Coconut Oil for Dog Dandruff: Does It Actually Work?

Coconut oil comes up constantly in conversations about dog dandruff — it's one of those remedies that's been recommended so many times by so many people that it feels like established fact. And it's not wrong exactly. But it's not the full picture either, because coconut oil works for some types of dog dandruff and genuinely makes other types worse. That distinction matters a lot.

If you've tried coconut oil and it helped, great — it was the right tool for what was happening with your dog's skin. If you've tried it and it didn't help or things seemed to get worse, that's not a coincidence either. The type of dandruff is what determines whether coconut oil is a good idea or a bad one. Here's how to tell which situation you're in.

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Table of Contents

1. What Coconut Oil Actually Does to Dog Skin
2. When Coconut Oil Genuinely Helps
3. When Coconut Oil Doesn't Help — or Makes Things Worse
4. How to Tell Which Type of Dandruff Your Dog Has
5. How to Use Coconut Oil Correctly for Dog Dandruff
6. What About Giving Coconut Oil Internally?
7. Coconut Oil vs Fish Oil for Dandruff
8. What Works Better When Coconut Oil Isn't the Answer
9. FAQs

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What Coconut Oil Actually Does to Dog Skin

Coconut oil has two relevant properties for skin and dandruff, and they're worth understanding separately because they apply in different situations.

It's an occlusive moisturiser. Occlusive means it forms a physical layer on the skin surface that slows water loss. It doesn't add moisture to the skin — it traps the moisture that's already there. For a patch of dry skin that's losing moisture faster than the skin can replace it, an occlusive layer on top buys time and provides immediate surface relief. This is why coconut oil feels soothing on dry skin — it's not fixing the underlying dryness but it's slowing the loss that's making the surface uncomfortable.

It has mild antifungal properties. The lauric acid in coconut oil has documented antimicrobial and antifungal activity — including against Malassezia pachydermatis, the yeast that lives on dog skin and overgrows in certain conditions. In small amounts and at the right concentration, this is a real effect. It's not as strong as a dedicated antifungal shampoo, but it's not nothing.

What coconut oil doesn't do: rebuild the skin's lipid barrier. That barrier — the layer of structural fats between skin cells that controls moisture retention — is made from EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids, not from the saturated fats in coconut oil. Coconut oil on the surface temporarily slows moisture loss. Fish oil taken internally actually provides the building blocks to repair the barrier itself. These are different interventions at different depths.

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When Coconut Oil Genuinely Helps

Coconut oil is genuinely useful in a specific and narrow set of circumstances:

Localised dry patches with white, powdery dandruff. A dry elbow, a flaky patch on the back above the tail, a rough spot on the neck where the collar sits — these are the spots where a small amount of coconut oil applied directly does real work. The moisture-trapping effect soothes the immediate dryness and the area looks and feels better within a few applications. This is coconut oil doing what it's actually good at.

Dry, cracked paw pads. Paw pads are made from thick skin that dries and cracks in cold weather, on rough surfaces, or after chemical salt exposure in winter. Coconut oil applied before bed (when the dog can't walk it off before it absorbs) softens and protects dry pads effectively. This is one of the best uses for it.

Mild surface dryness with no other skin symptoms. If the coat feels dry and rough, the flakes are white and powdery, there's no smell, no itching, and the skin underneath looks completely normal — coconut oil as a topical addition is reasonable and helpful while more fundamental fixes (fish oil, humidifier, bath routine adjustment) are working in the background.

As a mild antifungal spot treatment on very mild yeast involvement. This is a narrower use case, but for a dog with very mild Malassezia-related dandruff that isn't significant enough to warrant a medicated shampoo, coconut oil's lauric acid content provides some antifungal benefit. The key word is very mild — significant yeast needs antifungal treatment, not coconut oil.

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When Coconut Oil Doesn't Help — or Makes Things Worse

This is the part of the coconut oil conversation that doesn't get enough attention.

Oily or greasy dandruff. If the coat feels oily rather than dry, and the dandruff is yellowish, waxy, or clings to the hair shaft rather than falling away freely — this is oily seborrhoeic dermatitis, not dry skin dandruff. The skin is already overproducing oil. Adding more oil on top of it is the wrong move. It doesn't help and can make the oiliness and associated skin irritation worse.

Significant Malassezia yeast overgrowth. Here's the one that catches people out: coconut oil has mild antifungal properties, so it seems like it should help yeast. But in significant yeast overgrowth, applying a fatty oil to the skin provides a nutrient-rich environment that actually supports Malassezia growth rather than suppressing it. Malassezia is a lipophilic (fat-loving) yeast — it feeds on the fatty acids in skin oils. Coconut oil on an active yeast infection can feed the infection you're trying to treat. The signal to watch for: a musty or corn-chip smell from the skin, greasy yellowish scale, itching, particularly in skin folds, ears, paws, and armpits. If any of those are present, don't use coconut oil there.

Allergy-driven dandruff. If the dandruff is from allergic skin disease — atopic dermatitis, food allergy — coconut oil does nothing for the underlying inflammation driving it. It's not harmful here but it's not helpful either. The allergy needs managing, not the surface moisturised.

Applied to the whole coat rather than specific spots. Coating a dog's entire coat in coconut oil — which some recommendations suggest — creates a uniformly oily skin environment that increases the risk of yeast overgrowth across the whole coat. Use it on specific dry areas, not as a full-body treatment.

📌 The smell test before you use coconut oil: Get close to the affected skin area and smell it. No smell or normal dog smell — dry dandruff, coconut oil is fine as a spot treatment. Musty, yeasty, or corn-chip smell — active yeast involvement, do not apply coconut oil there. This takes five seconds and tells you which situation you're in.

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How to Tell Which Type of Dandruff Your Dog Has

Before reaching for any remedy, this is the sixty-second check that tells you what you're actually dealing with:

What you observe	Dry dandruff — coconut oil can help	Oily / yeast dandruff — don't use coconut oil
Flake colour	White or light grey	Yellowish or grey-brown
Flake texture	Dry, powdery — falls away freely	Greasy or waxy — clings to hair shafts
Coat feel	Dry, rough, or brittle	Greasy, oily, or thicker than normal
Smell	Normal dog smell or none	Musty, yeasty, or corn-chip smell
Itching	Mild or absent	Often more significant, may be localised
Location	Diffuse across coat, or specific dry spots	Skin folds, ears, armpits, paws, groin

If the left column describes what you're seeing — dry coat, white powdery flakes, no smell, no particular itch — coconut oil as a topical spot treatment is a reasonable addition to the broader routine. If the right column fits — greasy, smelly, or intense itch — coconut oil is the wrong tool and may make things worse.

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How to Use Coconut Oil Correctly for Dog Dandruff

If you've confirmed this is dry dandruff and coconut oil is appropriate, here's the approach that actually works:

Use virgin, unrefined coconut oil. Not refined, not hydrogenated. Virgin coconut oil retains the lauric acid content and the natural properties that make it useful. Refined coconut oil loses some of these in the processing.

Warm it first. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature. Scoop a small amount — about the size of a marble for a specific patch, less for a small area — into your palm and close your hands around it for 30 to 60 seconds. It melts at body temperature. Apply it as a liquid rather than trying to rub a solid lump into fur.

Apply to specific dry areas only. The dry elbow. The flaky patch on the back. The rough skin at the tail base. Not the whole coat. Work the liquid into the skin with your fingertips rather than just on the hair surface — you want the oil touching the skin where the dryness is, not just sitting on top of the fur.

Wait before the dog can lick it. Five to ten minutes is enough for the oil to absorb into the skin. Use a cone, a distraction, or apply it before a short walk where the dog's focus is elsewhere. A small amount of coconut oil ingested is fine — it's not toxic — but you want it absorbed by the skin, not licked off immediately.

Two to three times a week on dry spots. More frequent than that and you're just adding oil to an area that needs to build its own oil production back — which it will, given time and the right internal support. Let the skin do its job between applications.

Stop if the area starts to smell musty or look greasier. That's the signal that yeast is responding to the oil. Switch to a different approach.

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What About Giving Coconut Oil Internally?

This comes up a lot — adding coconut oil over the dog's food to help with dandruff from the inside. The honest answer is that it doesn't do much for dandruff specifically, and here's why.

Coconut oil is high in saturated fat — primarily lauric acid, caprylic acid, and capric acid. These are medium-chain fatty acids with various health properties, but none of them are EPA or DHA omega-3 fatty acids. EPA and DHA are what the skin's lipid barrier is actually built from. Giving coconut oil internally doesn't provide what the skin barrier needs to repair itself. The systemic effect on dandruff from internal coconut oil supplementation is minimal.

It's not harmful in small amounts — a teaspoon over food for a medium dog isn't going to cause any problems. But if the goal is improving dandruff from the inside, fish oil is doing a completely different and much more relevant job. Spending money on coconut oil as an internal supplement when what the skin needs is EPA and DHA is like buying the wrong fuel.

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Coconut Oil vs Fish Oil for Dandruff

Worth being direct about this comparison because it comes up a lot and there's a clear answer.

Fish oil is significantly more effective than coconut oil for most cases of dog dandruff. The reason is mechanism: fish oil provides EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids that the skin uses to rebuild its lipid barrier — the actual structural component that, when compromised, causes the dryness and flaking. Coconut oil applied topically slows moisture loss from the surface. Fish oil taken internally fixes the system that produces and maintains moisture. These are operating at completely different levels of depth.

The practical comparison: a dog given fish oil at the right dose for six weeks will typically show a clear improvement in dandruff as the skin barrier repairs. A dog given coconut oil topically will show temporary improvement in specific dry patches while the oil is present. Remove the coconut oil and the patch is dry again. The fish oil improvement persists because the barrier has actually repaired.

Use them together if you like — coconut oil for immediate topical relief on specific dry spots, fish oil for the underlying fix. But if you're choosing one over the other as the primary dandruff intervention, fish oil is the right call every time.

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What Works Better When Coconut Oil Isn't the Answer

If the dandruff is oily, smelly, or accompanied by itching — and coconut oil is off the table — here's what the right approach actually looks like:

For oily seborrhoeic dandruff: a medicated shampoo with benzoyl peroxide, selenium sulphide, or salicylic acid — formulas that degrease rather than moisturise. The goal is removing excess sebum, not adding more oil to it. These are more aggressive than regular shampoo and work best with vet guidance on frequency and contact time.

For Malassezia yeast overgrowth: an antifungal shampoo with ketoconazole or miconazole, used with the full contact time the label specifies — typically 5 to 10 minutes before rinsing. The contact time is what makes the difference. Most antifungal shampoos fail not because they don't work but because they're rinsed off too quickly. Set a timer.

For allergy-driven dandruff: managing the allergy is the primary target. Fish oil as a supportive measure (it reduces skin inflammation), allergen reduction, and for significant cases — veterinary allergy assessment. The dandruff here is a symptom of inflammation, not a skin moisture problem.

For straightforward dry dandruff at scale (not just localised spots): the full intervention is fish oil at a therapeutic dose, a moisturising shampoo with colloidal oatmeal at the right frequency, a humidifier if it's winter and the air is dry, and consistent brushing to distribute natural oils. Coconut oil on top of all that is a reasonable addition for specific patches. On its own without the others it's only addressing the surface.

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Related Reading

Dog Dry Skin vs Dandruff — How to Tell Them Apart and Treat Each One Correctly

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does coconut oil help dog dandruff?

For dry, powdery, white dandruff from surface skin dryness — yes, as a topical spot treatment it genuinely helps. It traps moisture on specific dry patches and its lauric acid has mild antifungal properties. For oily dandruff, yeast-related dandruff, or allergy-driven dandruff — no, and it can make yeast-related cases worse by providing a fatty environment the yeast thrives in. The type of dandruff determines whether coconut oil is the right call.

How do you use coconut oil for dog dandruff?

Warm a small amount in your palms until liquid. Apply to specific dry patches only — not the whole coat — and massage into the skin rather than just the fur surface. Wait 5 to 10 minutes before the dog can lick. Repeat two to three times a week on affected areas. Stop if the area starts to smell musty or appear greasier — that's a sign of yeast responding to the oil.

Is coconut oil or fish oil better for dog dandruff?

Fish oil is significantly more effective for most dandruff cases. Coconut oil on the surface slows moisture loss temporarily. Fish oil taken internally provides EPA and DHA that rebuild the skin's lipid barrier — the actual cause of most dry dandruff — from the inside. The coconut oil effect goes away when you stop using it. The fish oil effect improves the skin's ability to maintain itself. Use both if you want — coconut oil for spot relief while fish oil works in the background — but fish oil is the primary tool.

Can coconut oil make dog dandruff worse?

Yes — in two situations. Applied to areas with significant Malassezia yeast overgrowth, the oil feeds the yeast and worsens the infection. Applied to oily seborrhoeic dermatitis, it adds more oil to an already over-sebaceous skin environment. The smell test before applying tells you quickly which situation you're in — musty or yeasty smell means don't use it there.

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Is the dandruff you're dealing with the dry, powdery kind or does it have any greasiness or smell to it? That one distinction changes the whole approach — drop it in the comments along with the breed and we can help narrow down what's actually going on.

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Related Posts

• Dog Dry Skin vs Dandruff: What's the Difference & How to Treat Each — The full guide to telling them apart and treating each one correctly.
• Natural Remedies for Dog Dandruff — Where coconut oil sits in the broader picture of what works at home.
• Best Oils for Dog Dry Skin — How coconut oil, fish oil, flaxseed oil, and the rest compare for skin health.
• Dog Dandruff After Bath: Why It Happens & How to Fix It — If the dandruff is appearing or worsening after bathing, here's what's actually causing it.

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When to Worry About Dog Shedding: The Signs That Mean Something More

 Shedding is just part of having a dog. Most of us know this, accept it, and own approximately four lint rollers. The fur on the sofa, the fur on your black trousers, the fur you find in your coffee — normal. You stop noticing it after a while.

The problem with that acceptance is that it makes it genuinely hard to notice when the shedding stops being normal and starts being something else. Because it happens gradually, because you see your dog every day, and because shedding is always there as background noise — the change can be happening for weeks or months before it registers that this is actually different.

I have been through this twice with my own dogs. Once it was a thyroid issue that showed up in the coat long before any other symptom was obvious. Once it was stress-related — a move to a new house that triggered a temporary but dramatic shed that resolved on its own once she settled. Very different causes, very different outcomes. The signs that told me one needed a vet and the other just needed time were specific — and knowing them would have saved me a lot of anxiety in both cases.

This post is about those signs. Not a list of every possible cause of shedding — we have other posts for that. Just the practical, specific answer to the question most dog owners eventually ask: is this normal, or should I be worried?

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Quick Answer

Normal shedding is diffuse, seasonal, and produces no skin changes, no other symptoms, and a dog who seems entirely well. Worry when you see: bald patches or asymmetric hair loss, skin that is red, scaly, thickened, or darkened in areas of thinning, shedding accompanied by itching or scratching, hair coming out in clumps rather than individual hairs, any systemic symptoms alongside the coat change (increased thirst, weight change, lethargy, changes in appetite), shedding that is noticeably and consistently worse than the dog's normal baseline, or shedding that does not slow down after a seasonal peak. Any one of these is enough to book a vet appointment. The earlier a non-normal cause is caught, the simpler the treatment and the better the recovery.

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Table of Contents

1. What Normal Dog Shedding Actually Looks Like
2. Bald Patches or Asymmetric Hair Loss
3. Skin Changes in the Areas of Hair Loss
4. Shedding Accompanied by Itching or Scratching
5. Hair Coming Out in Clumps
6. Systemic Symptoms Alongside the Shedding
7. Shedding That Is Noticeably Worse Than Your Dog's Normal
8. Shedding That Does Not Slow Down After a Seasonal Peak
9. Stress and Acute Shedding — A Specific Pattern Worth Knowing
10. Puppy Coat Change vs Abnormal Shedding
11. Shedding After Illness, Surgery, or Medication
12. The Worry Checklist — Normal vs See the Vet
13. What Happens at the Vet Visit
14. FAQs
15. Conclusion
16. Related Posts

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What Normal Dog Shedding Actually Looks Like

Before we get into what to worry about, it helps to be clear about what normal looks like — because the baseline varies so dramatically between breeds that "a lot of shedding" means something completely different for a Husky than it does for a Poodle.

Normal shedding is diffuse — spread evenly across the whole coat rather than concentrated in specific areas. It is cyclical — increasing in spring as the winter coat releases and again in autumn in some dogs, then settling back to a lower baseline. The skin underneath is completely normal — no redness, no scaling, no thinning, no discolouration. The dog is not itchy — they are not scratching, rubbing, or biting at the areas where shedding is heaviest. And the dog is otherwise completely well — normal energy, normal appetite, normal thirst, normal weight, normal behaviour.

If all five of those things are true, the shedding is almost certainly normal regardless of the volume. Some dogs shed an amount that seems genuinely alarming to their owners and every bit of it is completely normal for their coat type. The volume of shedding alone is not the signal to worry about. The pattern, the skin, the accompanying symptoms — those are what matter.

 The simplest self-check: Run your hands through your dog's coat all the way to the skin. Does the skin look and feel normal everywhere? No redness, no rough patches, no areas of obvious thinning where you can see more skin than fur? If yes, and your dog is not itching or unwell — the shedding is most likely normal. If no — read on.

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Bald Patches or Asymmetric Hair Loss

This is the clearest, most unambiguous signal that the shedding needs investigating. Normal shedding does not produce bald patches. It thins the coat temporarily during seasonal peaks, but if you look closely the hair is still present everywhere — just slightly less dense. A patch where the skin is genuinely visible, where the hair is absent entirely rather than just sparse, is not normal shedding.

Similarly, asymmetric or patterned hair loss — both flanks thinning while the rest of the coat is fine, the tail base going thin while the back stays full, a ring of thinning around the collar line, a specific patch on the face or ear — is not the pattern of normal shedding. Normal shedding affects the whole coat relatively evenly. Patterned loss almost always has a specific cause: hormonal, infectious, parasitic, allergic, or autoimmune.

The location of bald patches carries diagnostic information. Bilateral symmetric loss on the flanks and tail suggests hormonal causes — hypothyroidism or Cushing's disease particularly. Loss concentrated around the face, ears, and paws alongside skin inflammation is more typical of allergic or yeast-related causes. Circular, well-defined patches with a scaly edge suggest ringworm (a fungal infection, despite the name). Patchy loss with skin redness and pustules points toward bacterial folliculitis or mange.

Any bald patch, regardless of where it is or how small it is at the moment, warrants a vet examination. They are always a sign that something specific is happening, and most causes are very treatable when caught early.

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Skin Changes in the Areas of Hair Loss

Look at the skin in areas where the coat is thinning. What you see there is often more diagnostically useful than the hair loss itself.

Redness or inflammation: Suggests an active inflammatory process — allergic skin disease, contact irritant, bacterial folliculitis, or yeast overgrowth. Often accompanied by itching.

Scaling or flaking directly from the skin surface (not just dandruff on the coat): Can indicate seborrhoea, fungal infection, zinc-responsive dermatosis, or immune-mediated conditions. The character of the scale matters — fine white flakes are different from yellow-grey greasy scale, which is different again from cylindrical follicular casts that cling to the hair shafts.

Thickening and darkening (hyperpigmentation): Chronic skin inflammation or hormonal conditions. Skin that has been inflamed or compromised for an extended period darkens as a response. If the thinning coat is accompanied by noticeably darker, thickened skin in the same area, this has been going on for a while and needs assessment.

Thinning, fragile skin that tears or bruises easily: Highly characteristic of Cushing's disease. If the skin in a thinning area seems unusually thin and delicate — almost like tissue paper — and the dog has other Cushing's signs (pot belly, increased thirst, panting at rest), this combination is urgent.

Pustules, crusts, or oozing: Bacterial skin infection (pyoderma). Can be primary or secondary to another condition (allergies frequently cause secondary pyoderma). Needs treatment — bacterial infections do not resolve without appropriate therapy and can spread and worsen rapidly.

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Shedding Accompanied by Itching or Scratching

This combination — shedding and itching together — is one of the most important signals because it narrows the likely causes significantly. Normal shedding does not itch. A dog that is shedding and also scratching, biting, licking, or rubbing has a skin condition, not just a coat cycling phase.

The most common causes of itching alongside shedding are allergic skin disease (environmental allergens or food), flea allergy dermatitis, mange (Sarcoptes or Demodex), yeast overgrowth (Malassezia), and bacterial pyoderma. Several of these can look similar on the surface but require very different treatments — so a vet visit and accurate diagnosis matters more than trying antihistamines or a new shampoo and hoping for the best.

Pay attention to the pattern of itching. Seasonal itching that starts in spring or summer and improves in winter points toward environmental allergens like pollen. Year-round itching is more consistent with a food allergy or a non-seasonal environmental trigger like dust mites. Itching concentrated on the paws, groin, and face is a very typical allergic pattern. Itching that started abruptly and is most intense on the back, neck, and tail base suggests flea allergy dermatitis — check for flea dirt (small black specks in the coat) even if you have not seen live fleas.

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Related Reading

Signs Your Dog Needs Grooming: 12 Things Your Dog Is Trying to Tell You

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Hair Coming Out in Clumps

There is a difference between a brush full of loose fur — which is normal, especially during a seasonal shed — and hair coming out in clumps when you touch the coat, or tufts of fur appearing around the house that look like they were pulled rather than shed.

Hair that comes out in clumps, in tufts, or that detaches easily when you apply very gentle traction to a section of coat is called effluvium — it indicates that the hair shafts are detaching from the follicles abnormally, before they would normally release. This can happen with severe nutritional deficiency, telogen effluvium (a stress or illness-triggered mass release of hairs that entered the resting phase simultaneously), certain infections, and some immune-mediated conditions.

If you can pull small amounts of fur free with very light touch — not the normal amount that comes away during brushing, but noticeably more than that, with less resistance than usual — that is worth noting and mentioning to your vet. Done gently and in one or two small areas this is a useful observation. Do not tug at the coat deliberately to test this — it is uncomfortable for the dog and unnecessary.

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Systemic Symptoms Alongside the Shedding

This is the one that should make you stop what you are doing and book a vet appointment rather than continuing to monitor. Normal shedding has no systemic component. The dog looks entirely well, behaves entirely normally, and the coat change is the only thing happening.

When shedding comes alongside any of the following, the combination needs medical evaluation:

Increased thirst and urination: A classic feature of Cushing's disease, diabetes mellitus, and kidney disease — all of which can also cause coat changes. A dog drinking noticeably more than usual and urinating more frequently or having accidents indoors is always worth investigating.

Weight gain without a diet change: Paired with coat thinning, bilateral flank hair loss, and lethargy — this combination points strongly toward hypothyroidism.

Weight loss with a normal or increased appetite: Can indicate diabetes, gastrointestinal disease, hyperthyroidism (rare in dogs but it occurs), or internal neoplasia. Combined with coat changes, it is a systemic symptom cluster that needs bloodwork.

Lethargy or reduced exercise tolerance: A dog that has lost interest in walks, tires quickly, or seems generally flat alongside coat changes. Hypothyroidism is a common cause of this combination. So is anaemia — which can develop secondary to some of the conditions that also cause coat changes.

Pot-bellied appearance: Especially combined with muscle loss, increased thirst, and skin changes — this is the Cushing's disease presentation. The pot belly in Cushing's is fat redistribution to the abdomen combined with muscle wasting rather than actual obesity.

Vomiting or diarrhoea: Gastrointestinal disease and food allergies can both affect the coat and cause digestive symptoms. Recurrent or chronic digestive issues alongside coat changes are worth discussing with your vet together rather than separately.

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Shedding That Is Noticeably Worse Than Your Dog's Normal

This requires you to know your dog's normal — which is the whole point of having a consistent grooming routine. When you brush regularly and check the coat regularly, you know what your dog's normal shed looks like. You know roughly how full the brush gets, roughly how much loose fur comes out in a session, roughly what the coat density feels like under your hands.

When that baseline changes — when the brush is consistently fuller than it used to be for weeks in a row outside of seasonal peaks, when you are finding noticeably more fur around the house than you used to, when the coat feels less dense than it did a few months ago — that change from baseline is the signal, not any absolute volume of shedding.

A Husky losing an amount of fur that would alarm the owner of a Dachshund may be entirely normal for a Husky. What matters is whether your specific dog is shedding more than their own normal. Only you can assess that, which is why knowing their normal matters.

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Shedding That Does Not Slow Down After a Seasonal Peak

Seasonal shedding has a shape to it — it builds to a peak over a few weeks, stays heavy for a period, and then gradually reduces back to the baseline. Most dogs' seasonal sheds last four to six weeks, sometimes eight in heavy-shedding double-coated breeds during a full blowout. After that, it slows down.

Shedding that started as what seemed like a seasonal peak and has not slowed after ten to twelve weeks — shedding that is still at seasonal-peak volume for three or four months — is not seasonal. The seasonal explanation has expired. Something else is maintaining the elevated shed rate, and that something needs identifying.

This is one of the easier signs to miss precisely because the original cause (the seasonal peak) was so clearly normal that it feels like the same thing is just continuing. But there is a point where "still shedding quite a bit" becomes "this has been going on too long to be seasonal" — and that point is roughly the three-month mark.

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Stress and Acute Shedding — A Specific Pattern Worth Knowing

Stress-related shedding is real and it can be dramatic. Dogs shed visibly and immediately in acute stress situations — at the vet, at the groomer, during fireworks, in a car they are not used to. This is a normal physiological response (the same adrenaline-driven mechanism that causes humans to lose pigment during extreme shock). It is not a health concern in isolation.

What is worth knowing is the more prolonged version: telogen effluvium. When a dog goes through a significant stress event — a major illness, surgery, a house move, the loss of another pet in the household, a sudden change in routine — the physiological stress can push a large number of hair follicles into the resting phase simultaneously. The hairs grown during the stress period then all shed at the same time, typically two to four months after the stressful event. This produces a dramatic, sudden coat shed that can look alarming — more than a seasonal peak, happening all at once — but is self-limiting and resolves as new hair grows in.

The way to tell stress-related telogen effluvium from a medical cause: there is a clear triggering event two to four months prior, the skin looks completely normal underneath, the dog is otherwise well, and the shedding slows and stops as the new coat grows in over eight to twelve weeks. If any of those things are not true — the skin is not normal, the dog has other symptoms, there was no obvious trigger — do not assume it is stress-related.

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Puppy Coat Change vs Abnormal Shedding

Puppies go through a significant coat change between three and six months of age as the soft puppy coat is replaced by the adult coat. This is completely normal and can look alarming to first-time owners because it happens relatively quickly and the puppy coat comes out in quantity. The adult coat underneath typically looks and feels different from the puppy coat — denser, coarser, or a different colour in some breeds.

The distinguishing features of normal puppy coat change: it happens at the right age (three to six months), it is diffuse across the whole body, the skin underneath is completely normal, the puppy is otherwise well and growing normally, and the new coat grows in evenly over the same period.

Abnormal shedding in a puppy — bald patches, skin changes, itching, or failure of the new coat to grow in properly — is not the puppy coat change and needs veterinary assessment. Demodex mange (demodectic mange) is more common in puppies than adult dogs and causes patchy hair loss with skin changes, typically starting around the face and forelegs. It looks nothing like the normal puppy coat change but gets misattributed to it occasionally.

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Shedding After Illness, Surgery, or Medication

Significant illness, surgery, anaesthesia, and some medications can all trigger a delayed shed similar in mechanism to stress-related telogen effluvium. The body prioritises recovery over hair follicle maintenance during and after a major health event, pushing follicles into the resting phase. The resulting shed happens two to four months after the triggering event and can be significant.

Long-term steroid use is a specific and common cause of coat changes in dogs. Steroids at high doses or over extended periods cause a Cushing's-like effect on the coat — bilateral symmetric thinning, skin changes, and sometimes the pot-bellied appearance of iatrogenic Cushing's. This is not a reason to stop steroids without veterinary guidance — many dogs need them — but it is worth knowing about and mentioning to your vet if coat changes develop after a steroid course begins.

Chemotherapy causes hair loss in dogs as it does in humans, though the effect is less universal and depends on the specific drugs used. Breeds with continuously growing coats — Poodles, Bichons, and similar — tend to show chemotherapy-related coat effects more visibly than shedding breeds, where follicle cycling continues regardless.

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The Worry Checklist — Normal vs See the Vet

What you are seeing	Likely normal?	Action
Diffuse seasonal shed, dog otherwise completely well, normal skin	Yes	Increase brushing frequency, add fish oil if not already, monitor
Bald patch anywhere, any size	No	Vet visit
Bilateral symmetric thinning on flanks or tail	No	Vet visit — thyroid and adrenal panel
Shedding plus itching or scratching	No	Vet visit
Skin redness, scaling, thickening, or darkening in thinning areas	No	Vet visit
Hair coming out in clumps with very light touch	No	Vet visit
Shedding plus increased thirst, weight change, or lethargy	No	Vet visit — full blood panel
Seasonal shed still at peak volume after 10–12 weeks	No	Vet visit if persists past 3 months
Dramatic shed 2–4 months after a clear stressful event, normal skin, dog well	Likely yes	Monitor — should self-resolve in 8–12 weeks. Vet visit if it does not
Puppy coat change at 3–6 months, diffuse, normal skin, puppy well	Yes	Normal — monitor and brush regularly
Coat change after starting long-term steroids	Common side effect	Mention to your vet at next visit — do not stop medication without guidance
Noticeably worse than dog's own normal for more than 4 weeks outside seasonal peaks	Uncertain	Vet visit to rule out systemic cause

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What Happens at the Vet Visit

If you have decided a vet visit is warranted, knowing what to expect makes the appointment more productive. The more information you bring, the faster they can narrow down the likely cause.

Useful things to have ready: when the shedding change started (as specifically as you can remember), whether it is getting worse or has stayed the same, any other symptoms you have noticed however minor, what the dog is eating and whether that has changed recently, any medications or supplements, whether the dog is spayed or neutered and when, and any significant events in the months prior to the shedding starting — illness, surgery, a move, a new pet in the household, a significant routine change.

Photos are worth bringing. A series of photos over the past few months showing the coat change over time is genuinely useful for a vet trying to assess progression. The changes that are obvious to you when comparing photos taken weeks apart are much harder to assess from a single examination.

The vet will do a physical examination — coat, skin, body condition, lymph nodes, abdomen, and a check for any other clinical signs. Depending on what they find, they may recommend a standard blood panel to start, a targeted hormonal panel (thyroid, adrenal), a skin scraping for parasites, a fungal culture if ringworm is suspected, or a referral to a veterinary dermatologist for complex or unresolved cases.

Most non-complicated causes of abnormal shedding are identified within one to two vet visits. Allergic skin disease and some autoimmune conditions take longer to fully work up — but identifying them early means starting management earlier, which almost always produces better long-term outcomes than waiting.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much shedding is too much for a dog?

There is no universal answer because normal varies enormously by breed — a Husky losing a handful of fur per brush session is entirely normal while the same amount from a Greyhound would be alarming. What matters is not the absolute volume but whether the shedding represents a change from your individual dog's normal baseline, whether it is accompanied by skin changes or other symptoms, and whether it follows the expected seasonal pattern. A dog shedding heavily but with completely normal skin, no itching, and no other symptoms is almost certainly fine regardless of volume. A dog shedding moderately but with bald patches, skin redness, or lethargy needs a vet visit regardless of how little fur is coming out.

When should I take my dog to the vet for shedding?

Book a vet appointment when you see any of these: bald patches or asymmetric hair loss, skin changes (redness, scaling, thickening, or darkening) in thinning areas, shedding accompanied by itching or scratching, hair coming out in clumps with very gentle touch, any systemic symptoms alongside the coat change (increased thirst, weight change, lethargy, appetite changes), or shedding that is consistently worse than your dog's own normal for more than four weeks outside of a seasonal peak. When in doubt, book the appointment — a blood panel that comes back normal is reassuring and worth having, and most genuinely abnormal causes are much easier to treat when caught early.

Is it normal for dogs to shed every day?

Yes, for most dogs. Hair follicle cycling is continuous — some hairs are always in the growth phase, some in the resting phase, some in the shedding phase at any given time. Daily shedding at a consistent, low-to-moderate level is normal for most breeds. What is not normal is daily shedding that is at seasonal-peak volume year-round, that comes with skin changes or itching, or that represents a significant increase from what was previously the dog's normal. The question is not "does my dog shed every day" but "has the amount or pattern changed, and is anything else happening alongside it."

Can stress cause excessive shedding in dogs?

Yes, in two ways. Acute stress — at the vet, during fireworks, in an unfamiliar situation — causes an immediate shed response driven by adrenaline. This is normal and temporary. More significantly, a major stress event (illness, surgery, a house move, loss of a companion) can trigger telogen effluvium — a mass shedding of resting-phase hairs that occurs two to four months after the stressful event. This can be dramatic and alarming but is self-limiting: the shedding slows and the coat grows back over eight to twelve weeks. The key distinguishing features are a clear trigger event two to four months prior, completely normal skin underneath, and a dog that is otherwise well.

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Conclusion

Most shedding is normal. That is the starting point and for most dogs in most situations it stays true. The volume of fur on your sofa is not the measure of whether something is wrong — the pattern, the skin underneath, and whether your dog is otherwise well are.

The checklist above covers every scenario I have come across personally or read about — and in almost every case, the difference between "this is fine, just brush more" and "this needs a vet" comes down to one or two specific things that are present or absent. Bald patches. Skin changes. Itching alongside the shedding. Any other symptom happening at the same time. These are the things worth actively looking for rather than just noticing how much fur is on the floor.

The other thing I would say is: trust your instinct. You know your dog. You know what their normal looks like. If something has changed and it does not feel right — even if you cannot put your finger on exactly what is different — that instinct is worth a vet appointment. A conversation and a blood panel is a small thing to rule out something that matters.

Have you ever had the experience of realising the shedding had been telling you something for a while before you made the connection? I missed my dog's thyroid issue for nearly a year because the coat change was gradual enough to normalise. If you have been there, drop it in the comments — it might help someone else catch it sooner.

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Related Posts

• Hormonal Causes of Dog Shedding: What Your Dog's Coat Is Actually Telling You — The full breakdown of every hormonal cause, what each one looks like, and how each is treated.
• Foods That Help Dog Coat Health: What to Feed for a Shiny, Healthy Coat — Once you have ruled out a medical cause, here is the nutritional side of keeping the coat healthy.
• Signs Your Dog Needs Grooming: 12 Things Your Dog Is Trying to Tell You — Abnormal shedding is one of the 12. Here is the full list of what the coat and skin are trying to tell you.
• How to Brush a Dog Properly: A Real Pet Parent's Guide — Regular brushing is the best monitoring tool you have. Here is how to do it in a way that actually catches changes early.

Read More

Double Coat vs Single Coat Dog Shedding

 If you've ever watched a friend's Husky go through a coat blow while your own Greyhound or Boxer barely leaves a hair on the sofa, you've seen the difference between double and single coat shedding in real life. They look like variations of the same thing — dog hair, everywhere — but they work through completely different mechanisms and they need completely different management.

The reason this matters practically: the tools, the brushing technique, the bathing approach, and even the things you should never do are different depending on which type of coat your dog has. Managing a double coat like a single coat means you're mostly just brushing the surface of the problem without touching the layer that actually needs attention. Managing a single coat like a double coat means buying tools you don't need and spending time on a layer that isn't there.

Here's the full explanation — what each coat actually is, how each one sheds, and what that means for the day-to-day reality of living with each type.

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Table of Contents

1. What a Double Coat Actually Is
2. What a Single Coat Actually Is
3. How Each One Sheds — The Key Differences
4. How to Tell Which One Your Dog Has
5. Double-Coated Breeds
6. Single-Coated Breeds
7. Brushing — Why the Technique Is Completely Different
8. Bathing a Double Coat vs a Single Coat
9. Why You Should Never Shave a Double Coat
10. The Seasonal Blow — What It Is and What to Do
11. Managing Each Type Day to Day
12. FAQs

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What a Double Coat Actually Is

A double coat is exactly what it sounds like — two distinct layers of fur, each with a different job.

The outer coat (guard coat) is made up of coarser, longer hairs that lie on top. These guard hairs are water-resistant — they repel rain and snow, protect the skin from UV and physical abrasion, and regulate how air moves through the coat. They're the layer you see and touch when you pet the dog.

The undercoat sits beneath the guard hairs — a dense, soft, downy layer packed close to the skin. This is the insulation layer. In cold weather it traps warm air close to the body. In warm weather — and this part surprises most people — it also insulates in the other direction, creating an air buffer between the skin and the heat outside. A properly maintained double coat keeps a dog cooler in summer than a shaved coat does, because the insulating air layer is still intact.

These two layers shed semi-independently. The guard coat sheds at a low continuous rate year-round. The undercoat sheds at a low continuous rate year-round plus two concentrated seasonal blows per year — spring and autumn — where the entire undercoat releases over two to four weeks to be replaced by a new one. This is what produces the dramatic coat blows that double-coated breed owners know well.

The undercoat also mats independently of the guard coat. The surface of a double coat can look perfectly fine while the undercoat underneath is packed, matted, or full of dead hair that isn't moving. A brush that only works the outer coat doesn't touch this layer at all — which is the most common mistake in double coat brushing.

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What a Single Coat Actually Is

A single-coated dog has one layer of fur — just the outer coat, no dense undercoat beneath it. The coat may be short or long, fine or coarse, straight or wavy — but when you part it, you reach the skin relatively quickly without passing through a distinct soft underlayer.

Single-coated dogs still shed. But the shedding is simpler — it's just the one layer of fur going through its growth cycle, reaching a set length, and releasing. There's no undercoat cycling independently, no seasonal blow where the entire insulation layer releases at once. The shedding is typically more consistent and less dramatic than a double coat — lower peaks, but present year-round.

Single-coated breeds include both low-maintenance short-coated breeds (Greyhounds, Boxers, Dalmatians) and high-maintenance long or curly coated breeds (Poodles, Maltese, Shih Tzus). The maintenance difference between them isn't the shedding — it's whether the coat self-limits its length or keeps growing and needs cutting. But the shedding mechanism is the same single-layer cycle in both cases.

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How Each One Sheds — The Key Differences

	Double coat	Single coat
Layers shedding	Two — outer coat + undercoat	One — outer coat only
Pattern	Moderate year-round + heavy seasonal blows	Consistent year-round, no dramatic blow
Seasonal change	Dramatic — coat blow in spring and autumn	Mild — slight increase with temperature change
What the shed hair looks like	Soft fluffy clumps of undercoat + individual guard hairs	Individual hairs, consistent texture throughout
Worst time of year	Spring and autumn coat blows	No defined worst period — fairly even all year
Total annual volume	Higher overall	Lower overall, but ongoing
Main grooming tool needed	Undercoat rake + slicker brush	Slicker brush or rubber curry (coat-length dependent)

The practical experience of living with each is quite different. Double coat shedding has a rhythm — manageable most of the year, intense for a few weeks twice a year. Single coat shedding is just always there at a steady background level. A lot of people find the steady low-level single coat shed more annoying day to day than the dramatic but temporary double coat blow, even though the double coat produces more hair overall. It's the difference between a surge and a drip — and which one bothers you more is fairly personal.

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How to Tell Which One Your Dog Has

Part the outer coat with your fingers and push down toward the skin. Look and feel what's underneath the longer outer hairs.

Double coat: beneath the outer guard hairs there's a clearly distinct layer of dense, soft, shorter fur — lighter in colour than the guard coat in many breeds, noticeably softer in texture. It feels plush and dense. If you push your hand into the coat against the direction of hair growth, there's significant resistance and the coat feels thick and full. When a double-coated dog is blowing coat, you'll pull handfuls of this soft underlayer out with your hand without even trying.

Single coat: the outer hairs give way to skin without a distinct soft underlayer. The coat feels more uniform from surface to skin. There's less resistance when you push against the hair direction. The skin is visible relatively quickly beneath the outer coat without passing through a dense secondary layer.

Some breeds are less obvious than others. Labradors are technically double-coated but their undercoat is less dramatic than a Husky's — you'll feel it if you push into the coat but it doesn't announce itself the way a Pomeranian's does. Boxers and Greyhounds are clearly single-coated — barely anything between the outer coat and the skin.

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Double-Coated Breeds

The double coat was bred into dogs that needed serious weather protection — Nordic sled dogs, livestock guardian breeds, herding breeds working in cold highlands, water retrievers. The insulation was functional, not cosmetic.

Breeds with double coats include: Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, Samoyed, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Corgi (Pembroke and Cardigan), Pomeranian, Chow Chow, Akita, Bernese Mountain Dog, Great Pyrenees, Newfoundland, Saint Bernard, Border Collie, Australian Shepherd, Shetland Sheepdog, Rough and Smooth Collie, Belgian Malinois, Leonberger.

A few that surprise people: Labrador Retrievers are technically double-coated even though the undercoat is less obviously fluffy than a Nordic breed's. Australian Cattle Dogs (Blue Heelers) are double-coated. Golden Retrievers are thoroughly double-coated, which is why they produce the shedding volume they do despite being described as medium-coated.

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Single-Coated Breeds

Single-coated breeds span the full range from barely-there coats to long flowing ones. What they have in common is the absence of the dense insulating undercoat.

Short single coats: Greyhound, Whippet, Italian Greyhound, Boxer, Dalmatian, Weimaraner, Vizsla, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Dobermann, Basenji.

Medium or long single coats: Poodle (all sizes), Bichon Frise, Maltese, Shih Tzu, Yorkshire Terrier, Havanese, Lhasa Apso, Portuguese Water Dog, Afghan Hound, Coton de Tulear.

The long single-coated breeds look like they should be the heaviest shedders because of the coat length — but they shed far less than a double-coated breed because there's no undercoat. A Shih Tzu in full coat sheds less than a Labrador despite looking dramatically higher-maintenance. The maintenance comes from the cutting and brushing requirement, not from shedding management.

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Brushing — Why the Technique Is Completely Different

This is where a lot of people go wrong — using the same tools and the same approach on both coat types and wondering why one of them never seems to improve.

Brushing a single coat is relatively straightforward. You're removing loose outer coat hairs, distributing the skin's natural oils, and preventing surface tangles. A slicker brush for medium to long single coats, a rubber curry brush for short single coats. Work in the direction of hair growth, reach the skin with each stroke. Done.

Brushing a double coat requires two stages because there are two layers to deal with:

Stage one — the undercoat. An undercoat rake or deshedding tool goes through the guard hairs and removes dead undercoat from beneath. This is the layer that matters most — it's where the dead hair lives, where mats form from the inside, and where heat gets trapped when it's not managed. A standard slicker brush on a double coat goes over the top of the undercoat without touching it. You can brush a double-coated dog for twenty minutes with a slicker brush alone and barely affect the undercoat. The undercoat rake is what does the real work here.

Stage two — the outer coat. Once the undercoat is dealt with, a slicker brush or bristle brush through the guard hairs finishes the session — removes loose surface hairs, distributes oils, and leaves the coat looking neat. This part is faster once the undercoat is properly managed.

The order matters. Slicker brush first on a dog in heavy shed smooths the surface over a packed undercoat without helping it. Undercoat rake first, slicker brush after — that's the right sequence.

📌 The honest check for double coats: After brushing, push your hand against the direction of hair growth into the coat. If it still feels dense and packed rather than airy and moving freely, there's still undercoat to come out. The coat should feel lighter and more open when the undercoat work is done properly. The wide-tooth comb all the way to the skin confirms it.

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Bathing a Double Coat vs a Single Coat

The bath serves different purposes and has different practical challenges depending on coat type.

Single coat: wetting to skin level is relatively easy, shampoo penetrates cleanly, drying is faster. Every four to six weeks. For long single-coated breeds, conditioner after every shampoo — the hair keeps growing and the ends dry and tangle. For short single-coated breeds, conditioner is optional.

Double coat: wetting to skin level is the first challenge. The guard hairs of a double coat are water-resistant by design — water runs off the surface. To properly wet a double coat you need to push water all the way through to the skin, which takes significantly longer than it looks like it should. A shower wand directed at skin level through the coat makes this actually possible in a way that pouring water from above doesn't. Without getting properly wet to the skin, the shampoo works on the surface and the deshedding effect doesn't penetrate the layer it needs to reach.

A deshedding shampoo on a double coat, left for the full contact time, loosens dead undercoat during the bath so more comes out in the tub rather than on the furniture over the following two weeks. This specific benefit doesn't apply the same way to single-coated dogs — it's worth the upgrade in shampoo for a double coat, less so for a single.

Drying a double coat is the other difference. The undercoat holds water close to the skin and takes significantly longer to dry than the outer coat — which looks dry while the undercoat underneath is still damp. A damp undercoat sitting warm against the skin is a skin problem in the making. Patience and proper drying to the skin level matters more with double coats than with single ones.

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Why You Should Never Shave a Double Coat

This comes up enough and is still misunderstood enough that it needs its own section.

Shaving a double-coated dog does not reduce shedding. In many cases it makes shedding worse. And it removes the coat's functional benefits in a way that takes a year or more to reverse — sometimes permanently.

Here's what actually happens when you shave a double coat: the guard hairs and the undercoat grow back at different rates. The undercoat — which grows faster — comes back first. Without the guard hairs to regulate and organise it, the undercoat grows in with an altered texture: softer, finer, more diffuse. It sheds more unpredictably because the seasonal pattern that the guard hairs help organise is disrupted. The result is often more shedding distributed more constantly through the year, not less.

The guard hairs grow back more slowly and often come back with a different texture — less water-resistant, less ordered, sometimes with a cottony feel more prone to matting. In some dogs, particularly older ones and certain breeds, the coat never fully recovers. This is called post-clipping alopecia and it's a recognised complication of shaving double-coated breeds.

The cooling argument for shaving doesn't hold either. The double coat's insulating air layer is what actually keeps double-coated dogs comfortable in summer. A shaved double-coated dog has less sun and heat protection than an intact one. The coat is a thermos — it works both ways.

The right management is brushing the dead undercoat out — with an undercoat rake, a deshedding tool, and deshedding baths — not shaving the coat that produces it.

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The Seasonal Blow — What It Is and What to Do

If you have a double-coated dog and haven't been through a coat blow yet — here's what to expect so it isn't alarming when it happens.

Twice a year, triggered by the change in day length rather than temperature, the entire undercoat releases over two to four weeks. The dog doesn't go bald — the new undercoat grows in behind it — but during the blow the volume of hair is startling. Clumps of soft undercoat come away in handfuls. The dog looks like it's dissolving. Hair is everywhere. You pull a handful of undercoat off just by running your hand through the coat without any tool. It looks wrong. It's completely normal.

The spring blow is usually heavier than the autumn one — the dog is shedding the dense winter undercoat for a lighter summer one, which is a bigger change in volume.

What to do during a blow:

A deshedding bath at the very start of the blow is the single most effective thing. The bath loosens the releasing undercoat and a huge amount comes out in the tub during rinsing — rather than gradually over the furniture over the next fortnight. Do the bath when you first notice the blow starting, not two weeks in when it's already everywhere.

Daily brushing with an undercoat rake for the duration. Not three times a week — daily. Each session will still produce significant undercoat even when you brushed yesterday. Keep going until the sessions are clearly producing less — that's the signal the blow is winding down. It usually lasts two to four weeks and then stops fairly suddenly. The coat looks noticeably lighter and cleaner when it's through, and the daily shedding drops back to the manageable background level.

For dogs that live primarily indoors with artificial lighting, the seasonal blow may be less dramatic and more spread out. The photoperiod signal (day length) that triggers the blow is less distinct for indoor dogs, so the coat change happens more gradually across a longer period.

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Managing Each Type Day to Day

Double coat day to day: three to five times weekly brushing with an undercoat rake plus a slicker brush through the outer coat. Daily during a seasonal blow. A deshedding bath every four to six weeks with longer shampoo contact time and thorough undercoat drying. Never shave. Fish oil at a therapeutic dose reduces non-seasonal premature shedding — it doesn't change the seasonal blow, but it takes the edge off year-round baseline shedding. Accept that the seasonal blow is going to happen twice a year and prepare for it rather than reacting to it.

Single coat day to day: brushing frequency depends on length — once a week for short single coats, two to three times for medium, daily for long single coats that mat. Standard moisturising shampoo every four to six weeks. No undercoat rake needed — there's no undercoat to rake. For the long single-coated low-shedding breeds, focus shifts from shedding management to mat prevention and regular professional haircuts. For the short single-coated shedders, it's a steady background maintenance task — rubber curry brush regularly, accept it as a constant, and know that it's never going to dramatically change because the coat is doing exactly what it was bred to do.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do double coated dogs shed more than single coated dogs?

Generally yes — in total volume, double-coated dogs shed more because two layers are cycling rather than one. The seasonal blow from the undercoat produces a volume that no single-coated breed matches. Day to day outside the blow, some short-coated shedding breeds like Labradors shed heavily enough that the comparison is less dramatic — but the blow puts double coats clearly ahead in annual total.

How do I know if my dog has a single or double coat?

Part the outer coat and push your fingers toward the skin. If there's a clearly distinct layer of dense, soft, shorter fur beneath the outer guard hairs — double coat. If you reach the skin without passing through a soft secondary layer — single coat. Double coats feel plush and dense when you push into them. Single coats feel more uniform from surface to skin.

Should you brush a double coat differently to a single coat?

Yes — completely differently. Single coat: slicker brush or rubber curry to remove loose outer hairs. Double coat: undercoat rake first to remove dead undercoat from beneath the guard hairs, then slicker brush to finish the outer coat. Using only a slicker brush on a double coat brushes the surface without touching the undercoat — the layer that actually needs managing.

Can you shave a double coated dog to reduce shedding?

No — and it usually makes shedding worse. Shaving removes the guard hairs that regulate undercoat growth. The undercoat grows back first and without regulation often comes back softer and more diffusely shedding. The guard coat grows back slowly and sometimes with a permanently altered texture. The coat's cooling and insulating function is also compromised. Brush the dead undercoat out — that's the right way to manage it.

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Does your dog have a double coat or a single coat — and did you know which one before reading this? The moment double-coated dog owners realise they've been brushing the surface this whole time without an undercoat rake is a real one. Drop the breed in the comments if you want a steer on which tools make the most difference for that specific coat.

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Related Posts

• Dog Shedding by Breed Explained — Which breeds are double-coated, which are single-coated, and what to expect from each.
• Mistakes That Make Dog Shedding Worse — Shaving a double coat is one of eight mistakes covered here — the full list.
• Should You Bathe a Shedding Dog More Often? — How the bath fits into double and single coat management and what the deshedding bath approach looks like.
• How to Brush a Dog Properly — The full technique guide including the two-stage approach for double coats.

Read More

Hormonal Causes of Dog Shedding: What Your Dog's Coat Is Actually Telling You

 

For the first year and a half I had my dog, I assumed shedding was just a dog thing. She was a Golden Retriever mix, it was apparently just what they did, and I owned a lint roller for a reason. I brushed her regularly, I fed her decently, and I accepted the fur situation as part of the deal.

Then the shedding changed. Not just more of it — the texture changed, bald patches started appearing near her tail, and the coat that grew back in those areas looked different from the rest. Same dog, same food, same grooming routine. Something else was going on.

It turned out to be a thyroid issue — something that showed up in the coat long before any other symptom was obvious enough to trigger a vet visit. The coat, as I have said before, is a report card. And when the hormonal system is involved, that report card starts showing some very specific, very recognisable signs — if you know what to look for.

This post covers every hormonal cause of excessive or abnormal shedding in dogs, what each one looks like, how it is diagnosed, and what treatment actually involves. This is not a "brush more and add fish oil" situation — hormonal shedding needs a vet. But knowing which hormone is likely involved based on what you are seeing helps you have a much more useful conversation when you get there.

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Quick Answer

The main hormonal causes of excessive or abnormal shedding in dogs are hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid — the most common hormonal cause overall), hyperadrenocorticism or Cushing's disease (excess cortisol), hyperestrogenism and estrogen-related alopecia, testosterone-related coat changes in intact males, post-partum shedding in recently whelped females, and growth hormone-responsive alopecia in certain breeds. Each has a distinct pattern — where the coat loss occurs, what the skin looks like underneath, and what other symptoms accompany it. Hormonal shedding does not resolve with grooming or dietary changes. It needs veterinary diagnosis and, where appropriate, medical or surgical treatment.

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Table of Contents

1. Normal Shedding vs Hormonal Shedding — How to Tell the Difference
2. Hypothyroidism — The Most Common Hormonal Cause
3. Cushing's Disease — When Cortisol Takes Over
4. Estrogen Imbalance — Hyperestrogenism and Estrogen-Responsive Alopecia
5. Testosterone and Intact Male Coat Changes
6. Post-Partum Shedding in Female Dogs
7. Growth Hormone-Responsive Alopecia
8. Coat Changes After Spaying or Neutering
9. How Hormonal Shedding Is Diagnosed
10. Treatment — What to Expect for Each Condition
11. What You Can Actually Do at Home
12. Hormonal Shedding — Quick Reference Checklist
13. FAQs
14. Conclusion
15. Related Posts

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Normal Shedding vs Hormonal Shedding — How to Tell the Difference

All dogs shed. Even breeds marketed as non-shedding shed — they just shed less visibly. Normal shedding is the natural cycling of hair follicles through growth, rest, and release phases. It is influenced by daylight length (which is why shedding increases in spring and autumn), temperature, and nutrition. It is diffuse — spread evenly across the whole coat — and the skin underneath looks completely normal: no redness, no scaling, no thinning of the skin itself.

Hormonal shedding is different in several specific ways, and recognising those differences is what tells you this isn't just seasonal coat cycling.

Pattern: Hormonal hair loss tends to be symmetrical and patterned rather than diffuse. Both flanks thinning equally. Both sides of the neck. The tail base, the groin, the perineum. This bilateral symmetry is one of the most reliable signals that hormones are involved — the pattern is determined by where hormone receptors are most concentrated in the skin, not by external factors like friction or parasite activity.

Skin changes: The skin underneath hormonal hair loss often changes alongside the coat. It may become thickened, darkened (hyperpigmentation), scaly, or unusually soft and doughy. In Cushing's disease, the skin becomes noticeably thin and fragile. In thyroid disease, it often becomes dry and slightly rough.

Associated symptoms: Normal shedding has no systemic symptoms. Hormonal causes almost always do — weight gain or loss, changes in thirst and urination, energy changes, muscle loss, reproductive cycle changes, or behavioural shifts. The coat change is usually one part of a broader picture, even if it's the most obvious part.

Non-responsiveness to grooming and diet: Normal shedding improves with consistent brushing, deshedding, and good nutrition. Hormonal shedding does not. If you have been doing everything right for months and the shedding hasn't responded, that is a meaningful signal that the cause is systemic rather than grooming or diet-related.

 When to stop adjusting the routine and go to the vet: If your dog's shedding is symmetrical, accompanied by skin changes, or has not improved after two to three months of consistent grooming and nutritional support — book a vet appointment. Blood panels for thyroid function and adrenal function are straightforward tests that rule in or out the most common hormonal causes quickly.

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Hypothyroidism — The Most Common Hormonal Cause

Hypothyroidism is the single most common endocrine cause of coat and skin changes in dogs. The thyroid gland produces hormones that regulate metabolic rate across virtually every body system — including the hair follicle cycle. When thyroid output drops, follicle cycling slows. Hairs stay in the resting phase longer than they should, leading to a coat that looks increasingly dull and thin, and eventually patches where hair stops growing back properly after shedding.

It is most common in middle-aged to older dogs, and certain breeds are significantly over-represented: Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Doberman Pinschers, Irish Setters, Boxers, Cocker Spaniels, and Dachshunds. That said, any breed can develop it.

What it looks like

The coat changes in hypothyroidism tend to follow a characteristic pattern. The fur becomes dry, dull, and brittle — it loses its normal texture and sheen first, before any actual thinning is obvious. As the condition progresses, thinning develops bilaterally on the flanks, the back of the thighs, and the tail (sometimes called "rat tail" — a sparse, thin appearance on the tail). The belly, groin, and neck may also thin. The hair that remains breaks easily rather than shedding cleanly at the root. The skin often becomes dry, thickened, and darkened in the affected areas. Crucially, the dog is usually not itchy — unlike allergic or parasitic causes of coat thinning.

Other symptoms to look for

Coat changes are usually accompanied by weight gain without a change in diet, lethargy and reduced exercise tolerance, cold intolerance (the dog seeks heat more than usual, shivers in temperatures that didn't previously bother them), a slow heart rate, and sometimes a slightly puffy, sad facial expression caused by myxoedema — a specific type of facial swelling associated with thyroid disease. Reproductive cycle changes in intact females are also common — irregular or absent heat cycles.

Diagnosis and treatment

A baseline thyroid panel (total T4, free T4, TSH) from a blood sample. Most hypothyroid dogs respond well to daily oral thyroxine replacement therapy (levothyroxine) — a relatively inexpensive medication given once or twice daily for life. Coat improvement typically begins within six to eight weeks of starting treatment and continues improving over three to six months as the hair follicles fully recover. It is one of the more satisfying hormonal diagnoses to treat because the response is usually clear and visible.

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Cushing's Disease — When Cortisol Takes Over

Cushing's disease (hyperadrenocorticism) is caused by chronically elevated cortisol — the body's primary stress hormone, produced by the adrenal glands. In most cases, the excess is driven by a small tumour on the pituitary gland (the brain structure that signals the adrenal glands to produce cortisol) — this is called pituitary-dependent Cushing's and accounts for around 80-85% of cases. The remaining 15-20% are caused by a tumour directly on the adrenal gland. A third form — iatrogenic Cushing's — is caused by long-term steroid medication rather than a natural tumour.

Cortisol at normal levels is essential. At chronically elevated levels, it suppresses hair follicle cycling, thins the skin, redistributes body fat, increases muscle breakdown, and causes a cascade of systemic effects that make Cushing's disease one of the more complex endocrine conditions to manage.

What it looks like

The coat changes in Cushing's are some of the most distinctive of any hormonal condition. Bilateral symmetric hair loss on the flanks, neck, and perineum — the same pattern as hypothyroidism but with different skin changes underneath. The skin becomes noticeably thin and fragile, almost paper-like in severe cases, and bruises easily. Hyperpigmentation (darkening) develops in the areas of hair loss. Comedones (small blackheads) sometimes appear on the skin surface. The coat that remains loses its normal texture and may take on a soft, puppy-like feel in affected areas.

Other symptoms to look for

Cushing's has one of the most recognisable symptom clusters of any dog health condition once you know what to look for. The three that owners notice first are almost always the same: dramatically increased water intake and urination, an increased appetite that seems insatiable, and a pot-bellied appearance caused by fat redistribution to the abdomen combined with muscle wasting. Panting at rest or at night is very common. The dog often seems lethargic despite the increased appetite. Muscle weakness and difficulty climbing stairs or getting up from lying down develop as the condition progresses.

Diagnosis and treatment

Cushing's requires specific blood tests beyond a standard panel — a low-dose dexamethasone suppression test (LDDST) or an ACTH stimulation test, plus abdominal ultrasound to visualise the adrenal glands. Treatment depends on the type: pituitary-dependent Cushing's is most commonly managed with trilostane or mitotane (medications that reduce cortisol production), both of which require regular monitoring. Adrenal tumours may be surgical candidates. Iatrogenic Cushing's is managed by gradually tapering the steroid medication under veterinary supervision — never abruptly. Coat improvement with treatment is slower than hypothyroidism and more variable, but most dogs show noticeable improvement over three to six months of well-managed treatment.

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Estrogen Imbalance — Hyperestrogenism and Estrogen-Responsive Alopecia

Estrogen plays a significant role in the hair follicle cycle, and both too much and too little of it can produce coat changes in dogs.

Hyperestrogenism (excess estrogen)

In intact females, hyperestrogenism can result from ovarian cysts or tumours that produce excess estrogen. In intact males, it can result from Sertoli cell tumours of the testis — a relatively common testicular tumour that produces estrogen rather than testosterone. Hyperestrogenism causes hair loss that begins at the perineum (around the genitals) and spreads symmetrically toward the flanks. The skin in affected areas often becomes soft and hyperpigmented. In males, Sertoli cell tumour additionally causes feminisation signs — nipple enlargement, attraction of other male dogs, reduced libido, and sometimes bone marrow suppression in severe cases.

Estrogen-responsive alopecia (estrogen deficiency)

Seen most commonly in spayed females — particularly those spayed young — estrogen-responsive alopecia is caused by insufficient estrogen following surgical removal of the ovaries. It typically presents as gradual, symmetric thinning of the coat in the groin, inner thighs, and perineum, with the skin in those areas becoming soft and slightly shiny. The rest of the coat is often unaffected. It tends to develop gradually and is easily missed in the early stages because the dog shows no other symptoms of illness.

Diagnosis and treatment

Blood estrogen levels, plus abdominal and testicular ultrasound depending on the presentation. For hyperestrogenism from ovarian cysts or Sertoli cell tumour — spay or castration respectively, which resolves the source. For estrogen-responsive alopecia in spayed females — low-dose estrogen supplementation under veterinary supervision, which typically produces visible coat regrowth within three to four months.

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Testosterone and Intact Male Coat Changes

Intact male dogs can develop coat and skin changes related to testosterone and related androgens, though this is less common than estrogen or thyroid-related causes. Testosterone-related alopecia in intact males tends to affect the back, flanks, and perianal area, often accompanied by comedones (blackheads) along the back and an abnormally oily or waxy coat texture and smell. Sebaceous adenitis — inflammation of the sebaceous glands driven in part by androgen activity — causes a distinctive follicular casting (scales that cling to the hair shafts like a sleeve rather than free flakes) and progressive alopecia, most commonly seen in Standard Poodles, Akitas, and Samoyeds.

In intact males with testosterone-related coat issues, castration often produces noticeable improvement, though the timeline varies and some cases — particularly sebaceous adenitis — require additional management regardless of neutering status.

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Post-Partum Shedding in Female Dogs

This one catches a lot of first-time breeders and owners of intact females off guard because it looks alarming and happens fast. A female dog that has recently whelped a litter will very often experience a significant shed two to four months after delivery. The coat can thin dramatically and rapidly — sometimes to the point where owners genuinely worry the dog is seriously unwell.

It is not a disease. Post-partum shedding in dogs is driven by the hormonal shift that occurs after whelping — specifically the drop in progesterone and prolactin following the end of lactation — combined with the significant nutritional demands of pregnancy and nursing. During pregnancy and lactation, the body redirects nutrients toward the developing and nursing puppies. Hair follicle maintenance is lower priority. The result is a synchronised follicle reset that produces a dramatic shed as the follicles that were kept artificially in the resting phase by the hormonal state of pregnancy all enter the shedding phase at once.

The coat regrows over three to four months following the shed. Nutritional support — particularly protein and omega-3 supplementation — during and after lactation reduces the severity of post-partum shedding but does not prevent it entirely. If the coat has not recovered within four to five months of whelping, a veterinary check to rule out thyroid dysfunction or other endocrine issues is appropriate.

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Growth Hormone-Responsive Alopecia

Growth hormone-responsive alopecia is a relatively rare condition that causes symmetrical coat loss in intact males of certain breeds — most commonly Chow Chows, Pomeranians, Keeshonds, Samoyeds, and Miniature Poodles. It typically develops between one and three years of age and produces progressive, symmetric hair loss on the neck, flanks, and tail base, with hyperpigmentation of the skin in affected areas. The dog is otherwise healthy — no systemic symptoms, normal bloodwork on standard panels, and the specific growth hormone deficiency requires specialist testing to confirm.

Interestingly, castration of intact males with this condition often triggers spontaneous coat regrowth, which is why neutering is frequently the first treatment tried before considering growth hormone supplementation. Response is variable — some dogs regrow significant coat, others see partial improvement.

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Coat Changes After Spaying or Neutering

Not every coat change after spaying or neutering is pathological — but it is worth knowing about because it surprises a lot of owners. Some dogs, particularly certain double-coated breeds, develop a coat texture change after desexing that is colloquially called "spay coat" or "neuter coat." The undercoat becomes softer, denser, and more cotton-like, and in some breeds it mats more easily than the pre-neuter coat did. This is not hair loss — it is a texture change driven by the removal of sex hormone influence on coat cycling.

It is more common in breeds where the sex hormones normally produce a harder, more distinct guard coat — Huskies, Golden Retrievers, Border Collies, and similar double-coated breeds are the ones owners mention most frequently. Management is primarily through more frequent brushing and professional grooming to manage the changed coat texture rather than medical treatment. The coat does not go back to its pre-neuter texture.

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How Hormonal Shedding Is Diagnosed

Your vet will typically approach suspected hormonal shedding with a combination of clinical examination, history taking, and targeted blood testing. Here is what the diagnostic process generally looks like:

Clinical history: When did the shedding start? Is it progressing? Any other symptoms — thirst, urination, appetite, energy, weight? Has the dog been spayed or neutered, and if so when? Any recent pregnancies? What medications is the dog on? This history alone often points strongly toward one or two likely causes before any testing is done.

Physical examination: The vet will assess the distribution of hair loss, the condition of the skin underneath (thickness, pigmentation, scaling, comedones), the dog's body condition score, and any other physical signs — pot belly, thin skin, muscle wasting, testicular symmetry in intact males, mammary tissue changes.

Blood panel: A standard biochemistry and haematology panel rules out non-hormonal systemic causes. A thyroid panel (total T4 at minimum, ideally including free T4 and TSH) screens for hypothyroidism. If Cushing's is suspected, additional adrenal function tests are ordered — ACTH stimulation test or LDDST. Sex hormone panels may be run if estrogen or testosterone-related causes are suspected.

Urinalysis: Urine specific gravity helps assess kidney function and hydration, and is particularly relevant in Cushing's where dilute urine is a consistent finding.

Imaging: Abdominal ultrasound to assess adrenal gland size (enlarged in adrenal-dependent Cushing's and Sertoli cell tumour) and to check for ovarian cysts or other reproductive tract changes.

Skin biopsy: In cases where the pattern is unusual or the blood results are inconclusive, a skin punch biopsy sent to a dermatopathologist can identify characteristic changes associated with specific hormonal conditions — for example, the follicular changes of growth hormone-responsive alopecia or the specific inflammatory pattern of sebaceous adenitis.

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Treatment — What to Expect for Each Condition

Condition	Primary treatment	Coat improvement timeline
Hypothyroidism	Daily oral levothyroxine for life	Visible improvement 6–8 weeks, full coat 3–6 months
Cushing's disease (pituitary)	Trilostane or mitotane, with ongoing monitoring	3–6 months, variable by individual
Cushing's disease (adrenal tumour)	Surgical adrenalectomy where possible; medical management otherwise	Variable; depends on surgical outcome
Hyperestrogenism (intact female)	Spay — removes the source	3–4 months post-spay
Sertoli cell tumour (intact male)	Castration — removes the source	3–4 months post-castration
Estrogen-responsive alopecia (spayed female)	Low-dose estrogen supplementation under vet supervision	3–4 months of treatment
Post-partum shedding	Nutritional support — no medical treatment needed	Spontaneous regrowth within 3–4 months
Growth hormone-responsive alopecia	Castration in intact males (often triggers regrowth); GH supplementation if no response	Variable; 3–6 months if responsive

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What You Can Actually Do at Home

I want to be straight with you here: if the shedding is hormonal, there is no home remedy that fixes it. The coat changes are a symptom of a systemic issue — the hormonal imbalance — and treating the symptom while the cause goes unaddressed doesn't help the dog and delays a diagnosis that might genuinely matter for their long-term health. Cushing's disease that is left untreated causes progressive organ damage. Hypothyroidism affects every system in the body and gets worse over time. Sertoli cell tumours can cause bone marrow suppression in advanced cases.

So the first and most important thing you can do at home is recognise the pattern, put it together with any other symptoms you have noticed, and book a vet appointment rather than trying another grooming tool or supplement.

What you can do to support the coat while you are working through diagnosis and treatment:

Nutritional support. Therapeutic omega-3 supplementation supports skin barrier function and reduces the inflammatory component of skin changes regardless of the underlying cause. It will not reverse hormonal hair loss, but it supports skin health during the period of disruption and may improve the speed of coat regrowth once the hormonal issue is treated. Fish oil at 20mg EPA+DHA per kilogram of body weight daily is a reasonable addition while your dog's hormonal situation is being investigated and managed.

 Recommended — Skin Support During Hormonal Treatment

Pure Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil — Pump Dispenser

Fish oil does not fix hormonal hair loss — but it supports the skin barrier and reduces inflammatory skin changes while the underlying cause is being treated. Worth adding at therapeutic dose (around 20mg EPA+DHA per kg daily) as part of the overall management plan. The pump dispenser makes daily dosing on food straightforward.

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Gentle grooming. Keep up with regular brushing — not because it will resolve the shedding, but because dogs with hormonal coat changes often have skin that is more sensitive and more prone to secondary issues like bacterial folliculitis or yeast overgrowth in areas where the coat has thinned. Regular brushing keeps the remaining coat free of debris and allows you to monitor the skin surface. Use a gentle brush and avoid aggressive deshedding tools on areas where the skin is thin or compromised.

Gentle bathing. A pH-balanced, moisturising shampoo used every three to four weeks helps maintain the skin barrier in dogs whose skin has become dry or thickened from hormonal changes. Avoid medicated or stripping shampoos unless specifically directed by your vet — the skin in hormonally affected areas is already compromised.

Keep a photo log. This sounds basic but it is genuinely useful — for tracking whether the condition is progressing, stable, or responding to treatment, and for giving your vet a visual timeline. A photo taken every two to four weeks, in the same position and lighting, documents changes that are too gradual to notice day to day but become obvious when you compare images side by side.

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Hormonal Shedding — Quick Reference Checklist

What you are seeing	Most likely cause	Next step
Bilateral flank thinning, weight gain, lethargy, cold intolerance	Hypothyroidism	Thyroid blood panel
Bilateral thinning, pot belly, increased thirst and urination, panting at rest, thin skin	Cushing's disease	ACTH stimulation test or LDDST, abdominal ultrasound
Perineal and flank thinning, intact female, irregular heat cycles	Hyperestrogenism (ovarian cyst or tumour)	Hormone panel, abdominal ultrasound
Perineal thinning, intact male, one testis larger or irregular, feminisation signs	Sertoli cell tumour	Testicular exam, hormone panel, ultrasound
Groin and inner thigh thinning, spayed female, otherwise healthy	Estrogen-responsive alopecia	Clinical diagnosis, rule out other causes first
Dramatic whole-coat shed, 2–4 months after whelping, otherwise healthy	Post-partum shedding	Nutritional support, monitor for regrowth within 4 months
Symmetric neck, flank, tail base thinning, young intact male, certain breeds	Growth hormone-responsive alopecia	Specialist referral, skin biopsy, GH testing
Softer, denser, cottony undercoat after spay or neuter, no actual hair loss	Post-neuter coat texture change	Grooming adjustment — more frequent brushing, professional grooming

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can hormones cause excessive shedding in dogs?

Yes — and it is more common than many people realise. Hormones directly regulate the hair follicle cycle, so any significant hormonal imbalance affects the coat. The most common hormonal causes of excessive or abnormal shedding are hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), Cushing's disease (excess cortisol), estrogen imbalance in intact or spayed females, Sertoli cell tumour in intact males, post-partum shedding in recently whelped females, and growth hormone-responsive alopecia in certain breeds. Hormonal shedding is distinguished from normal shedding by its symmetrical patterning, associated skin changes, accompanying systemic symptoms, and its failure to respond to grooming and diet improvements.

How do I know if my dog's shedding is hormonal?

The clearest signals are symmetrical hair loss (both sides equally affected), skin changes in the affected areas (thickening, darkening, scaling, or thinning), systemic symptoms alongside the coat changes (increased thirst, weight change, lethargy, reproductive cycle changes), and shedding that does not improve after two to three months of consistent grooming and nutritional support. Any combination of these warrants a vet visit and blood panel rather than continued home management.

Does hypothyroidism cause shedding in dogs?

Hypothyroidism is the most common hormonal cause of coat and skin changes in dogs and yes, it causes shedding — specifically a progressive thinning of the coat that typically begins on the flanks and tail, accompanied by a dry, dull coat texture. The key differentiator from normal shedding is that the dog is usually not itchy, the pattern is bilateral and symmetric, and it comes alongside weight gain, lethargy, cold intolerance, and a slow heart rate. A thyroid blood panel (total T4 at minimum) confirms or rules it out. Most hypothyroid dogs respond well to daily levothyroxine and show visible coat improvement within six to eight weeks of starting treatment.

Will my dog's coat grow back after hormonal treatment?

In most cases, yes — though the timeline and completeness of regrowth depends on the condition and how long it went unmanaged before treatment. Hypothyroidism treated with levothyroxine typically produces significant coat regrowth within three to six months. Post-spay or post-castration regrowth (for estrogen or testosterone-related causes) usually begins within three to four months. Cushing's disease coat recovery is more variable but most well-managed dogs show meaningful improvement over three to six months. The longer a hormonal condition goes untreated, the more established the follicle damage and the slower the eventual recovery.

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Conclusion

Hormonal shedding is one of those things that is easy to miss in the early stages because it is gradual, and easy to misattribute because shedding is so normal that it takes a while to register that this is different. The thinning coat, the dull texture, the bilaterally symmetric patches — they sneak up on you over months, especially with a dog you see every day.

What I wish I had known earlier with my own dog is the pattern to look for. Not just "is she shedding more" — but where, and what the skin looks like underneath, and whether there are any other changes happening at the same time. That combination of information is what separates "I should probably book a vet appointment" from another trip down the supplement aisle.

If you are reading this because your dog's coat has changed in a way that doesn't feel like normal seasonal shedding — trust that instinct. A thyroid panel is a routine blood test. It costs less than a professional groom and rules in or out the most common cause within a couple of days. That is a worthwhile thing to know.

Did your dog's hormonal condition show up in the coat first, before anything else was obvious? That seems to be the pattern for a lot of people — the coat change is there for months before the other symptoms become undeniable. Drop your experience in the comments if you have been through it.

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