German Shepherds are our favorite big fluffy pals. But they come with a coat that needs regular brushing. German shepherds are infamous for their shedding so regular brushing is a MUST.
It is very important to start brushing your GSD from puppyhood (9-12 weeks.) If they are used to regular brushing, it will be a plesant experience for both you and your pal.
So let’s get into our top picks for German shepherd brushes.
Pets&Luv Dog Brush
German Shepherds are beautiful dogs, but with that beauty comes one major problem: shedding. Their long coats and thick underfur may help them look good, but it sheds easily and ends up landing all over your house and furniture.
Unless you enjoy cleaning dog hair off of your couch before you sit down, or off of your clothes before you leave for the office, you need a handy solution for keeping the hair from ever making it’s way to your clothes or furniture in the first place.
Enter, the Luv Pets Co. Deshedding dog brush. It’s specifically designed to tackle tough coats, like the one on your German Shepherd, and neatly collect the hair.
Pros
- Easily Removes Shedding Hair: The layout of the steel bristles makes them perfect for grabbing onto loose hair in your dog’s coat. It’s almost as good as a magnet. Then, when you’re done cleaning the loose hair off your dog, you can easily pull the hair from the metal bristles and toss it into the trash.
- Professional Grade Quality: The last thing you want to worry about is having a handle break off on you while you’re trying to get a thick mat out. Or having the metal bristles bend at the slightest touch. The Luv Pets Co. deshedding brush is built with the same quality materials that professional groomers around the world trust.
- Hidden Benefits: Deshedding and brushing your dog not only gets rid of the unwanted loose hair, but also stimulates their skin and hair follicles, promoting extra growth. On top of a stimulating massage, brushing your dog will help spread their skin’s natural oils, which reduces itchiness, dry skin, and rashes underneath their fur.
- Includes Nail Clippers: A full grooming package will include a cut and trim, along with removing excess hair. But the gommer will also take the extra steps to trim your pet’s claws. Luv Pets Co. includes an added bonus with every deshedding brush: a high quality set of nail trimmers with a safety guard to keep you from cutting their nails too short.
Cons
In our research, we weren’t really able to find anything wrong with the brush. The nail trimmers, though, may need to be sharpened after you use them a few times.
It seemed like they became dull fairly quickly, but this review is about the deshedding brush — not the nail clippers that are included as a bonus. As far as the deshedding brush goes, it does exactly as advertised, and easily collects the hair that’s falling off of your dog.
Buying Advice
Dealing with annoying shedded hair is a thing of the past, if you put in a bit of time making sure that the hair is taken off your dog before it’s given a chance to fall where you really don’t want it to — on your clothes, furniture, or all over your carpet.
Dealing with annoying shedded hair is a thing of the past, if you put in a bit of time making sure that the hair is taken off your dog before it’s given a chance to fall where you really don’t want it to — on your clothes, furniture, or all over your carpet.
Hertzko Dog Brush
Thick haired dogs, like your German Shepherd, can easily develop mats that can be a pain to deal with. When mats form, though, you’re going to need something aggressive enough to help work them out, while also being gentle enough to keep your dogs from running every time you pick the brush up.
The Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker Dog Brush fits that role perfectly. It’s built using metal bristles that quickly break down thick mats and are the perfect length for working through the top layer of your dog’s hair, and avoiding touching their skin.
Pros
- Quickly Removes Thick, Tough Mats: The thin metal bristles work perfectly for breaking up tough mats and straighten your dog’s hair to prevent them from coming back. With slow, gentle caressing, the mats will easily come free, and then they can be pulled out of the brush, leaving it clean and ready to tackle the next mat.
- Minimizes Pain: The design of the bristles helps to break down the mats without pulling against your dog’s hair. Because German Shepherd’s tend to have longer, thicker coats, you don’t have to worry about the sharp bristles rubbing against their skin, causing pain or discomfort.
- Easy To Clean: The shorter bristles also keep hair from getting matted up inside of the brush, causing you aggravation when you’ve got to clean it out so you can keep brushing your dog. They’re perfectly spaced apart to make self cleaning easy, but still close enough to grab the matted hair from your dog’s coat.
- Pets Look Good, And Feel Good: Brushing your pet will help straighten out their hair, and fluff the fur that’s against their skin. This is going to provide a bit of relief to your dog because their skin will finally be able to breathe again, and you’ll feel better running your hands through their coat — instead of bouncing your fingers off of thick clumps of knotted hair.
- Comfortable In Your Hand: Every brush is constructed using high density plastic, that is designed using a comfortable grip that prevents slipping and wrist pain. It allows you to easily position your hand to get the best leverage against thick mats.
Cons
- For Large Dogs Hair Only: If you have smaller dogs, or fine haired animals, it’s advised that you do not use the brush on them. It’s designed with sharper bristles that penetrate through thick coats and pull mats out just fine. However, with thinner coats it will rub against your pet’s skin, causing irritation and may end up hurting them. For that reason alone, use it only on large dogs with thick coats.
Buying Advice
Owning a German Shepherd means you’re going to deal with mats at some point in time. It’s inevitable. The only way to try to avoid the problem is through constant brushing, and even then, you may still deal with a mat from time to time.
When the thick clumps of hair make their way deep into your dog’s coat, the only thing that will work is a high quality deshedding brush.
Not just any deshedding brush, though. You need one that’s proven to work, and has years of design behind it. One like the Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker Brush.
Chris Christensen Dog Brush
You can go at your dog’s fur with an aggressive brush, or you can help give them some relief with a softer brush that works just as well at pulling the mats out.
Hard, stiff bristles will get the mats out, but they’re going to pull and tug at your dog’s skin. That means your dog is going to end up running when you get the brush, or you’re going to avoid having to brush them out because you know that you’ll be causing them discomfort.
Softer, natural bristles work just as well as taking the mats out of their hair, and keeping it smooth and straight, but don’t have the problem of pulling hair out every time you make a stroke.
While thicker mats may need a bit of extra conditioner and a hard bristle brush, nothing makes your pet feel as good as when you spend a few minutes brushing them down with a Chris Christensen professional boar-hair brush. Especially if you’re not dealing with tough mats and clumps of hair.
Pros
- Soft Tufted For Comfort: The soft bristles have just the right amount of firmness to keep you from having to press the brush handle down into your dog’s skin because they’re so soft, while also being soft enough to provide an extra bit of comfort and make your dog look forward to being brushed.
- High Quality Construction: A lot of lower quality brushes will have you looking down, wondering where all of the bristles have gone. This is especially true if your dog enjoys being brushed — which most will once they feel the bristles on this.
- With Chris Christensen brush, you know that the bristles are going to stay in place, because the plugs are oversized for the holes they’re pushed into, and then they’re glued using high strength adhesive.
- Natural Boar Hair Bristles: The natural hairs inside of the brush work to help distribute your pet’s natural body oils, and helps aid in any irritations or dry skin patches they may have developed. This is especially true with thick coated German Shepherds.
- Makes Your Dog Melt: Brushing your dog is going to become a new form of treat for them. They’ll literally melt into you while you’re brushing them, because the bristles feel so good against their skin. Just don’t let them know where the brush is hidden, or they may end up bringing it to you and dropping it in your lap.
Cons
- Softer Bristles May Require Extensive Brushing: If you don’t keep up with brushing your German Shepherd, you may have to spend a bit of extra time the first few sessions. After you’ve put in the time to make sure all of their hair is straightened, brushing them afterwards will be substantially easier.
Buying Advice
This is a brush that professional groomers around the world rely on to make pets look great when they’re finished grooming them. The soft, real boar hair bristles help distribute your pet’s natural oils, keeping their coat shiny and straight, while also helping to relieve itchy skin.
When you want the same level of quality that groomers choose, and to give your pet a new form of treat.
Ryans Pet Supplies Dog Brush
After a good bath, or when it starts getting warmer and your dog’s hair starts loosening up, you’re going to need something to help control where it goes. Instead of letting it land on your furniture, your carpets, your bed, your car, and even your clothes, there’s something you can do about the constant shedding.
The Paw Brothers soft rubber curry brush will gather the hair, and your GSD will love getting rubbed down by it. In case you’re unaware, a curry brush has a large amount of soft rubber bristles that attract hair to it like a magnet.
They’re easy to clean, and work perfect for dogs with thick coats. As they start shedding, you break out the brush, and make quick work of any loose hair.
Pros
- Soft Rubber Bristles: The soft rubber bristles are thick, but still have enough space between them to allow a lot of hair to build up. That’s the hair that would normally land all over your house, or get stuck to your clothes when you’re trying to get ready for work or to go out for the night.
- 3” Round Brush Head: Whether you have small or large hands, the 3” round brush head is going to fit into your palm, making it easy for you to brush your dog whenever they need it. It’s also flexible enough to bend with your hand as you cup it around your dog’s body.
- Works With Long Or Short Hair: While the brush is advertised for short hair dogs, and it works great for them, we’ve found that you can also use it for long haired dogs like your German Shepherd. It works just as good for grabbing the loose hair off the copy of their coat as it does for shorthaired dogs.
- Professional Grade Quality: The last thing you want to worry about is having the brush fall apart on you while you’re using it. This is the same level of quality that professional groomers rely on, so you know that it will last for a very long time.
Cons
It’s hard to find anything wrong with something like the Paw Brothers soft rubber curry brush. If it was low quality, we would report that the bristles would break off, leaving you with gaping patches of bare rubber. If it was uncomfortable in your hand, we would be letting you know that, as well.
Fortunately, we, along with dozens of other customers, are unable to actually find something we can gripe about when it comes to this product. And we try to find something wrong with everything we review, so that says a lot for this brush.
If you do happen to find something wrong with it, definitely reach out and let us know, and we’ll update this review to reflect your findings.
Buying Advice
You no longer have to deal with your dog’s shedding. Whether you’ve just given them a bath, or the weather is heating up and they’re losing their winter coat, you can easily get on top of the loose hair and prevent it from landing all over your house or clothes.
The paw Brothers 3” round rubber curry brush is an excellent way to collect the hair off of them before it starts collecting everywhere else.
FURminator Dog Dual Brush
German Shepherds have beautiful coats. Unfortunately, though, those beautiful coats come with one major problem: they shed. Everywhere.
All over your furniture, your carpeting, inside of your car, and onto your dress clothes when you’re getting ready for work or to head out for a nice dinner with your family.
Preventing their shedding requires a bit of work on your part. Making sure their hair doesn’t go all over the house can be solved by spending a bit of time brushing them out once a week.
Using a brush with two types of bristles works best for German Shepherds. The FURminator Dual Sided Grooming Brush is perfect for breaking up tough mats, and then grabbing the loose hair before it hits your floor.
Pros
- Perfect For GSD’s Thick Coats: The long metal bristles on the brush work to get down deep into your dog’s coat, and straighten the hair out, while loosening up hairs that are ready to fall out. Then, when you’ve pulled the loose hair to the surface, you can flip the brush over and use the thicker bristles to grab the hairs and collect them in the brush, instead of on your clothes.
- Loosens Dead Fur & Removes Tangles: Allowing loose hair to build up in your dog’s coat is the main cause of tangling and thick mats. The For Your Dog brush will help remove that dead hair, while also preventing tangles from forming over time.
- Captures Loose Hair: Thick, nylon bristles are like a magnet for loose hair. Think about your own hair brush, and how much is clogged up inside of the bristles. This works exactly the same way, and makes it easy for you to pull out in clumps when you’ve finished brushing your dog.
- Spreads Natural Oils: Brushing your GSD not only helps you keep the hair from landing in all the places you don’t want it, but also works to spread their natural oils that help their coat stay shiny, and strong. By spreading the natural oils from your dog’s skin throughout their coat, you’re actually helping prevent shedding in the future by strengthening their existing hair follicles.
Cons
- Works Best After Using A Deshedding Brush: Since German Shepherds have such thick coats, if you haven’t already made it a habit of regularly brushing them out, you may want to use a deshedding brush before you break out the FURminator. Using a deshedding brush will make the FURminator work a lot better, without putting as much stress on you, or your dog.
Buying Advice
As a German Shepherd owner, you’re going to have to deal with shedding at some point in your dog’s life. It’s just par for the course.
Thankfully, though, with the FURminator dual sided brush, the shedding problem doesn’t have to become your nightmare. If you use it on a regular basis, you can control the shedding, and keep the loose hair from ending up all over your furniture, and your clothes.
DakPets Dog Brush
Controlling your pet’s shedding is essential to preventing their thick coat from getting matted up, while also providing airflow to their skin underneath to prevent itching and the irritating (to humans) dander from building up.
A deshedding brush is perfect for helping you get rid of loose hair, keeping it from landing all over your house. With the DakPets deshedding brush, you don’t have to worry about the hair ending up where you don’t want it, but there are also a few more hidden benefits to using it on your dog.
Pros
- Professional Grade Construction: There’s a reason that professional groomers around the world have relied on DakPets products in their own business for so long: they’re built to last. You won’t have to worry about the handle snapping on you, or the bristles bending with their deshedding brush.
- Gentle On Your Pet’s Skin: Some deshedding brushes get sharp on the ends, which can cause your dog to become irritated, and run every time you get the brush out. The durable stainless steel bristles on the DakPets brush, though, will not sharpen, and actually give your dog a micro-massage that they will look forward to.
- Breaks Up Tough Mats: German Shepherds are known for getting mats in their fur, especially if you don’t brush them often enough. The DakPets brush will help break up most mats, and can be combined with a conditioner to work through even the most stubborn balls of fur.
- Reduces Pet Dander Buildup: Pet dander is the leading cause of allergies in humans. If someone in your home is sneezing and gets watery, red, irritated eyes when your dog is around, you might have to spend some time with the DakPets brush to get rid of the dander that’s built up in your dog’s fur.
- Perfect Size For Large Dogs: The wide design of the DakPets brush makes it easy to cover your large dog. Each stroke of the brush covers more hair than smaller designs do, which saves you time, making it a lot easier to do on a regular basis.
Cons
- Requires Regular Brushing If The Hair Is Badly Tangled: The thin metal bristles on the brush are going to have a hard time getting down into your dog’s undercoat unless you’ve already put in the time to brush them out with a normal brush, like the FURminator.
- Needs To Be Broken In: Some customers have reported that the brush makes a scratching noise when you first receive it. They also reported, though, that the scratching noise goes away once you’ve brushed your dog with it a few times. The noise isn’t necessarily something you should be concerned about.
Buying Advice
From getting rid of pet dander, massaging your dog’s skin, to breaking up tough mats, the DakPets deshedding brush is a winner in our book.
Your dog will love getting brushed, and you’ll love not having to deal with loose hair all over the place, getting on your furniture and your clothes.
Paws Pamper Undercoat Rake
Mats building up in your dog’s fur comes with owning a German Shepherd. It’s an unfortunately reality. You don’t have to just let them keep building up, though, or send them to an expensive groomer every time you find one.
The PawsPamper Undercoat Rake is a great way to remove the mats, without causing your dog any excess pain or discomfort. The stainless steel blades work perfect for sliding through their undercoat, to separate the mats from their fur.
Pros
- Sharp, Stainless Steel Blades: A lot of deshedding brushes use thin metal bristles. The PawsPamper brush, though, uses thick stainless steel blades that help break through the mat a lot easier, and won’t grab onto the fur, pulling it away from your dog’s skin. The pulling is what causes pain in your dog, and is what will keep them from letting you get the mats out when they start building up.
- Easily Removes Mats: The shape of the blades makes it easy to get deep down into your dog’s fur, and break up the mats at their source. The smooth texture helps the brush flow through the hair, and the hooks grab onto the mat to lift it out of their coat.
- Comfortable Wooden Handle: A lot of brushes have a handle that can dig into your palm or the sides of your fingers while you’re using it. The wooden handle on the PawsPamper brush is designed to fit comfortably inside of your hand, and make it easy for you to maneuver through your dog’s coat.
- Perfect For German Shepherds: German Shepherds get mats in their hair. The design of the PawsPamper brush is perfect for getting deep down into their thick coat, grabbing onto the loose hair and gently pulling it to the surface. The mats can be easily removed from the brush once you’ve gotten them off of your dog.
- 100% Lifetime Guarantee: If, at any time that you own the brush, you have a problem, you can contact the manufacturer and they’ll fix it, with no questions asked. If the brush is broke, they’ll replace it. If you’re not happy with your purchase, they’ll refund 100% of your money.
Cons
- Requires Pro-Active Grooming To Work Properly: The tool is not going to work on really thick mats that have been bedding in your pet’s fur for a long time. To prevent dealing with these types of mats, you’re going to need to be proactive in how you groom your dog. When you start noticing a mat building up, use the brush to break it apart.
Buying Advice
The PawsPamper brush is a great way to break up the thick mats in your dog’s coat. Not only does it break up the mats, but it also straightens their undercoat to prevent mats from occurring in the future.
If you’re tired of dealing with loose hair, and want to make sure you don’t have to deal with problematic matting in the future, the PawsPamper brush may be perfect for you.
