Shedding
Before you bring home a husky it’s important to understand that their coat is a ‘double coat’, consisting of a fluffy downy layer close to the body and an outer layer of smooth hair.
This double coat affords them warmth in the cold climates they were bred to work and live in. It insulates them against the cold and snow, in fact, a husky in a snow storm often appears covered in crusted snow, as their body heat doesn’t melt the snow, it lays on the outer layer of fur.
Twice a year, in the Spring and Fall, huskies “blow their coat” meaning they shed the fluffy under coat by the handfuls. Don’t get excited and think they only shed twice a year. Huskies shed year round and it can be a nuisance if you’re not prepared for or expecting it.
Many breeders recommend brushing your husky daily from the time he’s a puppy, but I have to tell you, none of my huskies have ever been patient nor docile enough for me to do that.
I brushed Kelly only when she was blowing coat and I brushed Echo about once every 3 months or so. Kodi has cooperated about once a week, each time I’ve gotten approximately a half a plastic grocery bag of hair off of him.
There are a number of products available for grooming a shedding dog. I prefer a “slicker brush”, a “shedding rake” and/or a “shedding comb”, depending on how bad the shedding is. With any tool it’s important to understand how to use it so you don’t inflict injury to your pet. Echo had developed ’skin tags’ over the course of her life and combing could tear off the tag, cause bleeding and pain.
I’ve read that a warm bath can help hasten the shedding process. If you choose to bathe your husky yourself be prepared to invest at least an hour in the process. Wetting and soaping their thick coats is a time consuming process and getting it rinsed thoroughly takes some time and special attention.
Hand drying with a towel helps to speed the drying process. I like to use a hand held hair dryer on the cool setting and the slicker brush simultaneously to get rid of shedding hair. Be careful using a blow dryer, as you want to keep the air moving over the coat and not allow it to be concentrated in one area for very long as you can cause a burn.
What to do with all that unwanted Husky hair? A very eco-friendly solution is to take the net bag onions come in at the grocery store, clip off the end and put the hair in, closing the end with a bread tie. Hang the net bag under the eaves of a roof or in a tree. Birds love to use the downy fur to line their nests.
