I retired from the mail route two years ago, and that is when I finally noticed how much hair Juno puts on the furniture. She is a 62-pound short-coated mix with a dense undercoat, and she sheds year round. I tried a regular brush, a rubber curry, even a vacuum attachment. None of them got the loose undercoat out before it landed on the couch. Then I picked up the FURminator Large Dog Undercoat deShedding Tool for Short Hair, and the difference showed up in the first pass.
This list is the ten reasons I keep reaching for it, in the order they matter to me. If you have a short-haired dog that leaves fur on everything, this is what the FURminator actually does, and where it will not do you any favors.
The FURminator gets the undercoat a regular brush never touches
One pass on Juno's back pulled out loose fur that had been shedding onto the couch for a week. Check today's price on Amazon and see the difference yourself.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →It reaches the undercoat a regular brush misses
Juno has a short topcoat and a dense undercoat underneath. A normal brush glides over the top and leaves the loose undercoat right where it was. The FURminator's edge is designed to get down into that undercoat and lift it out. The first time I used it, I pulled out a handful of fur that looked like it belonged on a much bigger dog. I remember holding it up and just staring at it, because I had brushed her that same morning and the regular brush had come away almost clean.
It cuts down the fur on the couch, not just the fur on the dog
The point of deshedding is not the brushing itself. It is the hair that never ends up on the cushions, the floor, and my coffee. After a ten minute session with the FURminator, I can go two or three days before the couch starts to look fuzzy again. Before, it was a daily losing battle. Last Tuesday I sat down after work and realized I had not lint rolled the cushions since Sunday, and that simply never happened before I owned this tool.
It works on a short coat without scratching the skin
I was careful at first because I did not want to rake Juno's skin. The FURminator has a rounded edge that glides along the coat, and as long as I keep the pressure light and go with the fur, it does not dig in. Juno stands still for it, which is the best review a dog can give a grooming tool. The first few sessions I checked her skin afterward, running my hand along her back and sides, and there was no redness or irritation, just a clean coat.
It collects the fur instead of scattering it
A regular brush flicks hair into the air and it settles everywhere. The FURminator gathers the undercoat into a strip on the blade, and I can lift it off and drop it straight into the trash. Less fur floating around means less fur in my nose and less fur on my clothes. On a damp day in Tacoma, that loose fur would otherwise stick to everything, and I have spent enough time picking dog hair off my socks to appreciate a tool that keeps it in one place.
It makes the coat look better, not just thinner
Juno's coat looks sleeker after a deshedding session. The loose, dull undercoat is gone, and the topcoat lies flatter and shinier. Carol noticed it before I said anything, and she is not someone who tracks grooming details. She just looked at Juno one evening and asked if I had done something different, and that told me the change was visible, not something I was imagining.
It cuts down on the mud that sticks to the coat
Our yard in Tacoma is wet most of the year, and Juno comes in with mud on her belly and legs. Mud sticks to loose undercoat, so a dog with a heavy undercoat brings in more of the yard than a dog without one. When the FURminator keeps the undercoat thin, the mud has less to grab onto and rinses off faster. After a rainy walk in March, I used to spend ten minutes at the hose and still find clumps of dried mud in her coat the next morning. Now a quick rinse handles it.
It is easy to clean, which means I actually use it
The FURminator has a button that pushes the collected fur off the blade in one motion. That sounds like a small thing, but it is the reason the tool does not sit in a drawer. A brush that takes five minutes to clean gets used once. A tool that cleans in five seconds gets used every week. I keep mine hanging on a hook by the back door, and because cleaning it takes no effort, I grab it whenever Juno comes in from the yard.
It is built for the long haul
I have had my FURminator for over a year and it still feels as solid as the day it arrived. The handle is comfortable, the blade has not dulled, and nothing has wiggled loose. For a tool I use once or twice a week, that is the durability I want. I am not gentle with my tools, and this one has been dropped on the porch floor more than once, yet it still glides through Juno's coat the same way it did on day one.
It is the right size for a 62-pound dog
The large size covers a good amount of ground with each stroke, so a full session on Juno takes about ten minutes instead of twenty. The handle fits my hand and the blade angle reaches her back, her sides, and her haunches without me bending into a pretzel. I am 58 and my back complains if I hunch over for too long, so a tool that lets me finish the job quickly is worth a lot to me.
It pays for itself in less vacuuming
I cannot put a dollar figure on it because prices change, but the math is simple. Less fur on the floor means less vacuuming, less lint rolling, and fewer loads of laundry covered in dog hair. The FURminator has cut my weekly cleaning time by a noticeable amount, and that is worth more to me than the price of the tool. I used to vacuum the living room every other day in the spring. Now I run it twice a week and the floor still looks better than it did before.
What I'd Skip
The FURminator is not for every dog. If your dog has a thin single coat with no undercoat, this tool will not have much to grab, and you will wonder what the fuss is about. I would also skip it if your dog has sensitive skin or a skin condition, because the blade can irritate if you press too hard. And if you are not willing to brush once or twice a week, no tool will fix the fur situation. The FURminator cuts the hair that is ready to come out. It does not stop the shedding at the source.
The first time I used the FURminator on Juno, I pulled out a handful of undercoat that looked like it belonged on a much bigger dog.
If your dog has an undercoat, this is the tool that finally gets it out
Ten minutes a week with the FURminator keeps the fur off the couch, the floor, and your clothes. Check today's price on Amazon and see what comes out of your dog's coat.
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