Grooming Tools: Furminator

I figured I'd write about my experience with the Furminator since I lack anything else interesting to write about that is dog related.
The Furminator is a type of undercoat rake.  It's actually a shaving blade attached to a handle believe it or not. The blade is the exact same as one that you'd use on a clipper to shave a dog's (or human's) fur off with.  I guess someone discovered that it could be used to get out that nasty undercoat quite easily.

While I don't own the "Furminator" brand Furminator, I've got a knock-off made by Bamboo called the Furbuster.  It cost me $20 and has an easily replaceable blade unlike the Furminator which needs to be completely replaced if something happens to the blade.  And things do happen, I've seen one that was dropped and the blade was bent out of shape.

This is my Furbuster.  It's blue, but comes in red, purple or green and maybe yellow but I'm not exactly sure.  It's not a sharp as the Furminator which I find is a plus and works just as well.

My weekly grooming routine during shedding season is to only use the Furminator on the weekend and the curry and slicker every or every other day.  Why don't I use the Furminator every day?  While my Shiba's undercoat continues to shed those days I'm not using the Furminator, it can actually damage the coat if you brush with it too often, which happens a LOT.

The Furminator is very sharp and can easily damage the dog's skin.  If you've got one drag it along your arm with the same pressure you use on your dog.  You won't do it again, trust me, unless you've got feathertouch.
The Furminator can also completely strip out the undercoat which is bad and can damage the overcoat.  This is caused by excessive or very hard brushing.  Dogs with Furminator-damaged coats and skin aren't very happy so please don't overuse your Furminator.

Anyways, when I use the Furminator I do one side of Conker on Saturday then the other on Sunday, or whatever parts of him that happen to be shedding at the time.  I get out about a softball-sized amount of fur (when bundled up) with each of these brushings and they only last 10 minutes.  I stop when I've brushed Conker for 10 minutes even if I can still get out large clumps of fur to avoid skin and coat damage.
Besides, whatever I miss with the Furminator I can keep under control with the curry and slicker throughout the week until the next weekend rolls around.

The Furminator is a great tool, but used incorrectly can do more harm than good.  Remember that when you brush your dog with one.  They are also very pricey so don't buy one in a pet store.  Instead go online and find one, they can be bought for $25 or less.  If you go with a knock-off brand try to find one that's gotten good reviews.  I personally prefer my Furbuster to the Furminator due to it's replaceable and not-as-sharp blade and generally cheaper price.

The Furminator should only be used on dogs with undercoats since it does nothing for overcoats, stiff-hair coats or wooly/curly/wire coats.  It will work on Lab-type coats for the soft fluffy crap that gets everywhere, but don't buy one if you've got a dog like a Whippet unless you also own a German Shepherd Dog.





Today Conker got: Turkey back with egg, turkey liver and turkey heart.  Took him 20 minutes to eat.