Luna is a bearcoat Shar Pei. For anyone who hasn’t met one, that means a dense double coat that sheds in quantity twice a year and in smaller quantities the rest of the time. Over the years I’ve worked out what actually makes a difference and what just moves the hair around.
1. The Squeegee Method (the one that changed things for me)
Take a standard window squeegee and run it across your carpet or rug. The rubber blade grabs embedded hair and pulls it into a line you can pick up with your hand. A vacuum rolls over the top of deeply embedded hair. A squeegee blade pulls it out from the root of the fibre.
I use a [window squeegee] [AFFILIATE LINK] on Luna’s favourite spot on the rug. Two passes and the hair that had been there for weeks is gone. Nothing else I’ve tried comes close.
2. The Rubber Glove Trick
Tired of the vacuum not picking up stubborn hair from the sofa or your clothes? Put on a standard rubber dishwashing glove (the kind you use for washing up), dampen it slightly, and run your hand over the fabric. The friction pulls the hair into clumps you can peel off with your other hand.
Works on sofas, car seats, and clothes before you leave the house. I keep a pair of [rubber dishwashing gloves] [AFFILIATE LINK] under the kitchen sink.
3. The High-Velocity Blow Dry
After a bath, take your dog outside and dry them with a hairdryer on a cool setting before they come back indoors. The airflow blows out the loose undercoat before it has a chance to land on your carpet or sofa.
This made a noticeable difference with Luna during her spring moult. The amount of hair that blows out outside would have otherwise spent the next week coming off on everything she touched. I use a pet hairdryer [AFFILIATE LINK] but a standard household one on a cool setting works fine.
4. Salmon Oil in their food
A squirt of salmon oil in their food each day improves skin elasticity and coat health from the inside. Healthier skin means less dead hair released in the first place - it reduces the volume, not just the visible mess. It takes a few weeks to show up but it’s one of the longer-term changes I’ve kept up consistently.
I use a salmon oil supplement [AFFILIATE LINK] on Luna’s food most days. Not a dramatic change on its own but the combination with everything else means noticeably less hair on the floor during moult season.
5. The 10-Minute Weekly Brush
This one sounds obvious but consistency is what makes it work, not gadgets. Ten minutes of brushing once a week removes dead hair before it reaches your carpet. Most people brush reactively, when the shedding becomes visible. Brushing on a schedule means you’re intercepting hair before it ever lands anywhere.
During heavy shedding season I go twice a week with Luna. The individual sessions are short enough that she tolerates them (bearcoats are not always cooperative). A slicker brush or undercoat rake depending on your dog’s coat type.
None of these are difficult. The squeegee in particular is the kind of thing where you’ll wonder why nobody told you about it sooner.