The fallen-out fur turns into individual hairs in no time and gets to our cars, furniture, clothing, and to some extent- to our foods! Especially if you have babies at your place, excessive shedding from your puppy can be a very risky affair.
Now, don’t get us wrong, shedding is a normal and natural part of any dog’s life, mostly because it helps them grow new and cleaner hair. Researchers say at least half of all the dog breeds in the world shed in a moderate amount, to say the least.
That being said, if your dog seems to shed a bit too much – it might not be good news. You need to keep your dog in a separate place for a while and consult a vet to reduce the shedding. We can help you with this.
But Why Do Dogs Shed So Much?
Truth it, dogs shed due to many different reasons, including allergies, change of season, and others. Let us point out every single reason for your dog’s shedding!
Seasonal Shedding
Many dog breeds tend to grow thick coats in winter, and when spring comes, they lose them as a means to regulate their body temperature. Sudden hot/cold spells can also cause this. Unless your dog is missing patches of fur, it should be natural, mostly in spring.
Shedding Based on Nutrition
Not all dogs are okay with random pet foods, some are sensitive to certain ingredients, and some might not get enough nutrition from the food it gets, hence maintaining healthy coats for dogs get difficult.
So, if professionally formulated food isn’t provided to the dog- it might shed a lot. The lesser its human food intake gets, the better.
Parasites/Fungi-based Shedding
This is quite the common shedding scenario, as fleas, mites, and ticks in your dog’s hair can result in excessive hair loss. The symptom on the dog’s skin also speaks for itself if it’s affected by parasites.
Fungi-induced ringworm can cause irregular shedding, whereas hair fall in the stomach and chest regions means that it’s a parasite-based attack. In most cases, using antifungal shampoos and other drugs prescribed by the vet should do.
Allergy-based Shedding
Dogs tend to develop allergic reactions to most kinds of irritants. They tend to shed when it takes medications that don’t suit them. Many common environmental stimuli like mold, pollen, dust mites can cause this. Food allergies coming from consuming beef, dairy, corn, soy, or chicken also can result in excess shedding.
Pregnancy/Stress-based Shedding
It might be the case that your dog is losing hair because she’s pregnant, running short of different minerals like calcium, and hence, she’s unable to keep her coat healthy. This might go on during or after the birth of a pupper. Another reason can be that your dog is under a lot of stress due to environmental changes.
Illness/skin Trauma-based Shedding
If your dog has some sort of terminal illness like issues with kidney, liver, adrenal or thyroid, or even cancer- it could result in excessive shedding in dogs. Skin traumas like sunburn or getting close to irritating or toxic materials might also make your dog shed or loose hair.
How to Stop My Dog Shedding Too Much?
In many cases, it’s natural. Having your dog’s hair all around the house can be a bit annoying, but if your dog sheds seasonally, then there’s not much to worry about. However, if you want to reduce shedding, you should follow the steps we’ll be describing now:
Check If It’s Just a Normal Shedding
First things first, it can be just a seasonal shedding. If you have one of Bernese Mountain Dogs, Boston Terriers, Corgis, Chow Chows, German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Newfoundlands, or Siberian Huskies- then it’s very natural that your dog will lose some hair in spring.
They develop thicker coats in winter and then remove the dead hair and damaged hair in other seasons, notably Spring. If you’re able to track the extra shedding based on the timing, then it’s natural, to say the least.
Understand Abnormal Shedding
If you think the weather isn’t the reason behind your dog shedding- then you should closely examine your dog and look for certain symptoms. Look for bald spots, redness, rashes, scabs, bumps, and open sores in the skin of your pupper.
Again, if your pet doesn’t look alright, has a severely thinning coat, or is rubbing and licking its face too frequently- this can be due to infections or other severe reasons. Once you spot any of these symptoms, the first thing you must do is consult the vet and find a remedy for your dog as soon as possible.
Look for Medical Conditions
Abnormal loss of a dog’s fur can mean a lot of things, so it’s best not to jump to conclusions and set an appointment with a professional. If it’s the sign of an underlying disorder, then it can be due to a lot of issues.
It might be parasites, infections, allergies, cancer, sunburn, kidney/liver/thyroid-based diseases, and many more. Again, you can’t be sure about it. But your vet can- so consult a vet immediately once you’ve noticed something unusual with your dog.
Improve the Daily Nutrition
In many cases, improving your pet dog’s daily nutrition can improve the situation greatly. Your dog’s coat and skin reflect directly on the sort of food and nutrition your pupper gets, or it should get.
There can be many nutritious food items, including Omega-3 fatty acids and fish oil, that will enable your dog to have fresh and healthy skin. Omega-3 alone can help your dog out on this as well.
But we’ll suggest you give a proper blend of both Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids for your pet. Add some vitamins and minerals accordingly to the mix- and you’ll see your dog’s skin improving in no time!
Consistent Brushing Is the Key!
This is important—very important—because apart from treating your dog, you also need to ensure the fur isn’t everywhere in the house! The crazy amount of hair needs to be sorted, and regular brushing can be a very efficient way to handle this issue.
Instead of the hair spreading all around the house, if you brush the dog, you can keep all the dog hair at one convenient spot, so it gets very easy to clean.
Consistent brushing might mean you’ll have to do monthly, weekly or daily grooming. Always remember to have the right kind of brush to work on different kinds of coats.
Bristle brushes go well with short/wiry coats, whereas pin brushes go well with silky/long-haired dogs. Undercoat rakes are good for heavy or double coats. So, simply do your research and pick the right brush to keep the house cleaner!
Try to Bathe Your Dog on a Regular Basis
There’s another way to dampen excessive shedding, and that’s to bathe your dog regularly. Bathing or showering keeps your dog’s coat clean and rinses off a lot of damaged and dead hair that naturally comes off later.
This, like brushing, also reduces the amount of dog hair floating all around the house. But by regular, we don’t mean daily bathing- that’s a bit too much for dogs. For most breeds, all it takes is bathing once/twice a month.
Final Words
So, this was our take on what you should do if you see your pupper losing way too much hair. Shedding is indeed a natural phenomenon, but you need to be prepared for anything. No matter what, consult the vet in the first sign of shedding- and that should be the first step. We hope your dog’s situation gets better!
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