How to Stop Your Dog Shedding: A UK Owner's Guide

Let's be honest from the start: you can't stop a healthy dog shedding completely, because it's a natural process. What you can do is reduce loose hair around the home by 80% or more with the right brushing routine, a good diet, and well-timed deshedding. Here's how to get there, and how to spot when shedding is actually a health problem.

Why your dog sheds (and when it peaks)

Dogs shed all year, but most ramp up dramatically in spring and autumn as they swap their coat for the season. In the UK, central heating muddies this a bit, so you may see year-round shedding rather than two clean peaks. Double-coated breeds like Huskies, German Shepherds and Border Collies shed the most, blowing their soft undercoat in great clumps during the moult.

This is normal. Patchy bald spots, redness, scabs, excessive scratching or a sudden change in coat are not, and those warrant a vet visit rather than a new brush, as they can point to allergies, parasites, or a thyroid or hormonal issue.

The single biggest lever: deshedding brushes

Regular brushing is by far the most effective thing you can do, because hair you capture in the brush is hair that never reaches your sofa. The key is using the right tool for the coat:

• Undercoat rakes and deshedding tools reach down through the topcoat to pull out the loose, dead undercoat where the real volume lives. For double coats, this is essential. Our deshedding brushes range is built for exactly this job, and Best Deshedding Brush for Double-Coated Dogs (UK 2026) helps you pick.
• Slicker brushes and grooming combs smooth the topcoat, lift surface hair and tease out the start of mats. Browse dog grooming brushes for everyday tools.
• A dematting comb earns its place if your dog is prone to knots, since matted fur traps dead hair and stops the undercoat releasing cleanly.

During peak moult, brush daily for a few minutes outdoors. Off-season, two or three times a week keeps things under control. Always brush in the direction of the coat and be gentle around the belly and legs.

Bathe, then blow the coat out

A warm bath loosens dead hair, and the magic happens in the drying. A dedicated high-velocity dog dryer literally blasts the loose undercoat out, removing far more than towel-drying ever will. It's a genuine game-changer during the moult, and many owners say one good blow-out saves a week of vacuuming. Have a look at dog hair dryers if your dog tolerates the noise. Don't over-bathe, though, as stripping the natural oils too often can leave the skin dry and, ironically, increase shedding.

Feed the coat from the inside

A healthy coat sheds less and breaks less. The basics:

• A complete, good-quality diet with enough protein for coat growth
• Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which support skin and coat condition
• Plenty of fresh water

If you're considering a supplement or suspect a food sensitivity is behind heavy or itchy shedding, run it past your vet first so you treat the right cause rather than guessing.

A realistic weekly routine

Putting it together for a typical double-coated dog in moult season:

• Daily: five minutes with the undercoat rake, ideally in the garden
• Weekly: a slicker-brush tidy and a check for mats
• Every few weeks: a bath followed by a proper blow-dry
• Ongoing: a balanced diet and fresh water, with vacuuming as the backstop

Stick with it and the difference within a fortnight is hard to miss. For more on tools and technique, head to our Dog Grooming hub or the health and grooming shop.