Rake the Undercoat

Guys, I really don’t know why it’s taken me so long to really mention this here on It’s Dog or Nothing.

I link to this product all the time, yet I’ve never spent much time on it.

Today, we will be talking about my absolute favorite tool for raking the fluffies’ undercoat: the Oster Grooming Rake.

When Mauja started to get her adult coat, I decided to use the Furminator for brushing. I had purchased it for our lab/husky mix and it was absolutely ah-mazing. Unfortunately, I was not so thrilled when I used it on Mauja. The Furminator just ripped and tore her fur giving her the appearance of split ends!

Needless to say, I was not pleased and began the search for a better way to remove the pesky undercoat. After being completely disappointed with a few grooming rakes from our local pet store, I stumbled across a discussion on grooming tools in one of the Great Pyrenees Facebook groups I’m a part of. There were a ton of recommendations, but the one that stood out to me most was the Oster Grooming Rake.

I ordered it that day and have never looked back!

What I Love About the Rake

It doesn’t scratch the skin. There was a brush I used to use (not a rake) with metal bristles. Atka absolutely hated when I used that brush. It took me far too long to realize that he didn’t like the metal bristles scraping his skin. Can you blame him?
Fur cutting is minimal. My biggest complaint with the Furminator was that it cut their fur and made them look uneven. The Oster grooming rake gets out the dead undercoat with minimal cutting. I definitely notice a difference using this rake!
It works. If you have a dog with a long, thick, double-coat, you know how difficult it can be to find appropriate grooming tools. I tried so many rakes that just untangled the outer coat and left the undercoat to mat.

What I Don’t Love About the Rake

While it doesn’t hurt Mauja and Atka, it definitely hurts me. After almost every brushing session, my hand is bright red and I usually end up with a blister or two. When things get really bad, I’ll put on a glove to keep it from destroying my hand!

Hey, Oster – we’d really appreciate it if you added a comfort grip to the handle! 😉

Other than the discomfort when brushing for long periods of time, I don’t have anything negative to say about it. For that reason, I want to offer a giveaway so one of you can try it for yourself!

Enter using the widget below to win an Oster Grooming Rake!

Have you ever tried the Oster Grooming Rake? Do you have another rake that works wonders for the undercoat?

I am not being compensated to talk about Oster and the giveaway is being hosted by us here at It’s Dog or Nothing!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Spring means green grass, blooming flowers, and warm sunlight, but for those of us with double-coated breeds, it means something less delightful.

The blowing of the winter undercoat.

Oh. My. Fluffy.

The struggle is real, friends. You can literally pull loose tufts of undercoat off of your dog. Kind of reminds me the truffula trees in the Lorax.

You can brush your double-coated dog for hours each day and still fail to keep up with the fur. So what are we to do?

Keep brushing. Brush, brush, and then brush some more.

Bathe your dog. Bathing helps to loosen the undercoat that wouldn’t normally come out with brushing.

Befriend your vacuum. You two are going to be spending a lot of time together over the next few weeks.

Survive. The shedding season will end after a few weeks and you’ll be left with your normal-shedding dog (that still sheds ten times more than other dogs). Just remember that your dog will be so much happier without the added warmth of the thick, winter undercoat.

I know it can be tempting, but please do not shave your double-coated dog They need the protection of their coat from the summer heat and sun and their coat will actually help to keep them cool.

How do you handle your dog blowing his undercoat?

Psst! There’s still time to enter our HUGE blogiversary giveaway!