Awww, she's beautiful. And a rescue mix, even more beautiful. As I was reading your post I was going to suggest a Furminator, but then I saw that you already use that. So, I'm sorry to say that I really don't have another suggestion. But I wanted to say what a lucky girl she is to have been chosen by you to be part of your family. What's her name?

She's adorable! Sometimes their food can have an effect on shedding. I have noticed that my dog that sheds very little, just seasonal, is shedding a bit more right now. Maybe the change of season. Hopefully someone will have a better answer for you...haha!

Thanks, Sophie is a really, really sweet girl. I think that she has great potential to be a therapy dog, which I've wanted to do for a long time.

We feed our dogs very high-quality wet and dry food and take great care to read ingredients and where it's made.

Maybe just the change in diet and new home is contributing?

Thanks for your help!

High quality grain-free dog food and a fish oil supplement. It could be nervousness.

Although Sophie is a calm dog (and very adaptable!), has settled in and is getting along with our Bichon, I do wonder if all of the upheaval in her life is stressful.

Our dogs' dry food is Acana Pacifica, and it's packed with fishy nutrients.

Mimi, what a pretty girl! I'm not surprised she's doing well, labs are such a great dog. As far as the shedding goes, I had my lab on the Acana Pacifica for quite some time, it's a great food, BUT my dog also shed quite a bit while on it. She also started having problems with gas. Acana supplements their meat proteins with beans and she had a really hard time as a result. I then found out her ear infections (something labs are also prone to) were caused by yeast, and she's allergic to it. Finally, in the end, I started her on Canidae Pure Salmon and it has worked wonders. No beans in the ingredients, it's grain free, sourced and made in the USA, it has no brewers yeast which is commonly used as a probiotic and her coat is sooo soft. Not only has it been almost a year since her last ear infection, but her shedding has stopped by about 75%. I groom her daily but there is not that much hair when I do. I order the Pure from Chewy.com. Their prices are competitive and it's delivered free.

I forgot to add, that another reason for the shedding might be stress. She hasn't been with you that long yet and even though she's adapting well, it's still a stressful thing for her.

It could be the food, sometimes what sounds like great food can be a cause of issues. Just as humans have food sensitivities, so do dogs. As was mentioned above, the beans caused shedding and gas for one dog so a change in food was necessary. I have read many people love Acana and many people had dogs that could not eat it. It's trial and error when getting a new dog, as far as what food they can tolerate.

I have no shedding solutions for you, sorry, but she has the sweetest face. Beautiful dog.

lukkiirish - amazing help. Thank you! I'm going to get the Canidae.

arkansas_girl - Great point about dog food being good on paper, but each dog is different. Come to think of it, Sophie's poo has been a bit goo at the end. Apologies to anyone eating right now!

socks - Thank you! She's as sweet as she looks.

Adorable dog. I agree with everyone who said to give her lots of love, good food, continue to groom, and see how the shedding is going in another couple weeks, you may be happily surprised.

You're welcome! For anyone interested, there is a website called DogFoodAdvisor.com the guy who owns it lost his dog during one of the larger recalls of dog food and decided to do something to help people make better choices. There's a wealth of information for free, as well as public commentary. You can find out about most any dog food there as well as other information.

Dogfoodadvisor.com

Oh! Can I suggest that whatever food you buy, start out using it as her treats first then slowly mix it in with the remainder of the food you have. That is the best way for their tummy's to adjust and for you to make sure it works for her. Like Arkansas Girl said they all react differently to the foods.

She's gorgeous!

We used to have yellow labs as well. I would take her to a groomer.

I used to take our lab in 2x's a year. Bathed and shaved,not short, but got that excess fur off and cut back on my vacuuming!!

pudgeder - Thank you. I'm taking our Bichon to our groomer next and will ask her about this technique for labs.

It's funny, I've never thought of shaving a short haired dog before.

I feed our cats Acana Wild Prairie as treats. I also use the Furminator on them. Bud (short-haired) just loves it.

Sophie is just gorgeous. Congratulations.

Shes beautiful. Yes Labs do shed a lot due to the double coat. Frequent brushing is all you can do. For healthy skin and coat just remember they are dogs, not people. Don't over groom. More dogs get coat and skin issues from being washed all the time than from any other reason. Dogs need to be washed when they are exceptionally dirty (where brushing doesn't work), have gotten into something or stink. After swimming or the beach just give them a good rinse with fresh clean water. It's enough and won't strip away their natural protective skin oils.

We will be wiping her down if dirty. We shampooed our black lab infrequently. Sophie seems to have a true lab double coat.

I am lucky, my yellow lab loves to be vacuumed. He drops hair for months, 2x a year. He is worth putting up with the work. Such a sweet pet.

marcopolo5 - do you use a special attachment?

I'm hoping that her shedding will calm down to a dull roar! I can put up with heavy sheds a couple times a year.

Sophie is a great looking girl and will be a wonderful addition to your family. You and she would both benefit from a five minute daily routine of brushing...combined with lots of sweet talk. ☺

This WebMD article has a lot of information for all the dog lovers here.

TulsaRose (Rosie) - Thanks! DH used the Zoom Groom curry comb then the Furminator this morning, and she shed out another dog!

Lots of treats to keep it positive.

She's getting used to the gentle grooming routine.

Thank you for the WebMD link.

No I carefully use the hose end of my tank vacuum without anything on the end. If you feel it might be too sharp on the edge try the long skinny radiator attachment. Have to start out very slow, but as a dog person, I am sure you know that.

A word of caution, had another Lab years ago that loved the vacuum so much we had to confine him to another room. When machine went on he would be sitting down in front of you waiting and interfering with regular housework.

I agree with the "don't overgroom" comment. Dogs that shed are like family members who have unliked or annoying habits - at some point you have to accept that's how it is. I'd worry about using the vacuum treatment every day, I think that's overdoing it. A gentle brushing every few days is about all you should do and after that, accept that there will be hair around the house. (spoken by a person whose dog sheds heavily most of the year. We vacuum a few times a week and before guests come but there's only so much that can be done).

On the food score, I think many of the "enlightened" and "environmentally conscious" pet food producers put more effort into their marketing efforts to humans than into truly assessing the science of the nutrition of their products. Their ingredient lists and product descriptions pander to the human buyers who in good conscience think that their dog or cat has the same food source issues they have.

I don't accept that. Nutrition specialists have established the requirements of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and ranges of food composition (protein, fats, carbs, etc) to support healthy lives for our pet friends. Whether the compete animal protein comes from chicken, salmon, or organically raised aardvarks hasn't been shown to make a difference. If the animal can tolerate and digest the food, if the ingredients are wholesome, properly handled, void of contaminating substances that shouldn't be in them, and meet the nutritional guidelines for the intended animal consumer, I don't think there's a need to think anything more need be done. Claims about antioxidants, grain-free products, etc, are fine but benefits (if any) remain mostly unproven.

I know that people want to think they're doing all they can for their beloved pet family members (I know I do) but I think the efforts and added expenses for using the smaller "boutique" food products aren't necessary.

What I've learned about that Furminator tool, hair will just keep coming out with it as long as you keep brushing with the Furm. You can actually ruin the coat with them and cause them to be almost bald. I have no idea how that thing does what it does, but use caution with that Furm. tool. I would not use it more than once a week.

Every lab I've ever known was a rabid shedder, year round. You can keep her brushed and furmanated (not too often), you can sweep and vac floors daily, and just love her to pieces, hair and all. As long as you have a lab, you will have hair - and all that Lab Love! They are worth it.

I give ours coconut oil everyday. Has really reduced the shedding. Lots of info on the web about it.

Caroline - I'm with you. When we got our first Lab about 20 years ago I remember the description in the Lab book. "Labs are inordinate shedders." However I like your 'rabid shedder' better. And yep - it is year round.

My current dog is an English Lab and her coat is much thicker and fluffier than Sophie's. I'd post a photo but it's really difficult to get a good picture of a black Lab - I just call them Black Holes. Her coat is so dark it I swear it absorbs light.

It's hard to capture black dogs in photos. I'm an amateur photography buff and fortunately have some great photos of our black lab who we lost last year.

I wish I had more photography talent. Labs have such great expression on their faces. I'm just never able to capture it with our lab.

Miss my Daisy Mae ;-(

She was beautiful!!!

She sure was!! See!! That's what I'm talking about, a face you can't help but fall in love with!

Follow up- thanks for all of your responses!

Sophie's shedding is much, much better. We did switch her dry food to the Canidae salmon and both dogs are loving it. Sophie got "de-shed" groomed and that helped a lot.

The furminator is taking out far less hair.

I think maybe it was combined stress and blowing out her coat, but now the hair is much less and I can deal with the normal daily shedding.

Can't say I'm looking forward to the next blow out!

Would love to see an updated picture of your girl!

Awesome! Glad to hear they're both doing well. I'm still brushing a couple of times a week but not getting hardly any shed from our dogs coat. Glad to hear they like the food too; I was surprised to see it went down in price on Chewy.com. Have you noticed a difference in the feel of their coats yet? It took about a month or so, but the difference was really noticeable with our dog.

Sophie's coat is looking great- it was never dull, but I really do feel good feeding the Canidae.

I'm ordering it from Amazon Prime and the price was about the same as Chewy, but I'll check again.

My son has a Chihuahua that shed bad and they started clipping her coat and now she doesn't shed until it grows back.

Buddies ;-)

mimipadv....They're both soooooooooooooooo cute!!!!!

Just a reminder, check your furnace filter....lots of dog hair gets trapped when using the AC .....

Good tip nicole, would never have thought to check the filter.

Awe, what a cute picture! They look so happy together. We have one of those Kirkland beds too, have you ever tried to wash the cushion that comes with it? I have a front loader but don't know if they're washable.

Price wise, Amazon and Chewy are usually the same, the most I paid was 57.00 and now you can get it for 48 with auto-ship. I'm really glad you like the food and it's worked out so well. That makes me smile :c)

Love the Kirkland beds. We get all our beds from Costo because they're so affordable, and when they are getting worn a bit, we donate them.

They really last and last.

We bought a great orthopedic bed from Costco a couple years ago, but now Costco only carries them online.

Well worth it and much less money than Fosters & Smith.