grooming tools here:
- FURminator Slicker Brush, Large (on Amazon)
- FURminator Rake (on Amazon)
- FURminator Comb (on Amazon)
- FURminator deShedding Premium Shampoo (on Amazon)
- FURminator deShedding Premium Conditioner (on Amazon)
Using A FURminator For Your German Shepherd: Resources
1. http://www.furminator.com/
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