Favorite Pet Brushes for Dogs

As a pet owner, the biggest irony in me owning a dog is my complete distaste for pet hair. To say that I cannot stand pet hair is as much of an understatement as saying the ocean is big. I love my dog dearly, but keeping his hair contained is a constant struggle.

Aside from vacuuming, sweeping and bathing him regularly, I have found the single best thing I can do to cut down on his pet hair is brush him. There are hundreds of pet brushes available, but I have found two that work best for my pit-mix.

The first choice is a shedding blade. Its broad wide metal blade has dull teeth is works great in removing loose and dead hair from his coat. I generally use this brush prior to bathing him since it helps keep the drain from becoming clogged with his loose pet hair.

Once I’ve removed most of his looser longs hair, the next brush I use is a Furminator. The Furminator comes in a variety of sizes with different lengths of teeth. The variation in blade with it based on the size of the dog while the depth of the teeth corresponds with the length and density of the dog’s coat.

For my dog, Cotton, the very middle range works best as his coat is not short, nor long, and he weighs in right at 61lbs. With this brush, I again start at his head and work my way back to his tail. While the Furminator will remove some loose long hairs, its primary purpose is to remove and thin the undercoat.

I typically brush him twice with this brush before I consider the job done. Removing the undercoat serves two purposes. First, it cuts down on the overall amount of hair shed by your pet, which is just another way to help control pet hair in your home. Secondly, by removing the undercoat, it helps cool the dog, which can be important particularly during the summer.

While dogs naturally grow a thicker coat during the cooler months, for indoor pets, like Cotton, this is almost entirely unnecessary. So using the Furminator, even during the winter months, is generally fine for indoor dogs.

As a final note, shedding blades and the Furminator can be purchased in different sizes and styles, so you have a wide variety when it comes to choice. All brushes work to do the same thing. Some just work a little better than others.