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I stopped at Pet Smart am considdering getting Katie Groomed. The Groomers said something about
FURminator® SHED-LESS Treatment
A Premium Groom or Bath that also includes a low-shed shampoo followed by an application of deShedding™ solution and up to 30 minutes of brushing with the FURminator tool. An amazing process that dramatically reduces shedding!
I never heard of this... Anyone tell me how safe it is for the dog? Does it work? Katie is a shedding machine How long/often does it need done?
I can't say anything about the low-shed shampoo or deShedding solution - but I can speak from experience on the Furminator. Wonderful thing to have around - I have Rotties, who have that heavy undercoat, and it will get a LOT of it off. I've never used it for 30 minutes, though - and I will say, I have one Rottie mix who absolutely cannot stand it. He doesn't mind being scratched or combed, but he cannot tolerate the Furminator. Then again, he can't stand a regular brush either. Stimulation is just too much and he goes into sensory overload. But for the rest of them, it does the trick.
Bear in mind your dogs have to be totally up to date on whatever shot schedule Petsmart deems appropriate and you have to have the vet records when you take them in.
A furminator is just a grooming tool that gets a lot of the fur and undercoat out, which means you have less shedding. We had our dogs groomed at Petsmart before and they did a good job.
That Furminator tool is excatly like the tool we already use on her. Has no name but I remember the package said was great for fleas LOL I know shampoo/bathing loosen fur. Here I thought they came up with something new LOL
1: the furminator is an undercoat rake NOT a comb, they do not work the same way, that one you have is great for removing small particles form the coat and will remove SOME loose undercoat ect, but the furminator (or any other DESHEDING comb) is a SHORT toothed blade (looks alost like a saw or a clipper blade) not a comb
a comb will never do the job of an undercoat rake.
2: the "de shedding" treatment in MY opinion is false advertising...
the shampoo and conditioning treatment do NOT help reduce shedding...they simply do what any GOOD quality shampoo and conditioner dog and that is remove dirt loosen the undercoat and condition...the simple act of bathing a dog with ANY good shampoo and conditioner is doing the eact same thing.
I would NOT pay etra to use the "furminator shampoo and conditioner" there not worth extra.
what happens with the furminator treatment is they brush the dog with the furminator FIRST...this removes almost all the undercoat...
then they get a bath in this aparently "special" shampoo (ive personally compared the products and have seen NO difference)
then they are blown out with the high velocity dryer...the high velocity dryer is actually what does the majority of the work as it blows out any undercoat that they missed with the furminator.
then of cours any feathering is trimed up naisl are one ect.
YES your dog will shed less afterwards...but it has NOTHING to do with the shampoo or conditiner and instead its about 20% the use of the deshedding rake and 80% the use of the velocity dryer.
you could get the same results at home by investing in a good highvelocity dryer and a deshedding comb...howver...a dgood high velocity dryer is EPENSIVE< and for 1 dog, it would probablybe cheaper to go in and have petmart do the grooming for you lol...
Just dont buy into the "this shampoo will make your dog shed less" hype...the shampoo will NOT reduce shedding...the proper use of a deshedding rake and a high velocity dryer is what does the work...
this is the process explained by petsmart themselves...
she oes say that the high velocity dryer is the biggests step, goes on to say the shampoo and "special" onditioner help Lososen the undercoat ect...but agan ANY good shampoo and conditioner and Correct bathing methods (good water flow) will do the eact same thing.
I am going to petsmart again on Sat. I see they sell the Furminator online hopefully it will be in the store also. I take a look at the teeth. Does the blade look like this: Horse Stainless Steel Shedding Blade | eBay
The only thing I dont have or do is the Dryer! Yep even when I had my 32 dogs I couldnt afford it LOL But dang I never had as much hair even with collie & shelties than Katie sheds!
I asked my sister a professional groomer. Here is her response:
I consulted with another groomer about it, she used it at her other store and recommends it. she said a bull dog would come in once a month to get it done and he didn't shed except for his head where they didn't use the shampoo and shedding tool. But u want to make sure they know what they're doing.
I had that done to my jack russell because he sheds a lot. He has short hair so I figured he wouldn't shed much after that. A week after his grooming at Petsmart he was shedding just the same. It didn't work well for my dog but it may just be a certain type of dog that it works for.
The furminator will break off the guard hair if over used (and 30 minutes is definitely overuse!). If you have a medium to long haired dog it may really mess up their coat. For a short-coated breed it should be okay.
I have always used our self wash dog washing place when the dogs need a bath which is not often. Jazz was my biggest shedder as she had a thick double coat and you could brush bags of hair out of her with a shedding rake. When she would start bowing her coat I would take her in give her a good brushing with the rake bathe her and dry her with their high velocity dryer and trust me you did not want to be in the place when I did as hair flew everywhere! It was like a snow storm except it was hair so much hair came out of that dog that you would have expected her to look bald but really she did not look different but the shedding was a lot less until she was ready to blow her coat again.
Phoenix had a very thick double coat too and frequent use of the undercoat rake kept her shedding down and being she had longer collie type hair I do not get the hair storm with the high velocity dryer that I got with the shorted coated Jazz. Phoenix was fun as soaking wet she looked so skinney then I would turn on the dryer and it was like Poof she blew up to this fluffy collie coat within minutes!
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How long/often does it need done? 
so much hair came out of that dog that you would have expected her to look bald but really she did not look different but the shedding was a lot less until she was ready to blow her coat again. 
