Guest post by Steven Frost:
A common complaint, from people who don’t own pets, when they visit a dog owner’s home is ‘Oh, I’m covered in hair. How disgusting’. Dog’s moult. It’s an inescapable truth when it comes to owning a dog. Understanding why dogs shed hair can only help the owner and the dog in the long run. Perhaps understanding will help those people who don’t own dogs, due to the hair loss problem, change their minds and make an investment in one of these extraordinary pets.
It is commonly known that dogs weren’t always domestic animals. Most likely they evolved from the wolf, through manufactured breeding by humans. The most docile wolves would have been used to breed causing certain characteristics to be handed down the generational ladder. Using this technique the modern dog was born. This is key as we must remember that dogs evolved from a wild animal. In the wild, certain hormonal triggers in the body control the dogs’ hair loss and growth. As the seasons change the dogs body can tell whether it needs to shed some hair, in the warmer months, or grow a thick winter coat. In the contemporary world of central heating the dog’s body finds it harder to regulate its hair loss. The heating comes on; the body receives a message to release hair. The heating goes off; the body receives a message to grow more.
So in reality, by having a modern home we cause this conflict in the dog’s body. Now, I’m not suggesting that we must get rid of central heating to keep a dog, but it seems that the dog can hardly help but shed all over your brand new carpet. Another factor to hair loss can be nutritional. If a dog’s skin is dry and flaky this can be caused by a lack of oils in the diet. A simple dog supplement can easily overcome this. This writer found Yumega to be a good source for the essential omega oils that keep a dog’s coat and skin healthy. It’s easy to administer, financially reasonable and most importantly, it improves the general health of your dog.
What is your experience with dog hair?
One reply on “‘I Want a Dog, But All That Hair?’”
I own a brush! My dogs are brushed regularly, but they are also Maltes/Yorkie crosses so they don’t shed, they lose hair. Still, there is hair around as I have quiet a few, therefore I have an over abundance of lint brushes, in the house, in the car, at work, you name it. For those that still need to bitch, I have a sign that states “no outfit is complete without dog hair”! If they don’t like the hair or my dogs, they don’t need to come! It is really simple!