If it feels like your dog has started shedding significantly more in the last couple of weeks, you are not imagining it. Autumn coat blow runs roughly September through November, and it tends to arrive suddenly rather than gradually.
What is actually happening
Shedding is triggered by daylight, not temperature. As days shorten, follicles switch over: the lighter summer coat is pushed out and a dense winter undercoat grows in beneath a longer topcoat. The hair filling your house is last season's coat leaving to make room.
In double-coated breeds much of this happens at once rather than over weeks, which is why groomers call it a coat blow. If you have a Husky, German Shepherd, Labrador, Golden Retriever, Corgi or anything similarly built, you already know the feeling.
Spring is usually the heavier of the two annual sheds. Autumn is lighter but longer, and it lands at the point in the year when your dog is spending more time indoors on furniture rather than outside in the garden. That is why it often feels worse than spring.
Brushing is the only thing that beats it
Every hair you catch on a brush is a hair that never reaches your sofa. During a coat blow that is not a small margin — it is most of the problem.
- Daily, briefly. Five minutes every day removes far more than half an hour on Sunday, because loose undercoat keeps releasing continuously.
- Outside where possible. Brushing indoors relocates hair rather than removing it.
- Down to the undercoat, not across the top. A slicker or rake reaches the layer that is actually shedding. A bristle brush skimming the topcoat looks productive and achieves very little.
- Do not shave a double coat. That topcoat insulates against heat as well as cold and shaving it can permanently change how the coat regrows. If the coat is matted, that is a groomer's job.
Getting hair out of the house
Hair on a hard floor is easy. Hair in upholstery is the problem, because it does not rest on the surface — it works into the weave, down into rug pile and through the fibres of a dog bed, below where suction reaches.
The order matters more than the tools:
- Loosen first. A rubber glove or a reusable roller dragged across the fabric lifts embedded hair up out of the weave.
- Then vacuum. Now there is something for it to pick up. Vacuuming first is why most people conclude their vacuum is useless.
- Seams and edges last. Along cushion joins, under the seat backs, and the dog bed cover, which holds more than the sofa does.
Lint rollers handle the surface layer and stop there. For anything worked into the fabric you need grip rather than adhesive — and during a coat blow you will get through an unreasonable number of sticky sheets.
Things that help less than people claim
Bathing more often. A bath does loosen dead coat, but frequent washing strips natural oils and can leave skin dry, which makes shedding worse rather than better. Bath when your dog needs a bath.
Supplements. If a dog is genuinely deficient, omega-3s can improve coat condition. If they are already on a complete diet, the effect on seasonal shedding is usually small. Worth asking your vet rather than guessing.
"Deshedding" shampoos. Broadly a normal shampoo with marketing attached. The brushing you do afterwards is doing the work.
When it is not seasonal shedding
Seasonal shedding is even across the body and leaves a healthy coat behind. Speak to your vet if you see:
- Bald patches, or thinning in one specific area
- Red, flaky or irritated skin under the coat
- Persistent scratching, licking or biting at one spot
- Hair that comes out in clumps with skin visible underneath
- A dull, brittle coat, or a sudden change in texture
Allergies, parasites, thyroid problems and stress all cause shedding that looks seasonal at a glance. The distinguishing feature is usually that it is patchy rather than general.
It ends
Autumn coat blow typically runs about a month from the first noticeable increase, though the tail end can drag into November. Brush daily through it and the difference in your house is substantial. Skip it and you will be finding this coat in February.
Our hair removers handle the part that has already made it into your furniture. Questions about what works on a particular fabric? Ask us.