So, I live in Washington State. It's pretty chilly here now. My husky has had all her summer undercoat shed for like a good month now. I used the furminator and got out all the undercoat in September-October brushing daily. Now she's looking kind of thin and scraggly cause no fluff. I've been waiting for the winter coat to grow in, but it still looks like nothing?

Should the winter coat be grown in by november? Or even started? I saw a neighbors husky today and that thing was floofy as heck. Mine, nothing it seems.

I just read somewhere that winter coat growth is determined by shorter days and less sunlight. Should I be turning off my home lights sooner?

Furminators are not recommended for husky coats - they cut the hair. I live in western NY - my guy is still blowing his summer coat. Typically, his winter coat doesn't start coming in until early winter, Dec/Jan. By February it is unbelievably thick - but he is a wooly coated Siberian. The first year we had him, he was outside all the time. His coat made him look like a big ball and his eyelashes were about an inch long. Second year, he spent most of the day outside, slept inside at night and his coat was not nearly as thick as the first year but still lots of undercoat. Since you used a furminator, I'm guessing it will take longer for his coat to recover. Next time, try an undercoat rake - there are no blades to cut the fur, just teeth to work through the coat (though my guy hates the undercoat rake, mostly i use the slicker brush and pin brush, and constantly, gently pulling the loose fur out with my fingers.)

The thing I have doesn't seem to cut nor have any blades on it?

It's this:
https://www.furminator.com/products/deshed/dog/undercoat-deshedding-tool-medium-dog-long-hair.aspx

I can comb my arm hair and comb head hair without it cutting the hair?

I actually just combed my whole head with it and seem really effective at scraping a bunch of dead skin off my scalp...

Human hair and dog hair are very different and will not behave in the furminator the same.

There are a lot of things that can factor into when a dog does the coat swap. I have one that is getting ready to blow currently, one that never seems to at all, and one that only blows in the spring. My old dog's coat has really slowed down in growth as she has aged. Each dog is different. Factors like genetics, time spent outside, temperature the inside of the house is kept at, food, and much more can play into how long it can take for the coat to come in. As long as her skin looks healthy underneath and her coat doesn't have a patchiness or straw-like texture I wouldn't be too concerned. If her skin doesn't look healthy, there's a lot of dandruff or redness, then you may have a skin infection or something going on disrupting the growth. If the fur texture is bad then that is often nutritional issue.

I have one, my Alaskan who doesn't shed all that much ... a little in the spring and fall. My other one sheds constantly it's heavier in the spring and much heavier in the fall but I get fluff bunnies all year long.

I'm in agreement with both @amymeme and @Twisterii it takes more effort to clean a dog up with a slicker but the coats going to look much better when you get done. I don't personally care for the result I see from a Furminator.

I would just like to brush spider for more then 2 mins without her snapping at me. Doesnt matter what brush i still get snapped at.

Spider is in the a few patches have shed but she is just now really losing her summer coat. Its been warm here but its hit single digits at night a few times already.

I'm doing some tests with this furminator and it really doesn't seem like it cuts... The edges of the teeth are not smooth, they are sharp, but they aren't razor blade sharp, or even kitchen knife sharp. You can lightly run it over the coat to get a bunch of shedding fluff out, and it does eventually stop getting new fluff after a couple strokes. I could maybe see it cutting on like a poodle or dog that doesn't have straight hair that could get caught on the teeth, but still it's not sharp enough to easily cut it. More so the hair snags on it, which if it wasn't loose hair, you'd be ripping it out, which would take far more effort. Although maybe that is what some people do? But I don't see how this thing could be cutting hair if you are lightly running it over the coat with little force.

Only reporting what others here have said regarding the furminator, not being recommended for husky coats.

https://bamahuskies.com/should-you-use-the-furminator-on-a-siberian-husky/#:~:text=The%20answer%20is%20no.,protect%20it%20from%20the%20elements.

And, believe it or not, we're not picking on you.  In that page that @Amymeme mentioned, the operative line was "The top coat will grow back coarser and stiff compared to the natural soft coat the dog should have if you will just use a quality brush."
If you don't have a fluffy soft pup then you're missing something and maybe the reason you're missing it is because of the Furminator.

This is only the first winter... I don't know what's out of the ordinary.

But I'm reading all this controversy about the furminator on the web and honestly it just seems like conjecture, a little overly paranoid and like a game of telephone has occurred.

One thread is saying there is a blade in it and so it cuts. But there isn't a blade in it. Another thread someone saying it's teeth are sharp, it's just like a half a clipper, and that's why it cuts. But half a clipper isn't a clipper. Running half a blade of run-of-the-mill kitchen scissors across a surface isn't anywhere near the cutting power of actually closing the scissors. A single scissor blade can be quite dull and useless at cutting, the same thing with clippers, this is done to make them safer. But you can tell pretty clearly the teeth aren't razer blades.

You can take it and run over fur lightly and it pretty clearly see it does only grab loose under fluff.

I could maybe see if someone is like pushing really hard and pulling really hard, but the thing is too dull to cut cleanly and easily, more so snag and pull hairs out. But if you're pulling thousands of hairs out at the root with a swipe, you could tell, that wouldn't be easy, that'd take some muscle and hurt the dog. My girl actually responds the least to the furminator for whatever reason.

Maybe someone did in some scenario push and pull really hard, then did do something really bad and from that a bunch of rumors started to make people paranoid. But it doesn't seem hard to not do that.

So, Stray, are you happy with the way your dog's coat looks? About the only thing you can is wait and see how her coat grows in - by February the coat should be at it's thickest. There's always the possibility her coat is closer to a working husky coat which is much closer to the body rather than a moderate plush x show dog sort of coat. If the coat is rough, maybe a diet change is in order. Perhaps some sort of fish/salmon/Omega 3 oils. My mom used to sweat by a raw egg a day for Olde English Sheepdogs. The other thing to consider - being a "she" had she been spayed? If not, has she recently gone through heat? That can mess up a coat. Even spayed, if the spay was incomplete in some way, she still may have a heat. Pregnancy also messes up the coat cycle.

How long have you had her?

I think I've had her 8 months now... the place I really notice it the most is her stomach, there is no under fluff left at all, just the scraggly long guard hairs and lots of husky skin. Which the stomach is one place I never furminated, all that came out from belly rubs and scratches over weeks, which is kind why I think she's just lost all her underfluff. She's not spayed but isn't in heat. I think last heat was april/may, technically it should start soon then?

You mean like this?


Spider is somewhere between wolf coat and wooly. Thats her belly. First place she sheds then her sides then her front then her back. Twice a year. The twice a year thing is kind of weird with her only because she only blew her coat once a year like a wolf until she was spayed at age 6 and now she has more of the husky thing going on.

By the way @stray you might want to consider a spay. First dogs from what i hear are hard and you picked a hard breed. Lots of huskys here sitting in shelters, so you kept one out and thats a good thing. Also i dont know about where you are but any dog that costs less then $50 ends up as bait so atleast she found a caring home.I had 2 in the house when i was born and have never not had a dog.

Hey Stray, when it comes to your pups coat you can relax! We're in PDX and our boy blows his coat twice a year.  His winter coat blow is just starting now.  We can tell because clumps of undercoat start falling out.  Compared to most all the other huskies I've met, our boy's coat is the extra-fluffy type with more than average coat blow and shedding.  When he's not shedding we leave him alone and give ourselves a break!  When the coat blow starts, we take him into the garage or outside with our big shop vac and one person uses the de-shedding comb while the other person sucks up the clouds or undercoat.  Then, when the low seems to be at it's "loosest" we bathe him with the Furminator de-shedding shampoo and conditioner.  After the bath, his undercoat falls out in sheets.  All this helps but our house will still get filled with undercoat-bunnies.  The vacuums and hand-vacs will be out in force.  Not fun.

I had a furminator comb and it seemed very effective, but it did seem to pull some of his brown non-undercoat fur out. Since then I've gone to more wide-toothed combs and finish with a brush. You want to be sure only the undercoat fluff is coming out.

Another thing I do outside when his coat is loose is use the leaf blower on him. When the light is right you can see tons of fur flying off.

This pic is from early spring when he's at maximum fluff.

Ok I think her winters furs are starting to grow... but I am noticing her stomach fur is kind of pink. Is that normal? Pinker than I remember. Is that sign for concern?