Favorite method to decrease shedding?

[Alex]

Firstly, I am not a groomer, and have never had any professional training in the skill. I do have dogs and cats of my own that I groom at home, but for any type of trim (except for nails, those I take care of) my boys head off to the shop. I did shave a cat once...but only because my groomers wouldn't touch her. She's too insane, and kept trying to kill them. She wasn't pretty when I was done with her, but she felt better.

What I'm wondering, with all of you experts around here...what is your favorite, or most effective way to reduce shedding?

I recently bought a Furminator after it was recommended to my by one of our friends with two Labs. So far, it's doing pretty good. I've got two large dogs...an 80lb lab, and a 60 lb 5 month old Newf. I know that the Newf is going to shed like mad, and I'm curious as to what you have used that you swear by.

Thanks!

[Mordy]

First and foremost I'd look at the diet of the animals. Good quality protein and an adequate fat percentage can make quite dramatic changes. :)

[SummerRiot]

Just be careful with the Fermanator - it CAN cause un happy hair folicles which in turn hurts the dogs and can be sore/itchy as well with little bumps :)

THere are a few labs and short haired dogs that we have at work that can't have it used on them.

Other then that - I LOVE that grooming tool for the Labs and short haired dogs we get in! Its amazing.

There are also de-shedding shampoos you can get from Natures Specialties as well - we shampoo some of the short hairs in that as well as some of the long hair natural coats and it cuts down on some of the shedding out.

Also, daily grooming cuts down on shedding TONS!

[2BlackDogs]

I have a newfie/lab mix and I also have the furminator. It's the best thing that works on him. Daily brushing really helps with shedding. Since he has long fur I brush him twice a day and it really helps.

[Momof2Pups]

Regular brushing makes a huge difference. I like using a shedding blade. It works wonders on heavily shedding dogs.

Here is some information on controlling shedding.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/add_info.cfm?pCatId=786