Yes, Golden Retrievers shed a lot. They have a trademark beautiful golden coat that makes it stand out from all other dog breeds – unfortunately, its coat also gets shed often and ends up on your floors and on your clothes. The golden retriever is one of the most loved dog breeds globally. It is intelligent, loyal, pleasant, and friendly, making it a popular family pet. In this article, we’ll address the causes of excessive shedding in golden retrievers and tips to prevents it. We also suggest some products that could help you restore your golden retriever’s coat. Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty!
How much do Golden Retrievers shed?
Throughout the year, golden retrievers will shed at least a moderate amounts of hair. However, weather changes during the spring and fall seasons result in increased shedding among this breed. The summer coat is much thinner because of the warmer weather conditions.
As they grow, golden retriever puppies also have to shed their fur. The purpose of that is to allow the growth of adult hair. So, if you notice your six-month-old pet golden retriever shedding hair, don’t fret. It is a natural occurrence that must happen as it ages.
Conversely, off-season pet fur shedding should concern you since it might indicate the presence of unnatural causes.
Like all other dog’s golden retrievers are double-coated. Just before the cold months, they shed the outer-coat hair and develop a thicker winter coat.
How to Prevent or Reduce Golden Retriever Shedding
While it is impossible to eliminate golden retriever shedding, you can take steps to stop excessive loss of fur. Here are several valuable tips to reduce excessive shedding in this dog breed:
1. Give the Dog a High-Quality diet
It would help if you fed your golden retriever healthy, nutritious food. That’s because proper nutrition helps golden retrievers to maintain healthy skin and a thick outer coat. In turn, the dog won’t shed its fur irregularly.
You can search online for the correct dog food to prevent shedding. Ensure your recipe has foods with lots of omega-3 fatty acids that promote skin and coat health while reducing inflammation.
Apart from dog food, provide the retriever with supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids. Since they come in liquids and tablets, you can mix the supplements in the dog’s food. With time, your dog will have improved skin and coat health, reducing shedding.
2. Bathe Your Golden Retriever Often
Even though shedding in golden retrievers may result from bathing, you should do it often. If you bathe your golden retriever often, you will remove any loose fur in a controlled manner.
You would be surprised how much your retriever likes bathing. This method can help you remove the dog’s hair and prevent it from falling on all surfaces within your house.
However, you should avoid bathing the dog daily as it may result in skin problems. Bathing your golden retriever once a month removes the already shed fur and those hanging loosely in the hair follicles.
Moreover, your hands and fingers massaging action dislodge any loose hair that might have come out sooner. It also frees any hair follicles and encourages the growth of fresh hair.
Finally, avoid using human shampoo as it could cause skin PH imbalance resulting in irritation. Luckily, there are many dog shampoos on the market to help you with the cleaning.
3. Brush Your Golden Retriever Frequently
It is impossible to stop golden retrievers from shedding fur. So, you should help the dog shed its coat in a controlled way.
Ensure you brush your retriever often to remove loose hair. Afterward, you can collect the hair trapped in the brush and dispose of it in the trash can.
Daily brushing can help stimulate the flow of blood, helping spur the growth of more dog hair. It is also the easiest way to discover wounds, ticks, and abrasions on the dog’s skin.
Furthermore, brushing a golden retriever regularly can eliminate tangles and mats while keeping the double coat looking great.
You can brush your dog twice a week to keep the coat in good health.
4. Keep Your Golden Retriever Stress Free
Shedding in golden retrievers may also come as a result of increased anxiety and stress. Apart from improving the food, it would help keep your dog’s stress levels very low.
Create opportunities for the golden retriever to exercise and cuddle him. Remember, a dog has chewing instincts that need exercising. So get for him toys or bones on which he can chew.
Also, create a secure crate for your golden retriever to rest when needed—many dogs like it when they have a safe place to unwind. Consequently, you will promote double coat growth due to diminished stress levels. You can find an affordable dog crate online and customize it for your retriever.
5. Hydrate the Golden Retriever Adequately
If your golden retriever is shedding more hair than usual, chances are it is dehydrated. That’s why you should provide it with lots of clean water to keep it adequately hydrated.
Proper hydration eliminates skin dryness, itching, and irritation. It, therefore, prevents the dog from shedding more hair than usual.
Hydrating should happen all year long to promote a thick winter coat and a sizeable summer coat.
6. Give Your Dog Professional Grooming
One way to reduce hair loss in golden retrievers is to get professional grooming services for your dog. Look for a groomer near you who knows how to groom a golden retriever.
Even though some experts recommend that you should never shave your golden retriever, the groomer will trim the coat to make it neat. However, this isn’t complete shaving as that can damage the fur and expose the dog to excess cold.
7. Control Parasites like Fleas and Ticks
If your retriever is shedding hair due to fleas, get rid of them.
Make sure to consult your vet on the best way to remove fleas. As such, the vet might recommend oral treatments for flea and tick removal. Experts recommend that you spray eliminate ticks at least twice a year to keep your dog healthy.
Additionally, you might try spraying the dog’s coat before combing with a slicker brush. To eradicate ticks and fleas from your home, you should:
- Wash your dog’s beddings with hot soapy water
- Apply environmental flee control twice a year
- Vacuum your carpets and disposing of the bad ones
- Use pellets, sprays, or other non-toxic treatments in the yard
- Keep treating the golden retriever once monthly
8. Take Your Golden Retriever to a Vet
Sometimes, retrievers shed golden hair for for no apparent reason. That’s why you should see a vet instead of taking matters into your own hands.
A vet will provide you with expert advice to take good care of your golden retriever and promote a thick undercoat. He or she may also rule out the likelihood of your dog shedding fur due to illness.
If your dog is ill, the vet will recommend medication, diet, and supplements to make it healthy once again. You might also get to learn the shampoo to use on your golden retriever’s coat.
We address some of the things to look for further down if your Golden Retriever is shedding excessively.
Products to Reduce Shedding In Your Golden Retriever
As we have already seen, you need several products to prevent shedding in your golden retriever. Below, we review two products to help you with that.
Burt’s Bees for Dogs Natural Tearless 2-in-1 Dog Shampoo
You might not be able to keep your dogs clean without shampoo. This particular product features high-quality ingredients for ultimate skin health.
For example, buttermilk softens the fur while soothing the skin. Linseed oil, on the other hand, provides deep puppy coat conditioning.
It is suitable for puppies and dogs alike. Washing your dog will provide PH balance that promotes skin and hair health. The dog shampoo doesn’t feature harsh chemicals like colorants, sulfates, and fragrances.
Pros
- All-natural ingredients
- Works for all dogs
- Soothes and nourishes the skin
Cons
- Doesn’t soap fast
Hertzko Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush
2. Hertzko Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush
You can remove loose undercoats using the Hertzko Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush. It eliminates dander, knots, tangles, and trapped dirt to keep your dog clean.
After brushing your golden retriever, you can remove the hair from the brush and dump it in the bin. Apart from grooming the dog, this brush massages the coat for increased blood circulation.
The comfortable brush is robust and durable and would last longer. It provides an anti-slip comfort-grip handle that prevents straining when brushing your dog’s hair.
Pros
- Comfortable to hold
- Easy to clean
- It massages the coat
Cons
- Lacks retractable pins
Causes of unnatural excessive Golden Retriever shedding
As we have seen, most fur shedding in golden retrievers results from natural causes like weather changes in spring and fall and transition into adulthood. Also, we mentioned excessive golden retriever shedding might result from unnatural causes, including the following:
1. Stress
Do golden retrievers shed more when stressed? Yes – Stress often makes retrievers start shedding more hair.
When you notice shedding due to scratching at a particular spot, your golden retriever is undoubtedly stressed. Another sign is if the coat has a hairless patch.
Once you are sure the dog is stressed, find out the cause. Some common causes of golden retriever stress include mistreatment and separation anxiety.
In the case of the former, you should take steps to treat the dog a little more gently. If it is separation anxiety caused by moving homes, then you can give it time.
However, if you can’t figure out the cause of stress or the golden retriever’s shedding is causing multiple patches, call a vet. He or she will examine the dog and give a better diagnosis.
2. Skin Irritation (Fleas)
Possibly, your golden retriever is into a shedding overdrive due to a flea infection or skin irritation. Apart from fleas, the use of a harsh shampoo may also result in skin irritation.
So if you notice a sudden onset of excessive shedding, the dog is likely to have been scratching more lately. Therefore, you should check for fleas and remove them to manage your golden retriever’s shedding problem.
Also, it would help if you bathe the dog less with the skin-irritating shampoo. If that doesn’t work, then the shedding could result from numerous other factors.
3. Poor Diet
One of the causes of excessive golden retriever shedding is a poor diet. That’s especially if the dog isn’t getting all the proper nutrients from its food.
So watch out for the onset of shedding due to diet change. If you recently changed the dog’s food and you notice shedding, that’s the cause.
Therefore, you should choose your retriever’s diet wisely by following your vet’s recommendations. Also, make sure you feed the dog yourself to maintain a healthy coat.
4. Illness
A golden retriever may also start shedding fur because of illness. So if the golden retriever is acting unusually and shedding coat at the same it, it could be ill. Therefore, you should have a vet examine and treat it with the proper medication.
However, some types of medications like corticosteroids can lead to problems in the dog’s skin. When that happens, ask the vet if you could switch to a different medication brand.
5. Hormonal Changes
Do golden retrievers shed fur due to hormonal changes? Yes! A dog experiencing hormone level fluctuations due to being newly fixed may cause hair loss.
In females, pregnancy and lactation may lead to increased shedding. So, it would help if you weren’t alarmed when your dog experiences shedding soon after having a litter. In that case, getting a golden retriever to shed less hair requires a simple supplement should do the trick!
Besides, your golden retrievers may shed their coats because of thyroid problems. A significant sign is the development of a “rat tail,” characterized by loss of plumes. Hyperthyroidism is easy to treat, especially when discovered early.
6. Allergies
Golden retrievers may have allergic reactions to various stimulants, including dog food, pollen, and shampoo (discussed earlier). When exposed to allergens, the dog may scratch its skin, resulting in the shedding of pollen.
Dogs with allergies also have itchy armpits, ears, eyes, paws, and private parts. They may also suffer eye and ear infections. Because of that, dogs shed hair wherever there is an infection.
Conclusion
Do golden retrievers shed a lot of fur across your house? That’s a question to which we have said yes and gone ahead to explain the underlying reasons. Depending on the season and other factors, the dog might end up leaving hair everywhere in your house. This dog breed can have a beautiful coat with the proper tips. Part of it includes a balanced diet, washing the dog, brushing, and preventing fleas and ticks. W recommend a shampoo and brush for reducing shedding all year round.
Lydia King is a huge animal lover and has always been fascinated with learning about the animal kingdom. She enjoys writing about anything animal related from scientific information about rare species to animal references in pop culture.
