August 15, 2026
Deshedding: What Actually Works on a Double Coat
This is for owners of double-coated dogs who are tired of the hair. A double coat is two coats: a coarse outer layer that repels water and blocks sun, and a dense woolly undercoat underneath that does the insulating. The shedding you are living with is the undercoat releasing, and it releases heavily twice a year.
Do not shave a double coat
It is the most common request and it is the one thing that makes the problem worse. The outer coat does not regrow the way the undercoat does, so shaving removes the layer that reflects heat and protects skin, while leaving the layer that traps warmth.
The result is a dog who is hotter, more exposed to sunburn, and whose coat may come back patchy or with a different texture. Shaving is right for matting so severe that removing it is the only humane option — and for very little else.
What deshedding actually is
The work is getting loose undercoat out, not cutting anything off:
- A bath with a deshedding shampoo to loosen the undercoat at the root.
- A high-velocity blow-out that drives the loose coat out with air rather than pulling it through the skin.
- A thorough brush-out with an undercoat rake to lift what the dryer freed.
Our Deshedding Treatment is 75 minutes at $55, and the length is the point — most of it is the blow-out and brush-out, which is the part that cannot be rushed.
What to expect afterwards
A deshedding treatment does not stop shedding; nothing does. It removes what was already coming out, so it typically reduces loose hair around the house noticeably for four to six weeks, with the effect strongest during the spring and autumn coat changes.
Between visits, an undercoat rake once or twice a week does more good than daily work with a slicker brush, which mostly tidies the outer coat and leaves the undercoat where it is.