My DM’s moulting dog is becoming a real problem!

[Bunbum]

She is retired and has always been a clean/house proud person. Not in a boasty way, they’ve never had money to spend on expensive furniture etc but it’s always been spotlessly clean.

Until… my now 27 yo DB decided to bring back a puppy when he was 18/19. Of course he should have asked and he was at fault, but he was young and spent one of his first wages on the dog (the dog that he wanted and was never allowed to have since he was a young kid!).

Any way, DB moved out and actually away for business a few years ago and couldn’t take the dog. I can’t have the dog and to be honest my DM was attached to the dog by that point and so was ok taking on the full responsibility.

However… the dog (although v sweet) has a double coat and moults all year round. I’m talking clumps. It’s horrible - every single part of her home has fur. The car is destroyed. Hoovering doesn’t pick half of it up (not even the strong industrial hoovers). Car washes charge her extra, thats even if they agree to do it. Her clothes are covered, sofas, everything.

She won’t let him go as she’d feel too bad, but equally she is so depressed living like this. She brushes him daily and gets him groomed once a month but it doesn’t seem to help much!

Is there ANYTHING she can do to help with the moulting? It truly is horrendous.

You need to hoover throughly twice a day with a shedding dog.

they also shed more in their senior years, but the correct food for them can help with this

Metal ddog brush. We have a husky...

Could she take the dog to a groomer to have a cut when it’s shedding time? Then it’s less hair being left all over things. Otherwise it’s hoovering on a frequent basis, could she use a robot vacuum once a day to help?

So the dog is 10 now? What breed? I'd have thought a thorough brush, twice a day, would help, along with a shorter cut? Does it have a regular groom? Another option is she gets a cleaner.
MIL went through so many vacuum cleaners when she had 2, large shedding dogs. It was awful. Fur balls in every corner and the tumble weed of hair balls rolling across the floor when the doors were open in the summer.

Definitely don’t do this to a double coated dog. Especially an older dog. The poor thing will have a much harder time regulating body temperature and could potentially overheat.

Covers/blankets over car seats and sofas etc? Robot vacuum? Brush twice a day outside? High velocity dryer for a bath and blowout between grooms? Dog pyjamas to contain the fluff?

A robot hoover will help (get one that actually maps the area to make sure it gets everything). Also, wiping over sofas with rubber gloves (or a rubber brush) grabs a good amount of fur. Does she have one of those brushes that helps strip out loose fur?

It is relentless though... sympathies.

Silicone sweeping brush is quite good at picking up the hair that the hoover can’t get. Something like this

What breed? (Just curious)

My Golden Retriever’s coat was really affected by his diet. Bar the Big Moult, regular brushing kept on top of the usual as long as her had decent food. Has your mum ever tried tweaking his diet?

I have a hand-sized silicone pad (available from the large online supplier) which removes hair from fabric/clothes and can be used in the washing machine. A Furminator has been equally useful. (Golden Retriever in this house.)

Expecting her to give him up just because he moults is ludicrous. It would be a cruel thing to a 9/10 yrar old dog as well.

Thanks all. This is the funny part, he isn’t a big dog - he’s a pug! Having spoken to various pug owners over the years though, we’ve gathered that this boy probably does moult more than the norm. You only have to stroke him and you have a handful of fur - it’s ridiculous.

A pug! I had no idea they had a double coat! I assumed it was a husky, Samoyed or something enormous. No further advice other than what I suggested in my earlier post.

Edited as found this: https://betterpet.com/pug-shedding/#:~:text=The%20essentials,%E2%80%94%20However%2C%20it's%20not%20preventable.

Ah a pug! Yes, every pug I have ever met sheds like crazy. I don’t know how they aren’t all bald!

You could try an equigroomer brush. If he’s happy to wear clothes, I’d probably get a few doggy pyjamas for him to wear at home.

Take him for a deshedding treatment with a groomer every 6 weeks, the money will be worth it. I’ve a lab that casts heavily if left but with regular groomer trips it’s much more manageable