How much do Labradors moult? Or, "Oh my god, look at all the hair!!!"

snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
We quite often get asked "How much do Labradors moult?" or, "Is this normal?!" from new owners.

The answers, respectively, can be anything from "Not a lot" to "I live under a cloud of Labrador hair", and "Yes, it's perfectly normal".

I have four dogs, three of which are Labradors.
Willow (black) and Shadow (yellow) are brother and sister from working lines. They do not have the thick "proper" coat of a Labrador. Willow barely sheds, just a couple of times a year for her seasonal moult. Shadow - dear god alive, it's constant. AND then he has seasonal moults!
Luna is chocolate and from show lines. She has a wonderful, proper Labrador coat. It's thick and luscious, double layered. I really thought she would be competing with Shadow for the crown of who could cover me in the most hair, but no. She's like Willow; a couple of good moults a year, which last about a week each time, and then there's very little between.

But Shadow. Oh, Shadow. :oops:

Over the winter, he has been really fluffy. It was pretty ridiculous, but so soft and cuddly, I loved it. He was like my little polar bear. In the last couple of weeks, he has started his seasonal moult. You would not BELIEVE the amount of hair that is coming off him! I have a rake for grooming him and it is coming out in handfuls. I know people have mixed feelings about these rakes, thinking they can pull the hair out or even cut it. I can understand this for two reasons: firstly, I bought another (unbranded) type when I misplaced this one and that one certainly does cut the guard hairs, so I stopped using it immediately. Secondly, you should see Shadow right now. He's patchy as anything. You can see his skin in places. But this isn't the rake pulling the hair out, oh no. If it did that, it would do the same to my other dogs, and nary a hair comes out of them. This is just him shedding a lifetime's amount of hair in one go.

I am lamenting the loss of the lovely fluffy polar bear cuddle-bug I had over the winter, and I am rolling my eyes at how ridiculous he looks now. Most of all, though, I am just grateful that the floors are my husband's job.
 
SilverFalcon

SilverFalcon

Beau does not have set moults but he does shed constantly year round. Not a lot, but a steady amount.

We have a robot vacuum that we run daily as light maintenance inbetween a full vacuuming, and the little bin fills up completely each time. Then again, we have three dogs, and they all shed :p
 
Ashley

Ashley

I would classify Quinn as a light shedder, a sprinkling of hair on the floors every few days, year round. I think we got off lucky in the shedding department!
 
Selina27

Selina27

Location
Herefordshire, UK
Cassie it seems is like Willow, she doesn't have the classic Lab double coat. I always thought that bitches had 2 main moults between seasons, but now I'm not so sure. she has just had the biggest moult of her life, 3 months post spay, which seems to have now stopped. Her hair is quite silky and doesn't stick to furniture or clothing, but seems to slip neatly to the floor. I have mostly wooden or laminate flooring, so easily dealt with. It does however seem to get upstairs , where she doesn't go, and sticks to the carpet but is easily hoovered off.
Having had a GR and a long haired collie, among others, I would say her hair shedding is the least problematic of all the dogs I've had!
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
This evening I started to brush Shadow again, I almost talked myself into thinking the rake was pulling out or cutting his hair, the amount coming out was so obscene, and top coat as well as fluff. So I put the rake aside and just started using my fingers and the same thing kept happening. He is half naked! I can see his skin through his coat! Poor tufty boy :oops::oops:
 
  • Like
Reactions: HAH
Lab_adore

Lab_adore

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Sydney, Australia
We thought we had a lot of hair when Maxx was a puppy. BWAH HA HA. He had his first moult as winter approached about a month ago and literally had a sea of yellow hair everywhere. On the floor. On the furniture. In our food. All around the backyard. Sigh.
 
Lisa

Lisa

Moderator
Location
Alberta, Canada
We have clouds of hair floating gently around the house at all times. CONSTANTLY. Simba has very soft, fine fur. I think it’s the one nod to his Newfie side. Everyone who touches him says “Oh, he’s so soft!” Hubby is brushing Simba out in the yard these days, and there is a permanent pile of hair out there, clumping together in drifts....
 
Plum's mum

Plum's mum

Location
East Sussex
There was a prog on the BBC recently about choosing the right dog for your family and they compared a number of factors across different breeds.
One of the areas they looked at was moulting- the GSD was the worst hair shedder, the pug was near the top, the doodle breeds low down, the lab was fourth I think. The groomer in the show said goldens moult the most followed by chocolates then blacks.

On another note, the lab was first at learning as they are so eager to please. They had a dog from every group start with a sit (on lead with owner) then stand, move a step, sit and be verbally praised, no treating, and repeat. The beautiful Great Dane managed only one sit, the lab did 15 :giggle::giggle:. Way out front.
 
HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
until about 3 weeks ago we were smugly thinking Kipper maybe was a gentle year-round shedder, but it's now grown to a fair stream and more to come...:eek: thank goodness for the Henry hoover!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top