is this common, no matter how much I brush her shes losing lots of hair daily. is this the age they lose the puppy hair or something. been going on for a couple weeks now. I had heard that any type of surgery can induce shedding and she was spayed but wanted to ask.

It depends on the dog but they can start full coat blow at 8 months or earlier. You will get huge tufts of fluffy fur out of them in coat blow and they will in general look like a mangy mess for a while. Mine are still working through their coat blow right now. If it's more general shedding or just hairs everywhere that can be caused by a lot of stuff. Surgery or food changes can both do it. Just watch the new hair coming in to make sure that it's healthy hair.

ok, foolish question but whats healthy hair? also my mothers lives here as well, she had been giving her a lot table scraps, almost to the point the husky ate very little puppy food. I put a stop to it recently but could that be the cause?

from your explanation, its not a coat blow, just a lot of little dog hairs everywhere, everyday

unhealthy hair tends to be dry and brittle and dull. In a coat blow they will seem like their hair is stiff at first because all the undercoat goes away and all that's left are guard hairs. Guard hairs are the top stiff bristly layer of hair that protects the undercoat. A balanced diet is insanely important, especially as a puppy. If your mother was feeding her nothing but table scraps and caused her to have an unbalanced diet and she is now getting back to a balanced diet then they will shed more as their body detoxes from junk food to make way for hair produced by a healthier diet. That is normal. Just monitor to make sure that her coat is replacing itself and coming in healthy. Should be smooth and have a nice shine.

odd thing is, she is tri colored yet still shedding badly but all the hairs that are shedding are white.. I brush her daily but just now took her outside, started running my hands up and down her fur and hair by the piles started coming off. funny thing is, she liked me doing it better than the brushing lol.

is it possible she could be shedding her puppy coat at 8 months or no?

Huskies typically have two coats. One is the guard hair, which as @twisterii said tend to be the top bristly hair - and that's generally what gives a Husky their color. This coat sheds, like most dogs, gradually through out the year.

They also have an undercoat that is soft, plush and normally white. It's this coat that provides insulation for them from both the cold of an arctic winter and the heat of a south Texas summer (I live in south Texas, BTW.) This coat is shed, (we call it "blowing their coat") generally, twice a year, once in the late spring / early summer and again in the late fall / early winter. The 'generally' above is that dogs have their own schedule and sometimes it seems as if they shed for six months in the spring and then for six months in the fall ... my girl Sasha, is now on her second month of blowing her coat ... I've had enough hair off of her this year to stuff a mattress!!!

Did this help[ explain what you're seeing???

Kenzi is blowing coat right now. My yard looks like this after every time I brush her.



It sounds a bit like a blow, which is possible at 8 months.

yeah, thanks. its not that bad yet, I had read somewhere that huskys dont generally blow a coat until they are a year old at least, guess I read wrong. The breeder thinks shes shedding her puppy fur, thats why I asked about that. Thanks for the info.

since I have a couple of you husky vets responding, could I ask a quick question since you have experience and no need to start a new thread.....  whats the best way you have found to get hair out of clothes. whenever I wash my clothes it seems I cant get the dog hair out. wondering if you could suggest something because what happens is the hair gets in my other clothes and turns everything hairy lol

Not a vet, but we buy the large pack of lint rollers at Costco.

You could also get a dedicated apron or bib for when you brush her. I've learned not to wear fleece around them when they are blowing their coat (Ours have only done it once so far).

Thanks. When i said vet i meant veteran of having huskies, someone with alot experience.

For furniture i purchased a hand held shark vaccum. Works great for dog hair

I have found your particular set of washer and dryer makes a difference. They make products that you can throw in your washer and dryer that is supposed to catch fur during a load. You may look into a Fur Zapper. They seem to have alright reviews. I haven't tried any of the catchers since my dryer picks up about all of the hair out of my clothes and what it doesn't I can do a quick once over with a lint roller and grab as I'm headed out the door.

rossingersoll wrote:

Thanks. When i said vet i meant veteran of having huskies, someone with alot experience.  

For furniture i purchased a hand held shark vaccum.  Works great for dog hair

Ah.. that's not me either.. ha ha.

We also purchased a separate "dog" vacuum. Mostly to vacuum out fake grass of dog hair.

thanks for the help guys and girls. Was a huge help. took her to the vet last night, turns out she has Gastroenteritis and is on a antibiotic and anti vomit meds mostly due to the human food thing, poor little girl, I know better now to let anyone feed her that stuff now, its mostly my fault because at the end of the day, shes mine and im responsible for her.

have another question....   I know shes suppose to blow her undercoat but is this normal, it seems shes losing some of her top coat, notice the black marks, thats where the grey has come out of her top coat. just wondering if that happens or I should take her in to be looked at

Huskies seem to change shades of their color like we humans change socks ... well, maybe not that often but it's not unusual for a dilute black to become "just black."

Since her head is very black, it doesn't surprise me that she's losing some of the grey. A red is still a red, a silver is still a silver and a black is still a black - but man can it change over time!!

ah ok because its just in a few spots so I was worried, thank you

I should say those arent just dark spots, they are fur that was on top of it missing from those spots making it black, like her top layer of fur fell out in spots

Spider is on her second coat blow of 2019. Had a weird winter that didnt really end until mid june so she blew her coat then refrew a second winter coat that is just now coming out. Im tempted to send spiders undercoat to knit your dog and giving the yarn to my mom for crocheting.

And spider is MUCH darker without her undercoat and it makes her copper highlights more noticeable

the breeder warned me that he first shed is the worst one, I feel for those of you with multiple huskys, I would be losing my hair along with them.

one last question as far as shedding I promise.... I purchased some shampoo and conditioner for her and it came with a thing called deshedding waterless spray, has anyone used it and would they recommend using it or even the opposite, recommend not using it.

I don't know what I'm talking about but that never stops me from giving an opinion

Because of a Huskies double coat, I'd be concerned of the residue left behind from a waterless spray - if this is anything like the waterless shampoos, they've been problematic for some here. Causing dandruff (or what appears to be dandruff, it could just be residue from the 'shampoo') and some rashes from the length of time that it takes the waterless gunk to work it's way out of the double coat.

Shampoo - fine if used with moderation; most northern breeds tend to have coats that automagically clean themselves given an hour or so. Bathing more than every six months or so - except for major 'oops' events like a skunk - is more apt to cause problems with drying skin that really help.

Conditioner - OPINION these, in my view are more for the owners satisfaction than anything to do with the dog. "Oh he smells so nice!" do you think the dog cares? or "Oh he's so soft!" um ... think about what that softness is costing the dog in terms of their hair quality. Guard hairs are stiff (and sometimes prickly) for a reason, it helps them shed that dirt and gunk that they pick up and to stay 'on guard' above the inner coat. /opinion

Waterless cleansers - as noted above, I wouldn't use one on my dogs.

Im not a fan of leave in anything on a dog in an area they can lick. I use 5 dollar oster moisturizing shampoo it smells like vanilla and if they need a conditioner i either use olive oil or food grade coconut oil. Spider has never had a bath but if i throw a damp towel on the floor she will rub herself clean. Squirt i bathe a few times a year my gsd has never had a bath bit he used to swim alot until the eye issues came up and my terrier gets a bath every few weeks.

One thing that is amazing on squirts coat is the mineral water where the hotsprings hit the river. It makes her super soft and clean feeling and the sulfer smell goes away after shes dry.