help grooming issue
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| I've never owned a puppy. I know that my adult OES never sheds. I have heard of something called a puppy coat, maybe that is what is falling out? |
| I agree with Joan, at about a year old it could be the puppy coat being replaced is the reason for the shedding. I have had 3 puppies in my life all OES and don't remember there being much shedding at any point, but it does seem like Guinevere did shed a little when she was a year old or so and her adult coat started coming in.
Cheers! Guinevere's Dad, Kevin Z. |
| I don't know about the rest of you but OES's are known for shedding excessively. I grew up with one. Unless you keep them trimmed short |
| PIsco does shed...but not much at all.....in fact it`s very easy to pick up his hair by hand.....
I guess OES are diferent ...some shed more...some less...some not at all. |
| Most OES do not shed like other dogs, unless they are not healthy. A puppy of only one year of age though is different. Some oes make the transition from puppy to adult coat at 6 months of age and some not until almost two years. During that time though you may find there is a little more shedding, but even with the 3 I have owned there hasn't been noticeable shedding even during that time. I do notice more hair in the brush when grooming during coat transition.
If you think the dog is shedding a lot I would make adjustments to diet, maybe a trip to the vet, perhaps add oil to the food, and maybe egg. |
| See my earlier post about losing the puppy coat. Max is shedding horribly right now, and its due to an allergic reaction to something. We thinks is the rug cleaner I used, but I have hair everywhere. Max is actually going bald in spots. He was on antibiotics, for 10 days, so if it doesn't get better I'll take him back to the vet. Max also went through a stage where he blew his first puppy coat, and it was more like hair balls, than shedding. |
| All,
Okay I'll wade in hear and try not to step on toes or hurt feelings, apologies ahead of time if I do. Shedding: the seasonal or other regular periodic loss of hair in response to weather or other environmental stimuli. According to this generally accepted definitition healthy OES do NOT shed. Any hair loss they experience is neither routine nor environmentally stimulted unless they are suffering some sort of illness or skin condition. OES are a medium sized heavily coated breed with literally millions of hairs on their bodies. As with any hair bearing animal, including the upright human variety, hair is lost as result of breakage and normal healthy hair folicle rejuvenation. (Take a look at your own hair brush after brushing your hair. Although you don't shed it will have many hairs in it's bristles - although hopefully much less than your OES' pinbrush does after a few minutes of grooming.) Even though the daily loss of hair represents only a fraction of 1% of the total hairs on the dog this still amounts to several hundreds of individual hairs per day!! No matter how big your house is this is going to be noticable and happens virtually from the second that your new furchild arrives in the home. And it has an uncanny ability to weave itself together into great dust-bunnies and populate dark corners and recesses where it replicates undetected until it finally oozes out into plain sight. 
The puppy coat to adult coat transistion is usually a very trying time, especially for first time parents, and is often referred to as "blowing coat". It is extremely variable in all respects, age, duration and intensity. The transition can begin at as young an age as 9 months or be delayed until 18-20 months. This is the most common age range, most OES tending to blow coat at the lower end (10-14 months) but rare cases can be seen outside this 9-20 month window, either younger or older. Blowing coat can be a short and very intense process or can be quite protracted. My experience has run the gamut; Martin Zephram blew coat at about 10 months in a very short and intense 3 week period, made all the worse by it co-inciding with a 2 week family road trip where they must have thought that we had decided to live in the van!  In spite of having a grooming kit with us we were without a grooming table and with long travel hours it was imposssible to groom him properly so by the end of his little demonstaration he was full of huge matts from which it took some 2 months to totally recover. Several months later, Virgil Tiberius at about the same age blew coat but over a longer 6-8 week perod. While his hair loss and tendency to matt was clearly noticable over this time it was much easier than Martin's but did require daily grooming to keep under control. Punk, my first and still much missed Bobtail either completely blew coat and recovered fully before I got him at 11 months or it was of such low intensity and long duration that it was un-noticable. 
My advise for OESdoggies1 (Sara?) is to be extra diligent with your grooming until you notice that brushing again becomes easier - coat less tight and brushes without so much hair loss. You will need to use combs and a slicker more than usual and in extreme cases a matt rake or actually cut a knot to remove it. Even if you plan to show don't be concerned about the undercoat right now, it will re-grow very quickly once the adult coat is "set in". Yes, surprise surprise this comes at Christmas but look at it as an opportunity to further bond with D and take a break from the bustle of Christmas preparations. Good luck and let me know if I can be of any further help! Cheers and happy grooming time! |
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