Thanks so much. The reason I purchased the slicker is because the people at Petsmart said it was what I needed. I added some pictures of Gigi so you can see her coat.
It's not very long and is fine, but it sheds a tremendous amount. I thought perhaps it was because of her food. So I recently switched her to Precise, which was recommended to me by her groomer. I have been looking into a new quality food for her. She doesn't like the Precise at all which is surprising because she has never been a picky eater. Her coat is not dry and it's soft. When she was a puppy it was more coarse. Gigi is a Pom/chi mix and there is some speculation that there may even be some papillon in her because of her ears. I will try the Liperderm and I'm going to buy some new grooming tools tomorrow to try the technique you suggested. I don't know if she has enough hair for a pin brush. Thanks so much. Emberly --- In [email protected], Peggy & The Girls <phrpg5@...> wrote: > > Most people that have LHs say they shed less then a SH. My LH, Gigi sheds > all the time too, but part of her problem is that she has liver issues and > her body does not absorb excess fat which hair follicles need, so she does > have a dry look to some of her fur because of her health problem. Poms shed > constantly, much like my Eskie, Princess. But with both of my girls, I give > them Liperderm (Omega fats) and it definitely has made a difference in the > amount of fur that they shed, and their fur is a lot softer and healthier. > > As a previous groomer, I can tell you that besides all hype that the > Furminator de-sheds, it really doesn't de-shed. It is a stripper and that > means it cuts the fur into strips, especially from the under coat which > causes the dog to shed even more, because their body is trying to replace > the damaged roots. > > I guess your Gigi is a pom-chi?? I don't recommend slickers for either of > those breeds. I won't even use a slicker on my Eskie as it breaks the fur, > so what you are seeing in the slicker is broken fur and not the dead shed > fur. Slickers are for low or non shedding dogs, like a poodle, or shih-tzu. > It is used to de-mat the dog, if used the proper way. It does not de-shed a > dog. > > If your Gigi has more of a Chi coat, start with a natural bristle brush. If > her fur is more like a poms fur, then use a good pin brush with beads on the > tips. The brush will only help to loosen up the top fur, it does not get to > the under coat. The dog should first be brushed to the way the fur grows, > then brush in reverse to make the fur stand up, and then brush again to the > way the fur grows. To de-shed a dog of any breed, a comb is used. > > To remove the unwanted dead fur, use a fine tooth metal comb. Sometimes they > are listed as a metal flea combs. This works well if she has short to thin > medium length fur. If her fur is like my Eskie then you need a double-tooth > metal comb. That type of comb has the longer wider teeth, but close to the > top of the comb it also has the shorter fine teeth, which is what de-sheds > the fur. > > The combing will remover far more dead fur then a brush can, while it won't > break the new fragile furs just starting to grow in.The proper way to de > shed any dog is called line-combing. You usually start at the rear side of > the dogs hip. With your left hand, start at the bottom of the leg and push > and hold a small amount of the fur upward. Now with your right hand, comb > downward from under the fur line that you are holding up with your right > hand, and comb that portion downward. Then release a little more of the fur > from your right hand and comb that portion downward. Get the idea?...you are > constantly combing from under the top layers in a downward motion, thus > creating a straight line. Each time you comb a section, you keep combing > that same section until no more fur comes out in that spot and the metal > comb just glides straight down, with no snags. This is the correct > de-shedding process. If you start at the left leg, then you should end up at > the front leg and go all around the dog until you end up at it's rear skirt. > Then you do the back, the same way. From the rear back push and hold a small > section of the fur forward, now comb from under that line, combing towards > the rear. Last is the head and the ears. The tail should be held straight > out and combed down on each side of the tail. > > It takes me half an hour, once a week to de-shed Princess, then every other > day I just glide the comb through her fur and I am done within 15 minutes. > You will be surprised at how much less fur you will find around when a dog > is properly de-shed once a week and is also on the Liperderm along with a > good meat based dry kibble and not a corn based kibble. > > Any dog should be throughly brushed and combed out before you bathe them. > This prevents any mats from matting even more, and speeds up the blow drying > because then all you have to do is use the brush to lift the fur as it blow > dries and then a quick combing and they are finished. It also saves your tub > drain from a lot of clogging, > > Also when you bathe them, to help keep the fur silky soft and easier to comb > through, mix a about 2 tablespoons of a good conditioner (people brands are > okay) to a pint of warm water in a sprits bottle and shake, shake, shake, > until it is very well mixed and looks like white water. A clear spritz > bottle helps to see that it is very well mixed. Now just lightly spritz your > dog after you shampooed her and rub it through her fur, and rinse, rinse, > rinse. If your dog should get static fur in the winter, a little spritz > helps a lot too, then just comb it thorugh the fur and static is gone. > > Here are some pics of the brushes and combs that are like what I use, and a > picture of Princess after she has been fully groomed. You can see that her > fur is soft and layered totally straight down. When I blow dry her or even > if the wind shoud blows her fur up in reverse you can see her pink skin. > That's what you should see on a well groomed dog that is fully de-shed. Same > principle for any grooming breed type of dog. If you were to use a blow > dryer on a dog with this much fur and not see her skin, then you know that > she has a lot of dead fur or matted fur sitting at the root of her skin. > > Peggy & The Girls > > Pin Brush with bead tips (for the long fur) > > > > Natural Boar's Bristle brush (for Chis) > > > > > Short Fine Tooth Metal Comb (de-sheds long fur) > (metal flea comb) > > > > > Fine Double Tooth Metal Comb (de-sheds long fur) > > > > Princess > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -------Original Message------- > > From: EmberlyF > Date: 3/3/2012 4:59:32 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Chihuahuas] Gigi is shedding a lot > > > Gigi is shedding a lot. She is mostly white and mostly everything in my > house is light colored so I didn't notice until I put on a black shirt and > took her to petsmart to buy treats. There was hair everywhere. > > I took her today to her groomer to be furminated and I am not sure of that > process or how it works. Anyone know a bit more about it? How often it > should be done? > > When I got her back she was actually shedding more than when I took her. I > used a slicker on her outside and got out most of the loose hair and then > brushed her with a soft bristle brush. Seems like most of the loose hair is > out now. I don't know what they did to her at the groomers. Maybe it takes > time to see a change. > > Does anyone else long hair chi shed a lot or could this be from her > pomeranian side? I read they are constant shedders. > > Emberly > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! 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