Grooming Kit Essentials for Double-Coated Dogs

When their winter undercoat sheds out in the spring it's time to pull out the full grooming kit.

Reader Contribution by Keba M Hitzeman
Published on April 19, 2021
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by Keba M. Hitzeman

It’s a lovely, warm morning, with temperatures expected to be in the 70s today, so our Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) and our Malamute mix farm dog will soon be shedding. They are all double-coated dogs, meaning they grow in an underlayer of fur for protection in the winter, and that fur “blows” off in the spring. The LGDs we currently have all have good coats, so they will shed that winter fur on their own, but the farm dog is a mix, and she has a difficult time getting rid of all that fur.

One of our previous Pyrs also had a bad coat (we think he may have been a mix), and he was absolutely miserable until I could get him all brushed out for the year. To get ready for the next few weeks of brushing and grooming, I pulled out all the grooming tools I’ve collected — these have been the “keepers” after years of trying different tools (mostly on the recommendation of others with double-coated dogs) and finding what works for my dogs and for me. Some of these are occasional use tools, and some I use every grooming session.

Oval Brush

My go-to brush is the Original Series Oval Brush from Chris Christensen. It looks like a human hairbrush but doesn’t have the little round nubbies at the top of the pins like a human brush. It’s great for everyday brushing. I’ve found that it also works well on “bloomers” around their back end. It’s not a mat-buster, but for maintenance, it’s amazing.

I purchased the 20mm brush several years ago and am considering getting one of the longer options to see how they work. Yes, it is a bit more pricey than what you can get at the local box pet store, but this is a quality tool and does the job I need it to do. I will pay more for that. I did look at the local pet store for a similar brush before buying this one, and they all had the round nubbies on the pins. Those brushes just slid across the top of the fur without getting down into the fur – not effective!

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