How to Stop a Rottweiler From Shedding

It can be very dishearting when your rottweiler is shedding non-stop. You might be worried that this is a sign that a problem in the health of your previous dog is developing. Nevertheless, many rottweiler owners encounter the same situation. Due to the thickness of the coat of a rottweiler, it can be a normal occurrence. However, it would be nice if you could somehow limit the severity of the shedding.

Here are my tips on how to deal with excessive shedding. Even though it might not be a sign of a health problem, it does cause some discomfort and irritation for a rottweiler to shed.

Diet Tips for your Rottweiler to Reduce Shedding

Eating well is important for any bred of dog. Rottweilers are strong dogs and they need to be fed correctly in order to maintain their optimal level of muscle. Also, if the diet is off, the skin is going affected. It will dry out which can increase the severity of fur loss.

Make sure when purchasing dog food for your rottweiler that the food contains omega fatty acid. This acid will cause the coat of your dog to become shinier and much healthier. A shiny coat means the moisture content in the skin is at a good level. If the skin is too dry, it affects the follicles that hold each strand of dog hair.
If a rottweiler’s immune system is being compromised due to a poor diet, the quality of the coat will be affected. It is a sign that the body, in general, is not healthy. If you can enhance the immune system of your Rottweiler, you will reduce the amount of shedding that occurs.
A great way to affect the immune system is to add vitamin C and vitamin E into your dog’s diet. You can consult with your vet to see if it’s ok for your rottweiler to consume vitamin supplements, or you can simply read the ingredients on the back of a bag of dog food to see the level of vitamins that are contained.
Another way to introduce vitamin C into the diet of your rottweiler is to feed her carrots and a pples. This is a more natural way to incorporate vitamin C into the diet instead of trying to have your dog consume vitamins in pill form.
Feeding your rottweiler food that contains fish is also going to control the amount of shedding. Fish contains a lot of fatty acids and antioxidants.
Try to avoid purchasing dog foods that contain fillers such as corn, wheat, soy, artificial colors or preservatives. These ingredients are added to pet food in order to increase the overall weight in the packages. These items are just going to negatively affect your dog’s immune system which needs to be top-notch in order to maintain a healthy coat. A healthier coat definitely translates into less shedding.
Protein is a huge requirement for a rottweiler in general. They have a lot of muscle and they need protein to maintain their level of strength. Having adequate muscle is a benefit to a Rottweiler because they tend to have joint problems. Also, the protein is going to create a healthier coat for your rottweiler. Protein is going to help greatly skin cells. Well developed skin is going to allow the dog hair to remain longer within the follicles.
It is possible to purchase dog food for large dogs that has anti-shedding properties. Perhaps you should try a sack for your rottweiler. Make sure to mix it together with its present brand for a few days before totally switching over to the anti-shedding brand. Rottweilers have sensitive stomachs and making abrupt changes in their food source could affect digestion.
I am not going to suggest that you give your rottweiler a smoothie daily that contains 25 g of protein. However, you can ensure that she consumes dog food that contains items that contain high levels of protein such as turkey, chicken, and fish.

What Times of the Year Does Heavy Shedding Occur?

There are two times of the year when a rottweiler is going to shed.

Around the month of March, you can expect your rottweiler to start to shed its winter coat. This is not a process that you should try to stop since it is a way for your rottweiler to regulate its body temperature.
Starting around the month of September, your rottweiler will shed yet again. It will shed its summer coat and the hair for the winter coat will begin to fill in.

How is knowing the shedding times going to help you as the dog owner?

By knowing the shedding times for your Rottweiler, you are going to be able to know which months are best to increase the number of brushings of your pet.

If you are able to brush out the fur before it falls out, you will be preventing the fur from taking over your home. Of course, please be gentle with your Rottweiler, excessive brushing of the coat will irritate the skin.

Nevertheless, if you brush your rottweiler on a regular basis, it will actually reduce the itchiness that a dog experiences when its losing its fur.

Increase Bathings for Your Rottweiler to Remove Fur that is Shedding

It is not ok for you to reduce the bathing for your rottweiler during times of heavy shedding as some people believe. It is actually better to bath your dog often so that the loose hair will be removed more readily.

The more loose fur that can be removed at this time the better. It will allow your rottweiler to feel more comfortable. Also, as mentioned earlier, by removing the fur before it has a chance to fall off of your rottweiler, less clean-up will be required by you.

If your rottweiler is not shedding, bathing it every 2-4 weeks is fine. Since they have a heavy coat, regular grooming and bathing is a requirement. During the times of heavy shedding, I would suggest that you bath your rottweiler at least once a week.

These extra bathings will ensure that the skin remains healthy and that the coat is smooth to the touch. Make sure that you dry well your rottweiler after each bathing and that you use a slicker brush to remove any fur that is shedding. You could use a regular comb but a slicker brush s more effective during times of heavy shredding. I recommend the Hertzco slicker brush. Click here to see the current pricing on Amazon.

Something that you could do after drying your rottweiler is to spray its coat with a hydrating spray so that the coat will become shiny and healthy-looking. I recommend the spray made by Burts bees that contains coconut oil, click here to see the pricing on Amazon that is the most up to date.

Another tactic is to use dog shampoo on your rottweiler (I recommend the natural pet shampoo by Earthbath, click for pricing). This will aid in removing loose fur and it will also remove dirt that might be clogging the follicles. A blocked follicle is going to compromise the hair that grows, If there are faulty follicles, the likelihood of excessive shedding is there.

Start to Use Pet Shampoo to Clean the Hair Follicles to Reduce Excessively Shedding of Fur

Using specialized dog shampoo that is for larger dogs is something that you will need to purchase. There are designed for different reasons, such as a problem with dry skin, just make sure that you purchase the right type. I recommend the shedding control dog shampoo by Vetericyn. This shampoo helps to control shedding because it has anti-inflammatory properties. Click here to read about it on Amazon.

Here are the steps that you can take while shampooing your rottweiler in order to reduce the severity of shedding:

Since a rottweiler is a relatively large dog, you will need to place it into a bathtub or an enclosed shower in order to wet its fur.
Make sure that you have already placed a rubber floor mat into the shower so that your dog will not slip while you are bathing it.
Use the shower nozzle to soak the coat. Make sure to thoroughly wet the underside of your rottweiler.
Add in the shampoo, by massaging it into the coat using your hands. Be careful not to get the shampoo into her eyes, her nose, her mouth, or the inside of her ears.
You do not need to add a lot of shampoo, just some in the palm of one hand is fine. Make sure to add more water halfway through the massaging so that you can distribute the soap fully.
Also, ensure that you massage under her arms and down the full length of the legs even though there is less fur on the legs.
Now, rinse off the coat. Start with the head making sure that you do not drip water into her eyes. Then raise her head and let the water run down the back of the neck onto the back area. Make sure that you rinse off your dog well because if you were to leave soap residue, the skin will become irritated.
After the top is rinsed off, rinse off the sides.
Next step is to dry off your Rottweiler using a large bath towel.

Reduce Stress for Your Rottweiler to Prevent Skin Conditions that Affect Shedding

A rottweiler will react to stress the same way that a human does. There may be a change in behavior or even health consequences. Too much stress will affect the immune system. When the immune system is compromised, skin problems and allergies may surface that were not apparent previously.

Skin problems can increase the incidents of shredding.

This is a shortlist of skin problems that may appear under situations of stress.

mange
dermatitis
bacterial infections
fungal infections

These skin conditions should be treated by your local vet. Your vet will provide the medication to restore the coat of your dog to its healthy state.

Here are a few situations that can affect the stress level of a Rottweiler:

A family conflict that increases the stress level of every member of the household.
Your rottweiler will be physiologically affected if you were to move.
If a member of the family were to die, the death will greatly affect the mental health and immune system of your dog

What should you do to decrease the stress level of your Rottweiler which affects the intensity of shedding?

Pay attention to your Rottweiler and reassure her that things will be fine by petting her and increasing TLC.
See your local vet and explain the stress factors so that your vet can prescribe supplements to help your dog to deal with the current stresses.

Shedding is Necessary, Here are some Tips for Dealing with the Inevitable Loose Dog Hair

You do not want to totally stop the incidents of shedding, it is a requirement genetically for your rottweiler. They need to regulate their body temperature. If you block all shedding, they are going to be very uncomfortable and perhaps it will cause some health problems for your dog.

Nevertheless, there are products that you can use that will catch a lot of the fur that is lost.

Dog beds that have a removable cover are perfect for a Rottweiler that sheds a lot. There is a dog bed for large dogs that is listed on Amazon by FurHaven that has a cover that is machine washable. Click here to read the current reviews.
Another trick is to add a slipcover that covers your complete couch. There are types that cover just a portion of the couch but it looks strange. For the design-conscious, I recommend the cover by Easy-Going because it is soft and it has an elastic bottom that keeps the cover in place. Click here to see the current pricing on Amazon.
My third suggestion for trapping the shedding fur of your Rottweiler is to use car seat covers. Rottweilers love to travel with you and the following car seat covers will catch the fur that is lost while you are taking short or long trips with your dog. I suggest that you purchase the dog seat cover offered by Active Pets. It can be installed in less than 60 seconds and it is easy to clean. Click here to buy it on Amazon.

Grooming Trips More Often During Heavy Shedding Periods

As mentioned, since Rottweilers have a double coat, they are going to shed around September, and also around March of each year. In order to keep your house relatively free of dog hair, it is best to increase the grooming sessions around these periods since the shedding can last a few weeks.

You can do most of the grooming yourself, but I suggest that you take your Rottie to a place that can accommodate the grooming of large dogs.

Here are some questions to ask your groomer when trying to select one:

Do you have experience grooming Rottweilers? If they so no, just ensure that they have experience grooming larger dogs that shed a lot such as retrievers, collies, huskies, and german shepherds.
Make sure that they use conditioners on fur. This is necessary because it makes the fur slippery. Slippery fur can be brushed out easily during times of heavy shedding.
Ask them how they plan to groom the undercoat since that is the area that can be easily irritated on a Rottweiler.

If shredding is Accompanied by Hot Spots – Take Your Rottie to the Vet

While grooming your Rottweiler during heavy shedding periods, you should be checking to see if there are areas of the coat that are sticky and crusted. Rottweilers have very thick coats and they are prone to developing bacterial infections called hot spots.

Skin infections occur readily in Rottweilers that like to swim during the summertime. Moisture is trapped in the thick coat causing itchiness. Your Rottie will start to dig away at the areas introducing bacteria into the skin. An infection develops which increases the level of irritation and your dog will continue to dig away at the infected areas.

S0metimes a bald area will form that you will able to notice while removing loose fur during shedding periods. The fur in this area will have a crusty feel to it.

These areas are called hot spots because they are actually hot to the touch. If you notice hot spots, take your dog to the vet as soon as you can so that the infection can be treated.

Here are some tips to decrease the incidents of hot spots:

Dry your Rottweiler thoroughly after swimming or bathing sessions. Use a large towel since you will need to rub thoroughly the thick coat.
Licking can introduce bacteria into breaks in the skin. Sometimes licking occurs when a Rottweiler is bored. To reduce boredom, you could try introducing puzzle toys (I recommend the Pupper Pamper Dog Food Puzzle Toy). You also purchase a slow feeder by Outward Hound that will mentally stimulate your Rottweiler plus make her eat 10x slower.
Another way to stimulate your Rottweiler mentally to prevent licking is to take her on long walks.