Minimize Dog Shedding In Your Home AND Car-Shed Defender Review
Excessive dog shedding can become a major headache!! I think about all the hours I spend to clean clumps of dog hair stuck to my couch, rugs, clothes, the car….While you can't stop dog shedding altogether, there are many ways to help minimize excessive shedding in your home.
1. Keep Your Dog Hydrated: It might seem like a trivial thing, but a lack of fresh, clean water can lead to some serious complications for pets. Signs of dehydration include a dry mouth, panting, sunken eyes, dry mouth, lethargy, loss of appetite, depression and excessive dog shedding. Our vet told us that we can give our dogs Pedialyte too when you notice one of the previously mentioned dehydration signs. Formulated for babies, this solution is a great first aid against dehydration and can quickly replace minerals like potassium and sodium.
2. Add a Health Oil to Your Dog's Diet:
Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is one of few foods that can be categorized as a "superfood." Coconut oil has a plethora of benefits that are beneficial both to humans and pets. Coconut oil can help aid your pets' digestion, help flea allergies, reduce allergic reactions, improve and create sleek, glossy coats, prevent infection and much more. Now the question is how much coconut oil you should give to your dog? When starting your dog on coconut oil, it is important to start slowly in the beginning. Give 1/4 teaspoon per day for small dogs and for large dogs you can give 1 teaspoon per day. As the dogs' body has adjusted, you can increase the intake to about 1 teaspoon per 10 pounds of body weight daily.
Flaxseed Oil: Flaxseed oil is an excellent natural treatment to improve the coat and skin conditions of some pets. Add a small amount of flaxseed oil to your dog's diet, and after a few weeks, you should see the change in your dog's shed.
Fish Oil: Fish oil contains EPA and DHA and omega-3 fatty acids that can help to treat many health problems in dogs. Veterinarians use fish oil to treat dog allergies and a wide variety of conditions ranging from kidney disease to arthritis. Fish oil can also help reduce excessive shedding by relieving itching due to an allergy-related skin condition. How much fish oil you should give to your dog? As a general rule, you should give 1,000 mg per 30 pounds of body weight. As for combatting more serious health problems, you can up the dosage to a maximum 1,000 mg per 10 pounds of body weight.
3. Brush Your Dog
Regular brushing is still one of the best options to keep the amount of hair your dog sheds to a minimum as brushing helps remove loose fur before it has a chance to rub off and stick to your furniture. Before you brush your dog, it is important to pick the right brush first. There are different types of dog brushes that you can find at your local pet store or online, each with its own function designed to serve different dog's type and needs. For example, a bristle brush works best for short-haired dogs, a pin brush works best for a dog with long, wavy fur.
4. Bathe Often
Frequent bathing is a great way to get rid of excess hair. As a general rule, you should bathe your dog twice a month with shampoo and conditioner. To reduce shedding, my groomer recommends using an oatmeal shampoo. This shampoo will help clean your dog's coat without drying the skin and rejuvenate a lackluster haircoat. If your dog's fur tends to mat, follow up the bath with detangler. Be sure to brush your dog thoroughly before the bath to remove as much hair as you can. After bathing, towel dry your dog and blow-dry his coat with the lowest heat setting. As you dry your dog's coat, you can use a brush to help remove loose hair. Keep brushing and drying until your dog is no longer damp. After you have finished drying, brush your dog thoroughly once again. A lot more hair will come out at this stage.
5. Purchase a Shed Defender-
This is a doggie onesie developed from Shed-Tex, a proprietary and eco-friendly polyester, spandex athletic mesh fabric that allows the dog to stay cool and comfortable. The best part about the fabric is that it’s made from recycled plastic water bottles! At Shed Defender, they value sustainability because preserving the beaches, parks, mountains and trails that dogs play in is important to them and their pups. Traditional polyester is an energy-hungry, non-sustainable synthetic fiber so that’s why they started looking for something different.
This process of converting PET into recycled polyester uses 33%-53% less energy than developing traditional polyester fabric. With the creation of the Shed-Tex fabric they are reducing their dependence on petroleum and using plastic bottles that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill which reduces soil contamination and air and water pollution.
They have 9 sizes that fit dogs from 5 lbs up to dogs that weigh over 200 lbs!
The Shed Defender has also reduced Henry’s anxiety in thunderstorms! He will literally make himself sick during a storm. The shed defender has also helped Melvin be more comfortable as he battles hot spots and skin allergies! He would much rather wear this the annoying medical cone. Trust me! He told me!
“-Controls Shedding
-Calms Anxious Dogs
-Post Surgery Use
Made from Shed-Tex™, a premium Eco-friendly fabric that is lightweight and breathable. Shed Defender® is intended to be worn in the house, car, or anywhere you don’t want dog hair, dirt, dander, and allergens.”
