Seasonal guide

Fall coat blow: the shedding survival guide.

Every September and October, double-coated dogs dump their summer undercoat all at once. Here is which breeds do it, why it happens, and the 15-minute weekly routine that actually keeps the fur off your floors.

The usual suspects

Which breeds blow coat in September and October.

Siberian Husky

The heaviest blow on this list. The undercoat comes out in sheets you can pull free by hand.

German Shepherd

Sheds all year, then doubles down in fall. Owners call them german shedders for a reason.

Corgi

A small dog with a big dog's undercoat. The volume of fur per pound is shocking the first time.

Australian Shepherd

A dense medium coat that mats where the blown undercoat gets trapped, especially behind the ears and in the pants.

Golden Retriever

The feathering hides how much undercoat is releasing until it is all over the couch.

Labrador Retriever

A short coat fools people. Labs carry a true double coat and blow it on schedule like the rest.

Any dog with a double coat is on this list, these are just the ones we see most. The linked breeds have full bathing guides with schedules and prices.

The mechanism

It is the daylight, not the temperature.

Coat blow is triggered by photoperiod, the shortening of the days. As daylight drops through September, hormones tell the coat to swap the light summer undercoat for a dense winter one, and the old undercoat releases in bulk to make room. Temperature has almost nothing to do with it, which is why a husky in a 75 degree San Jose October blows coat exactly on schedule.

This is also why you cannot wait it out by keeping the house cool or warm. The blow runs its course over two to six weeks no matter what. The only lever you control is how much of that released fur you remove on purpose, versus how much your vacuum meets later.

The routine

The 15-minute weekly routine that actually helps.

1
Undercoat rake first, 8 to 10 minutes.
Work with the coat direction, whole body, light pressure. The rake's job is to lift the dead undercoat out from under the topcoat. This is where most of the fur comes from.
2
Then the slicker brush, about 5 minutes.
The slicker picks up what the rake loosened and tidies the topcoat. Slicker-only brushing skims the surface and misses the actual blow, which is why brushing can feel useless if the order is wrong.
3
Line brush the thick spots.
Part the coat to the skin with one hand and brush the exposed line, then move up an inch and repeat. Do the pants, the ruff, and behind the ears. It is slower, and it is the only way a brush reaches the base of a dense coat.
4
During the blow itself, go daily.
The same routine, shorter sessions. Two to six weeks of daily brushing beats one heroic weekend session, because the coat releases on its own schedule, not yours.

Never shave a double coat. The coat is the dog's insulation and sun protection, shaving often ruins how it grows back, and the shedding does not stop anyway. Remove the dead undercoat, keep the coat.

The honest answer

When a pro deshed bath earns its money.

The weekly routine handles a normal shedding month fine. Mid-blow is different, because a brush only reaches the outer layer of a coat that dense. A deshed bath works deeper: warm water and a deshedding shampoo with soak time loosen the dead undercoat at the skin, and then a high-velocity dryer pushes air down to the skin and blasts the released fur out in sheets. That is depth no brush and no home dryer can reach.

One deshed session in the middle of a blow removes the bulk of the loose undercoat in about an hour, in the van, so the fur stays with us instead of in your bathroom. Prices run $75 to $155 by dog size, flat. Two or three visits usually cover an entire fall blow.

Turn this into dates for your dog.

The schedule builder knows the double-coat calendar. Answer a few questions about your dog and it turns the blow-season cadence into dates you can put on the calendar.

Build the schedule, free

Shedding heavily outside blow season? The year-round shedding guide covers what actually reduces it.

Get the coat-blow survival kit by email.

The brushing routine and the never-shave rule in your inbox now, and a reminder every September when the blow starts, before the couch tells you.

One email with the guide, plus seasonal dog care reminders that are actually useful. Reply unsubscribe any time and we stop.

Frequently asked

Fall shedding questions.

Because the days are getting shorter, not because it is getting cold. Shortening daylight shifts a double-coated dog's hormones and triggers the swap from the light summer undercoat to a dense winter one. The old undercoat releases all at once over roughly two to six weeks, which is the event owners call coat blow. Bay Area temperatures stay mild in September, so people assume something is wrong. Nothing is wrong. It is the calendar.

Usually two to six weeks, depending on the breed and the individual dog. Huskies tend toward the long, dramatic end and labs toward the shorter end. Daily brushing and a deshed bath or two in the middle of it compress the timeline noticeably, because fur you remove today is fur that will not drift out onto your floor over the next month.

A regular bath helps a little. A deshed bath helps a lot, and the difference is the dryer. Warm water and a deshed shampoo loosen the dead undercoat at the skin, and then a high-velocity dryer blasts it out in sheets, reaching depth that no brush can. One session mid-blow removes the bulk of what would otherwise take weeks to work its way out. A home bath without forced-air drying often seems to change nothing, because the loosened undercoat stays trapped in the coat.

No, never shave a double coat. The undercoat and topcoat together are the dog's insulation against heat as well as cold, plus their sun protection. Shaving destroys that system, the coat often grows back patchy or wrong, and the dog still sheds, just in shorter pieces that are harder to clean up. The fix for a blowing coat is removal of the dead undercoat, by rake and by deshed bath, not removal of the coat.

Coat blow plans by breed

The fall blow is on.

Deshed bath and full high-velocity dry in the van at your driveway, $75 to $155 by size. The fur leaves with us.

CALL: (669) 281-0022 Book Now

5.0 on Google · 87 reviews in total

or text us at (669) 281-0022

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In a hurry? Call or text (669) 281-0022 and Ace will book you directly.

Seasonal guide

Fall coat blow: the shedding survival guide.

The usual suspects

Which breeds blow coat in September and October.

Siberian Husky

The heaviest blow on this list. The undercoat comes out in sheets you can pull free by hand.

German Shepherd

Sheds all year, then doubles down in fall. Owners call them german shedders for a reason.

Corgi

A small dog with a big dog's undercoat. The volume of fur per pound is shocking the first time.

Australian Shepherd

A dense medium coat that mats where the blown undercoat gets trapped, especially behind the ears and in the pants.

Golden Retriever

The feathering hides how much undercoat is releasing until it is all over the couch.

Labrador Retriever

A short coat fools people. Labs carry a true double coat and blow it on schedule like the rest.

Any dog with a double coat is on this list, these are just the ones we see most. The linked breeds have full bathing guides with schedules and prices.

The mechanism

It is the daylight, not the temperature.

The routine

The 15-minute weekly routine that actually helps.

1
Undercoat rake first, 8 to 10 minutes.
Work with the coat direction, whole body, light pressure. The rake's job is to lift the dead undercoat out from under the topcoat. This is where most of the fur comes from.
2
Then the slicker brush, about 5 minutes.
The slicker picks up what the rake loosened and tidies the topcoat. Slicker-only brushing skims the surface and misses the actual blow, which is why brushing can feel useless if the order is wrong.
3
Line brush the thick spots.
Part the coat to the skin with one hand and brush the exposed line, then move up an inch and repeat. Do the pants, the ruff, and behind the ears. It is slower, and it is the only way a brush reaches the base of a dense coat.
4
During the blow itself, go daily.
The same routine, shorter sessions. Two to six weeks of daily brushing beats one heroic weekend session, because the coat releases on its own schedule, not yours.

Never shave a double coat. The coat is the dog's insulation and sun protection, shaving often ruins how it grows back, and the shedding does not stop anyway. Remove the dead undercoat, keep the coat.

The honest answer

When a pro deshed bath earns its money.

Turn this into dates for your dog.

The schedule builder knows the double-coat calendar. Answer a few questions about your dog and it turns the blow-season cadence into dates you can put on the calendar.

Build the schedule, free

Shedding heavily outside blow season? The year-round shedding guide covers what actually reduces it.

Get the coat-blow survival kit by email.

The brushing routine and the never-shave rule in your inbox now, and a reminder every September when the blow starts, before the couch tells you.

One email with the guide, plus seasonal dog care reminders that are actually useful. Reply unsubscribe any time and we stop.

Frequently asked

Fall shedding questions.

Coat blow plans by breed

The fall blow is on.

Deshed bath and full high-velocity dry in the van at your driveway, $75 to $155 by size. The fur leaves with us.

CALL: (669) 281-0022 Book Now

5.0 on Google · 87 reviews in total

or text us at (669) 281-0022

Fall coat blow: the shedding survival guide.

Which breeds blow coat in September and October.

It is the daylight, not the temperature.

The 15-minute weekly routine that actually helps.

When a pro deshed bath earns its money.

Turn this into dates for your dog.

Get the coat-blow survival kit by email.

Fall shedding questions.

Coat blow plans by breed

The fall blow is on.

Hi, I’m Ace.

Trusted by Bay Area dog parents

Fall coat blow: the shedding survival guide.

Which breeds blow coat in September and October.

It is the daylight, not the temperature.

The 15-minute weekly routine that actually helps.

When a pro deshed bath earns its money.

Turn this into dates for your dog.

Get the coat-blow survival kit by email.

Fall shedding questions.

Coat blow plans by breed

The fall blow is on.

Hi, I’m Ace.

Trusted by Bay Area dog parents