Best Deshedding Brush for Long Hair Dogs: Tangles First, Then Shedding

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By Ken

The best deshedding brush for long hair dogs is a tool that can work through tangles before it takes out loose undercoat, because on a long coat the two jobs happen in that order. This guide compares ten listings with that sequence in mind. Each card says whether the tool is a slicker, a rake, a bath brush or a kit, and each one states the listing’s own claims about tangles, undercoat and pin design. The American Kennel Club says that long-coated breeds often do best with daily brushing, which changes how much of a deshedding tool you need and how often you use it.

Quick answer

• On a long coat, start with tangles. AKC advises removing tangles with a steel comb or a mat-splitting tool before brushing further, and that order protects the coat from pulling.
• Use a slicker or pin brush to lift tangles and loose hair, then a rake or de-shedding tool for the undercoat in heavy season. Finish with a bristle brush for shine.
• Long-coated dogs often need brushing more often than short-coated dogs. The ASPCA says a long, silky coat needs daily attention, so plan short daily sessions rather than one long weekly one.
• Treat the listing’s shedding percentages as claims. The bath brushes and kits here do not state a method for any shedding figure.

Long hair means tangles first

A long coat sheds into the tangles it already has, and that is why a deshedding brush on a long coat can pull. A loose hair is easy to lift. A loose hair caught in a knot takes the knot with it, and the dog feels the tug. AKC’s shedding article says it plainly: owners should “Remove tangles with a steel comb or a mat-splitting tool before brushing further.” The step is not optional on a long coat, and it sits before any deshedding tool in the routine.

Mats form in predictable places. AKC’s grooming guide says “Mats commonly develop behind the ears and under the legs.” On a long-haired dog those are the spots to check first, along with the chest, the armpits and the tail. A tool that works well on the back can still miss a mat under a leg, so run your fingers through the coat before the brush starts. If you find a mat that the brush cannot open, stop and work on it with a comb rather than forcing the brush through.

The ASPCA gives the same starting point for long coats. Its grooming tips say to “Gently tease out tangles with a slicker brush, and then brush your pet with a bristle brush.” In practice, that means the slicker opens the knots and the bristle brush smooths the coat afterward. The ASPCA also says that for dense mats, the owner “may try clipping the hair, taking care not to come near the skin,” which is a decision for a groomer on a very long coat. A brush cannot undo a mat that has already tightened against the skin.

How often a long coat needs brushing

Frequency is the question that long-haired owners ask most. AKC’s grooming guide says that “Most dogs only need a few brushing sessions a week, though long-coated breeds often do best with daily brushing.” The ASPCA gives a more detailed schedule that sorts coats by type, and the sorting is useful for planning.

Coat type (ASPCA example)	Brushing guidance	Tool the ASPCA names
Smooth, short coat	Once a week	Rubber brush, then bristle brush
Short, dense fur prone to matting	Once a week is fine	Slicker brush, then bristle brush
Long, silky coat	Daily	Slicker brush, then bristle brush
Long hair that is frequently matted	Daily routine	Slicker brush, then bristle brush

The table shows a clear pattern for long hair. Once a week is enough for short coats, and a long coat that matts often needs a daily routine. The daily session does not have to be long. Five to 10 minutes of slicker work and a bristle finish can keep a long coat from building up. A daily session also gives you a chance to check the skin and feet, which AKC’s grooming guide recommends when it says regular sessions “allow you to check your dog’s coat, teeth, eyes, ears, and nails for signs of potential problems.”

Heavy shedding periods change the arithmetic. Texas A&M’s Pet Talk article recommends brushing three to four times a week for five to 10 minutes during shedding in general, which is a floor rather than a ceiling for a long coat. On a long coat in peak season, the daily routine and the deshedding tool work together. Five minutes a day of a rake for the undercoat adds up to 35 minutes a week (5 x 7 = 35), which is a reasonable load for a long-haired dog.

Slicker, pin brush and bristle: the order of the tools

AKC’s brush guide describes the tools that long coats use most. A slicker has “short, tightly-packed wire pins” that the guide says are used on “medium-coated, long-coated, wire-coated, and curly-coated dogs to remove mats (and prevent mats from forming) by removing loose hair.” A pinhead brush, which looks like a human hair brush with spaced pins, is described as “best used as finishing brushes for long-coated breeds to smooth the hair and remove dirt.” A bristle brush is the finishing tool that AKC calls a way “to smooth the coat and add shine” on double-coated breeds.

Those three tools make a sequence. Use the slicker or the pin brush to open the coat, the rake or de-shedding tool to take out loose undercoat, and the bristle brush to finish. The listings in this group cover all three roles. The POODLIE slicker and the Swihauk pink brush are pin-head slickers, the Flying Pawfect long-pin slicker is aimed at long coats, the FURminator and Docrok tools are the rakes that fit the undercoat step, and the KylePet brush pairs a pin side with a bristle side.

Pin length matters on a long coat more than on a short one. AKC’s brush guide says that “However, you must choose the correct pin length for your dog’s coat length.” A short pin does not reach an undercoat under a long topcoat, and a long pin that is pressed hard can scratch the skin under a thin coat. Where the listing gives pin length, the card says so. Where it does not, the card says the length is unstated, and the buyer should check the product page before using the tool on a long coat.

Deshedding tools and the undercoat

Deshedding tools for long coats have a row of fine teeth or blades that reach through the topcoat. AKC’s shedding article recommends that during heavy shedding periods, “switching to a coat rake or de-shedding tool can help remove large amounts of loose undercoat hair.” That is the step to use after the tangles are open, and it is the step that removes the most hair from a long-haired dog.

The FURminator large-dog tool in this group is aimed at a specific size. Its bullets say it is designed for dogs over 50 pounds, and its title names long hair. The FURminator bundle is a different product: a medium-dog long-hair tool with a rinse-free spray, sized for dogs of 25 to 50 pounds. The listing gives that weight class as a fact and a claim about loose-hair reduction in a bullet with an asterisk. Read the weight class first, because a tool made for a 70-pound dog is not the right size for a 20-pound dog with the same coat.

Rakes and combs with two rows of pins or teeth can do more than the rake alone. The Docrok and MIU PET tools include a wide side for dematting and a dense side for deshedding. The KylePet brush combines a bristle side with a pin side. The advantage is that one tool can open a tangle and then remove the undercoat, which saves a change of brush mid-session. The disadvantage is that the dense side of a rake may be too fine for a long coat that is only lightly matted.

Bath brushes and kits

Two items in this group are not primarily deshedding tools. The Bodhi Dog shampoo brush is a rubber bath brush for showers and sprayers, and its bullets say it can double as a deshedding tool. The bullets also say its rubber teeth remove pet hair without tugging as much as other brushes. It is a useful second tool for a long coat during a bath, where the water and shampoo loosen the undercoat. It is not a substitute for a rake on a dry, heavily shedding coat.

The KUEIOX six-piece bag is a kit. Its bullets name a self-cleaning brush, a double-sided de-shedding rake and a bath brush, and the text we read cuts the list short. The kit suits a long coat only if the rake matches the coat, and the card says the full contents could not be confirmed from the listing. Kits can give you the right tools in one order, but a kit does not guarantee a rake with the right pin length.

The UGNEL two-piece set is not in the card list. Its title and bullets mix a dog shedding brush with a mane and tail comb for horses, and its brand field is empty, so it does not give a clear answer to the question of a long-hair dog brush. We left it out.

How we chose

The research file for this question holds twelve listings, and we used ten of them. We used ten. The two we left out are the UGNEL set, whose title and bullets combine a dog brush with a horse mane and tail comb and whose brand field is empty, and the POODLIE dematting comb, which is designed to cut and comb out mats rather than to remove undercoat. Neither is a deshedding brush for a long-haired dog, so the card list would give a misleading answer if they were included. Listings without a card: the UGNEL set and the POODLIE dematting comb, both explained above.

The cards keep the listing’s own wording, labelled as a listing claim where it makes a claim. Each card states the tool type, its stated weight class or hair type where the listing gives one, and the points that matter for a long coat, such as pin length, reach or the caution on the comb. We did not add products from outside the research file, and we did not change the listing data. Empty bullet fields are shown as empty, and the card relies on the title or the specification fields.

The sources are AKC’s brush and shedding pages, AKC’s grooming guide and the ASPCA grooming tips. We opened each page for this post and matched the quoted sentences to the saved text. The table of brushing frequency uses the ASPCA’s own coat categories, and the arithmetic is shown where it is used.

What we could not verify

• Pin length on most tools. Several listings do not give pin length, and the AKC point about the correct pin length cannot be checked against them.
• Reach across a long coat. Few listings give a head width, so the number of passes needed on a long coat is not stated.
• The percentage claims. One rake listing claims a large reduction in loose hair with an asterisk that the listing does not explain.
• The FURminator warranty. The listing says the tool is guaranteed to work or the money is returned, and the terms are on the product label, which is not in the listing data.
• The KUEIOX contents. The bullets cut off the list of tools, so the complete set is not known.
• The MIU PET set. It has no bullets, and its only use note is a caution about the detangling comb’s angle.
• The Bodhi bath brush’s suitability for a dry coat. Its listing describes a shower and sprayer tool first.
• Long-coat safety for any particular dog. The listings do not discuss sensitive skin, and the sources we opened do not cover deshedding for a dog with a skin condition.

The listings, one by one

Each card lists the tool type, the weight class or hair type the listing gives, and the points that matter for a long coat. The skip line tells you when a card does not fit, which is most often a weight class or a bath-only use.

Mistakes that waste a long-coat brush

• Brushing before the tangles are open. A deshedding tool pulls on knots, and the dog feels it. Open the tangles first, as AKC advises.
• Skipping the undercoat. On a double coat, AKC’s advice is to brush the undercoat as well as the topcoat.
• Using a deshedding tool on a mat. A mat that has tightened against the skin needs a comb or a professional, not a rake.
• Brushing too hard. AKC’s brush guide says to keep a light touch on slickers, because pressing down can cause discomfort.
• Choosing by the picture. The weight class and pin length matter more than the look of the tool.
• Ignoring the skin. Bald spots, thinning coat or irritated skin should go to the veterinarian, as AKC’s shedding article advises.

For a long-haired dog that rides in the car, the hair ends up on the seat, and our guide to a blanket for the back seat of a car covers a practical way to protect the seat. For a comparison of two brushes in the same category, the Dexas and PrimeCat brush comparison puts the tools side by side.

FAQ

What is the best way to brush a long-haired dog that sheds?

Start with the tangles, using a steel comb or a mat-splitting tool as AKC advises. Then use a slicker or pin brush to lift loose hair from the topcoat, a rake or de-shedding tool to take out the undercoat in heavy season, and a bristle brush to finish. Brush in several directions, because AKC’s shedding article says to keep brushing “until less hair is collected.”

How often should I brush a long-haired dog?

AKC says long-coated breeds often do best with daily brushing, and the ASPCA says a long, silky coat needs daily attention. A short daily session of five to 10 minutes is easier to keep up than a long weekly one, and it helps keep mats from forming in the places AKC names, which are behind the ears and under the legs.

Can a deshedding brush cause pain on a long coat?

It can, if it is pulled through a tangle. Open the tangles first, keep a light touch, and watch the dog’s reaction. If the brush keeps catching on the same spot, the spot may be a mat, and a comb or a groomer is the right tool. AKC also says to check the skin during grooming and to call the veterinarian about unusual skin changes.

Do I need a rake for a long-haired dog?

A rake is useful during heavy shedding because AKC describes it as the tool for large amounts of loose undercoat. For a long coat that is only lightly shedding, a slicker and a bristle brush may be enough. Choose the rake with the right pin length, and check the weight class on the listing before you buy.

Is a bath brush a good deshedding tool?

A rubber bath brush can remove loose hair during a wash, and the Bodhi listing says so in its bullets. It works best with water and shampoo, which loosen the undercoat. It is not a full deshedding tool for a dry coat, so pair it with a rake or de-shedding tool for the heavy season.

Bottom line

For a long-haired dog, open the tangles first, brush daily in short sessions, and use a rake or de-shedding tool for the undercoat in heavy season. Match the tool to the dog’s weight class and the pin length to the coat, and treat every percentage claim as a listing claim until you have used the tool and checked the result yourself.

Sources

• AKC, Types of Dog Brushes: slicker for mats on long and curly coats; pinhead brush as a finishing tool for long coats; correct pin length
• AKC, Managing Dog Shedding: remove tangles with a steel comb or mat-splitting tool first; a rake or de-shedding tool in heavy periods; brush in several directions
• AKC, How to Groom a Dog: long-coated breeds often do best with daily brushing; mats behind the ears and under the legs
• ASPCA, Dog Grooming Tips: brushing frequency by coat type; slicker then bristle brush for tangles and finish