In our 10-animal household (dogs and cats), fur is everywhere. I thought I had found the holy grail of grooming tools in the Zoom Groom (they make different models for dogs and for cats), which removes a lot of fur without giving the animal an unpleasant experience. Now I think the Zoom Groom is a great little brush, but when it comes to amount of fur removed, it's got nothin' on the Furminator. Even my long-hair cat who dislikes being groomed will let me use the Furminator on her for a good long stretch.
How does it work? Excellent question; I still can't figure it out exactly after extensive use, but I can tell you what it does NOT do. It doesn't pull or cut the hair; the comb-style "blade" does not have a sharp edge. Also, it doesn't cause discomfort for the animal; mine all seem to enjoy it very much, like it gives a pleasant scratching sensation. (I ran it along my own arm as a test, and experienced the same.)
If you go to the Furminator website and watch the grooming videos there, you will see tremendous amounts of fur being removed from dogs and cats after they have been groomed using a few different styles of grooming tools. These videos are not faked; I could not believe the piles and piles of fur I removed from my critters with the Furminator, even after using a fine-toothed flea comb on them. Their coats are so soft after I groom them, and the amount of hair shed on my furniture and floors actually seems to have decreased! Plus the critters -- especially those with heavy undercoats for winter warmth -- are way more comfy in the summer heat.
A downside -- the manufacturer does suggest you will need to buy replacement blades to maintain the performance of this tool; I am not sure how one can tell if the blade is "dull" but perhaps it will become clear after more use. All in all, however, the price is well worth the performance of this high-quality tool.
UPDATE: I wanted to add that this tool is designed to be used on clean(ish), dry, tangle-free fur. If the coat has more than a couple of burrs or tangles, use a different kind of tool (scissors or a comb) to remove these first before grooming, as the Furminator will just skim right over these areas. Also, it will not work very effectively on wet or really grubby fur; this is not the tool to reach for right after your dog's been swimming! FURminator Large Yellow deShedding Tool with 4-Inch Edge
I live in Minnesota and have a twelve-year old German Shepherd who lives indoors year-round. Her undercoat EXPLODES in the spring and fall when the weather changes so drastically, and there is simply no way to keep up with all of the brushing and vacuuming that is needed during the shedding seasons. Until... along came the FURminator!
Believe me that I had tried everything on this dog for eleven years - shedding blades, slicker brushes, rubber brushes, metal combs, pin brushes, bristle brushes, the rubber Zoom Groom, rubber curry combs, shed-reducing diet-supplements, shampoos, conditioners and sprays... every product on the store shelves, and every new product that came out on the market I thought could help with the endless shedding. But alas, every brush and comb and glob of goop was as worthless as the last in the fight against the fur.
So when FURminator came out, I thought, why the heck is this brush so expensive? Could it really be worth the money? I saw that advertising image they use of the dog sitting with his fur in a giant half-circle on the floor all around him, and his coat looking flat and smooth. I wanted my dog to look like that! I imagined all of those piles of fur being slowly embedded in the carpet throughout the house over the course of the shedding seasons, and the constant battle to vacuum it all up. I was tired of that, so I thought I'd give it a try.
I've had the FURminator for about a year now, as I wanted to really test it out and make sure it continued to be as impressive as when I first got it, and it has. Every time I take it from its peg on the wall, my dog knows that it's time to get all that itchy, yucky, uncomfortable fur out of her coat for good, so she stands as quiet as a princess as I pull out heaps of hair (outdoors, of course.) The tufts of hair are so light and fluffy, that I also get the added joy of watching birds come pick up the puffs to build their nests in the spring. It has cut grooming down to about a quarter of the time I used to spend, with better results than I ever got before, when I armed myself with my box of brushes and sprays. This is the only brush I will ever use on any undercoated dog.
The FURminator is more than a brush - it is truly a grooming tool. You will not be disappointed.
This product is great for shedding dogs and cats but does not work well for specific breeds of dogs. I have a Siberian Husky who sheds his undercoat like crazy in the warm weather months. This brush barely got through his thick, artic breed type outer coat hairs to reach those pesky undercoat hairs. Works well on soft, long haired breeds like Goldens and Collies, etc. Definately not for Artic breeds!! Stick to your typical undercoat rake and a shedding blade for them.
I feel compelled to balance the...interesting...comment below. This tool is not meant for humans; likewise, it (as with any other intensive grooming tool) should not be used repeatedly over one area. Because it pulls coat, it can irritate the skin with overuse. *It does not conntain any blades.* However, cats can be very skin sensitive (I haven't tried it on my cat, she doesn't like much handling).
Having used it now on four dogs, I can say that dogs *love* the Furminator. Even my former-stray, who is hestitant about grooming because she had skin problems when I adopted her, will follow me around wanting to be groomed when I pick up the Furminator and stay calm and relaxed while I use it. It also pulls more undercoat than any tool I've ever tried, so I happen to love it too! However, despite what it says above, it does not appear to accomplish much with short-haired dogs (which makes sense, given their lack of undercoat). - Shedding - Pet Grooming - Dog Brush - Deshedding'
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