Do Old English Sheepdogs shed very much?

Wife and I are thinking getting sheep dog now that kids are all gone.

Do they shed very bad?

Hi,

Allison, your oes don't shed yet because they are almost all puppycoat. Just wait, that will change, i don't care how much you brush or vacuum. Pretty soon it will be all of the things you mentioned rolled up in hair balls lols.

zach

Hi,

Allison, your oes don't shed yet because they are almost all puppycoat. Just wait, that will change, i don't care how much you brush or vacuum. Pretty soon it will be all of the things you mentioned rolled up in hair balls lols.

zach

I just don't want folks to get the wrong idea that a oes in coat is a piece of cake to take care of or that it is easily controlled.

Wife and I are thinking getting sheep dog now that kids are all gone.

Do they shed very bad?

OES do not go through a regular shedding season like a lab, or beagle. They do however shed like humans.

OES, as all dogs, DO shed! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

The only time hair comes off of my dogs is when I groom them. So they "shed" in that yes, hair detaches from their body, but it doesn't fall all over the floors/furniture like say a German Shepherd or a Golden Retreiver, does that make sense?

All,

Could we PLEASE stop using the term "shedding" in respect to Bobtail coat loss? What is being described here is normal continuous hair loss due to healthy hair folicle renewal and hair breakage. I know I don't shed yet I do continuously loose hair as it breaks and as my hair folicles die off and get renewed in what, if I recall correctly, is an 8 year cycle for most humans. (Ok so my hair renewal process is rather less than a 1 new hair for 1 old hair lost. )
Even the puppy to adult coat transition is not shedding in that it is not a regularly repeated event that is the result of environmental stimuli. While a lot of hair can be lost in a very short time depending on the individual dog) it is a normal and expected maturing process, NOT a shedding event.

This is more than a "semantics issue". If we answer incorrectly, or even inprecisely, we do both our breed and those investgating the breed a huge dis-service. The outcome can be bad in either case. A potentially good parent may decide not to bring a Bobtail into a home that could have been very good for him/her or one might go to parents and a home that is ill-prepared or ill-suited to care for a Bobtail. Think of both the potential parents and furchild. There needs to be a good match all round or rescue will end up with another case!

Thanks and Cheers

Carl

I bet these folks are sorry they asked! I'm in tears laughing!

Carl, of course you are correct but try explaining your info to the rednecks down here in those terms and you'd be run out of town on a rail.

I can't stop laughing.

Zach

... Carl, of course you are correct but try explaining your info to the rednecks down here in those terms and you'd be run out of town on a rail. ....

Zach

HEALTHY OES DON'T SHED!! They don't build up extra coat in the winter and don't thin it out in the summer.

Carl

Whether you want to call it shedding, molting, breakage, normal hair loss or gravitational pull, it still results in hair detaching from the dog. The people asking the question most likely don't care by what means the hair accumulates on their floors, clothing or furniture, only whether it will. They are new to the forum so why not cut them some slack for asking questions that have been posted previously? There are always people who've been around a while that can benefit by reviving old topics.

We've had OES surrendered because the people who sold them were less than honest about traits typical of the breed. Grooming being foremost. The amount of "hair loss" a family can tolerate varies greatly but since this is the only question regarding the breed that was asked, they must be rather fastidious about their housekeeping. It would be unfair to tell them they'll never have dog hair dustbunnies accumulate under the kitchen table or never have to pick hairs off their dark clothing.

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.

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.

I often get the shedding question at the dog park as Miley is 1 of 2 OES's that go to the park on a regular basis. I always answer No -she does not shed but needs lots of grooming. For me, I will always take grooming over vaccuming -- it is more relaxing to me and Miley.

The "shedding" term is somewhat a personal bais. Our previous dog was a Flat-coat retriver mixed with a newfie. You could not pet him without getting dog hair -- to me that is shedding. On the other hand Miley only really looses hair when I brush her.

we are thinking of getting an OES but are planning on keeping the coat cut close. Any thoughts on this? Does this reduce shedding?

we are thinking of getting an OES but are planning on keeping the coat cut close. Any thoughts on this? Does this reduce shedding?

we are thinking of getting an OES but are planning on keeping the coat cut close. Any thoughts on this? Does this reduce shedding?

I would consider it cruel to have an OES in full coat for the summer months and it overheats the dog.

That is 100% untrue. You can easily keep a dog fully coated and comfortable during the summer, you just have to make some minor adjustments so they're comfortable. We take walks early in the morning or after the sun goes down. I keep lots of water around and I make sure the dogs come inside for breaks in the air conditioning during the day. I always keep a fan going so they can relax in front of the breeze if they want to but most of the time, they don't even bother. I guess if you didn't have air conditioning and absolutely couldn't adjust your schedule, it might not be as easy but it's really not that big of a deal.

I had two Old English sheep Dogs up until last week when my Beautiful boy Buster died. He was 3 months short of his 12th Birthday. I also have his brother (shared the same parents but different litter) who has just turned 8.

They are the most adorable dogs and only 24 Hrs before Buster died, My 11 month old was walking behind him (Pulling / holding onto his hair), Using him as a walker. There was never a growl or a bad word.

I keep my dogs hair cut / shaved twice a year. They do not shed much. Once in a while there would be a small bit but nothing compared to a Labrador or cocker.

I never brushed them (Two dogs...?? No way would I have the time) and the matting would never be a problem (As they would have been cut withing the past 6 months).

I would consider it cruel to have an OES in full coat for the summer months and it overheats the dog.

I could not recommende these dogs enough to anyone and I'm trying hard to get a new one as a companion for my remaing dog which shouild be here in a few weeks.

Buster had the hip dysplasia which I treated with Metacam. His recent illness was due to a tumour which was bleeding and he had become too weak to investagate. I had to made the difficult decision. He died in my arms.

This is a difficult time but it's nothing compared to the great times we had and the love he gave.

They dust bunnie.....