Do you groom your dogs and cats in your garden ?

[WildRosie]

If so, carry on! It's beneficial for our birds, especially at this time of year, as they take the fur away to line their nests in preparation for their youngsters' arrival.

My lab will have provided homes for many, many baby crows this year! (Although they’ll repay us by cawing away at 5am 😡).

But don't do it if you've used any spot on treatments on your pet.

@Anomalocaris

But don't do it if you've used any spot on treatments on your pet.

Fair point. I guess these treatments are potentially harmful to birds ??

A few years back my DC were grooming the dogs in the garden. There were a few excited yelps from them. Next door reported me to the dog warden and I had a visit telling me never to groom the dogs outdoors again. Absolutely ridiculous. Groom in the garden unless you have the neighbours from hell.

My husband moans that the hair floats off in the wind and might annoy the neighbours lol.. So I do it in the shed now.

I've a labrador. Outside is the only place I'm willing to brush him.. its unreal the amount of hair that comes off him during season change.

I brush mine inside but put his lovely brushed out undercoat on a bush for the birds.

Our cat would be horrified of birds taking her shed luxurious coat. Would the scent of their mortal enemies not scare the birds ?

@Marblessolveeverything

Our cat would be horrified of birds taking her shed luxurious coat. Would the scent of their mortal enemies not scare the birds ?

I wondered about this? I brush my dog in the garden and leave it for the birds... But I'm not sure if it's going to smell too much of dog for them to want it.

I groom my lab outside, but I have to collect her fur and put it up on the bird table or she eats it, the absolute loon!

I groom them inside but put the combings, there are a lot of combings, into a wide mesh thing that hangs on the bird table. You can tell they take it as it’s pulled through the wires. Like to think of the baby birds snuggling down in a nice, cosy fur lined bed.

Our cat won't stay still so we groom him outside, then inside, back outside again, inside for a bit, outside to roll in the dust.

My dad leaves his hair and beard trimmings out for the birds.

DSs pony is shedding his coat. We take a big handful home and squash it into a spare bird feeder, the little birdies seems to love it !

I cut DH's hair this evening, and as usual he shook the trimmings outside on the lawn for the birds.

And yes, we brush our hairy spaniels outside too. I've seen nesting birds pick up clumps of it.

Birds ain't daft!

I'm a dog groomer and every year one of my customers asks me to give her a large bag of dog hair, she lives on the edge of a forest and puts clumps of it around her garden. She said it's very popular and last autumn she bought a couple of old nests from her bird boxes to show me and they were full of the dog hairs woven into them.
They must have been lovely and cosy with so the insulation.

I brought home a bag full of my dogs fur for the birds last time she was groomed. I love seeing the birds collecting it! If you zoom in you can see a sparrow with a zz top beard and tache!

Well this is a lovely thread 🥰

We put our shitzhu clippings into a bird feeder for the birds but they never touch it. We live on the edge of woodland with a great variety of Birdlife but they really aren't interested.

I've a friend brushes his lovely dog and stuffs all the soft undercoat into an old hanging bird feeder; they take it within hours so I can only assume it's very much appreciated, doggy smell or not

I brush my thick coated dog in the woods, and leave the clumps of fluff for any creature who cares to collect it.

I once found a bird's nest that was woven with loads of horse's hair from my neighbour's horse

Last time I did some strimming personal grooming (because it's getting nice outside and it's time to un-hibernate) I shaved my armpits, legs, etc over a towel then shook it into the garden.

Mostly, that was so as not to block my shower drain, but I did also think it would serve the noisy, incessantly tweeting, bloody Great Tits right if they made a nest out of my etcs.

I thought we weren't supposed to do this because of the flea treatments. Not trying to be a killjoy but I'm sure it was on Mumsnet that I read it.

I also thought flea treatment might be bad for birds. I brush my cats everyday on my lap. Dogs get brushed by DH again often on his lap.