FURminator

Ryan and I adopted Jack at the beginning of the January. We considered adopting for a while, but convinced ourselves that we wanted to wait. Low and behold, we met Jack unexpectedly on a routine trip to PetCo. He stole our hearts that Sunday afternoon, and we picked him up a week later.

Meet Jack!

Jack is a lab mix, who appears to be almost all black lab and…something else. Although we’re not sure what else he has in his genetic make-up, one thing is for sure… whatever it is, combined with lab, creates the world’s most shedding dog. I kid you not. You may think your dog sheds a lot…please, feel free to come over and check out our place anytime!

I was completely aware that labs do shed a lot. My whole extended family up in Ohio either owns a lab, or has owned (several) labs, so I know from experience. Besides, Brutus, our sweet terrier mix, sheds, too, so no big deal. We were used to our clothing, furniture, etc. being covered in Brutus hair, so a little Jack hair wouldn’t matter, or so we thought. Turns out a “little” Jack hair is more like a TON of Jack hair…and it goes a long way.

The last two months or so that we’ve had him, I’ve sort of come up with a motto that I tell myself each day. “Dog hair, don’t care!” Come to think of it, more specifically, I should say, “Jack hair, don’t care!” When I look around and see everything covered in Jack hair, I try to remind myself of what a sweet boy he is, what he adds to our little family and how much we love him (despite the hair). That saying pops up in my head every time. I love Jack, so I can’t care about the shedding...

Well, last week I noticed little chunks of his hair around our apartment. He was shedding EVEN MORE than usual, which I would have guessed was impossible. We paid the vet a little visit to ensure that he didn’t have any skin problems leading to the excessive shedding. Thankfully, everything was okay. The simple answer to the problem- he’s shedding his undercoat to prepare for warmer weather.

Fabulous.

The vet recommended a product called FURminator, which is pet shampoo and conditioner made to help reduce shedding. Ryan and I went to PetCo to purchase this wonderful product, and made big weekend plans to bathe Jack. At home. In our tub. BIG MISTAKE. Turns out the FURminator product actually works, and it works well! Below are some pictures of some of the hair that consumed our bathtub. Please note that the pictures only show a small portion of the Jack fur that came off during his bath. A large portion of it made it down the drain before clogging it.

A small portion of Jack hair that we were able to keep from going down the drain.

Gross, I know. If only you could have felt how heavy this bowl was.

After A LOT of cleaning, and half of a (large) bottle of Draino, our bathtub is operational again.

We learned to never, ever attempt to bathe Jack again. From now on he’ll be visiting our local Pet Boutique for his baths, whether it’s the season for him to shed his undercoat or not. We would much rather spend the money to have someone else go through the misery.