All dogs shed. All of them. Some, like Labradors or German Shepherds, shed a lot, while other, like Poodles shed only a very little. Some breeds shed only seasonally while others shed all year long. I am going to help you understand more about the dog shedding in general, when you should be worry about the excessive shedding, what can cause excessive shedding and how to minimize it. 

Just like humans hair, a dogs hair grows all the time and just like our hair, even the dogs fur have natural life cycle. There are four cycles of hair growth, the anagen, catagen, telogen and exogen.

Anagen is the active hair growth stage. This is where the hair keeps growing until it reaches its genetically predetermined length.

Catagen is a transitional phase when the hair stops growing and an outer sheath attaches to the hair strand.
Telogen is the resting phase and finally the exogen is when the hair falls out to make room for another strand. This is the shedding phase.

Duration of each phase is a reason for the ammount of dogs shedding. The breeds that shed only a little like Poodles have dominant anagen cycle, which means that the actual growth stage is much longer than in other breeds. Sometimes the anagen cycle is so long, that the hair grows continuously, which is why many breeds need trimming very often and why they are almost non shedding.

Duration of each phase is not only determined by genetics, as factors like health, climate and nutrition plays a big role as well. But genetics are the most important factor.

And to answer one frequently asked question – Do really all dogs shed? Or are they some completely non shedding dogs? Well, all dogs really shed as all dogs coats go through the same hair life cycle. So yes, all of them shed at least a little bit and there is no such thing as completely hypoallergenic dog. But it is true that some dogs shed only a very very little.

The shedding have very practical reasons and most wild dogs or dogs that evolved by natural selection will shed quite a lot. The dogs coat consists of different layers, there are primary hair which make up the outer coat, than there are the dense and soft secondary hair, also known as undercoat and than there are tactile hair, which helps the dog to sense things. The typical example of tactile hair are whiskers.

Most dogs will shed to either prepare for climate change, which is why many dogs shed seasonally in spring and autumn or to replace damaged hair for new ones. When the dogs are preparing for climate change, in the spring, these dogs will shed to have a lighter outer coat for the summer. In the fall, shedding allows for a thicker and warmer undercoat to grow in to prepare for the winter.

And all dogs must replace the damaged hair for new ones, as the coat must remain healthy to provide its important functions. These functions are mainly protection from heat and cold, sun and water. The coat also keeps your dog's body temperature regulated.

So the shedding is natural. Different dogs will shed different ammount of fur, but there is nothing wrong with the actual shedding. But not all shedding is normal and excessive shedding often signals an underlying health problem. It is important to know the baseline shedding of your furry friend, so you'll notice any changes in hair loss.

If you notice that your dog started shedding more, maybe you will notice stray hairs here and there or maybe you might notice bald spots and patches on your dogs fur. All these things can be sign of a health issue and you should visit the veterinarian who will identify the problem and start the treatment.

The typical health issues and problems causing excessive shedding are stress and nutrition, which can be fixed quite easily, but it can be also skin infection, different allergies, parasites like fleas, ticks or mites or hormonal imbalance like hypothyroidism.

So if your dog sheds a lot, but he was always shedding a lot during his life, there is nothing to be worry about, but if you will notice that your dog started to shed much more than he did before, you should contact veterinarian.

And how can you help your dog to minimize the shedding? Well, healthy diet and stressful environment definitely helps, but the only real way how to minimize the shedding by a lot is by regular brushing. If your dog sheds a lot, you can even brush the coat several times a day to minimize it.

Regular brushing will remove all the dead and loose hair. You can also try to bath your dog, as it will do the same thing – get rid of dead or damaged hair and collects it in one place. But i would not recommend you to bath your dog very often, as it can also damage the coat.

1) Painted wolf
The African wild dog is very often named as Painted Wolf and indeed, their scientific name – Lycaon pictus – really translates as painted wolf, which is reffering to the animal's irregular, mottled coat. Other names include painted dog, cape hunting dog and many many other indigenous names.

​2) Pack mentality
One of the most interesting fact about these dogs is their social behaviour and pack mentality. The social bonds inside the pack are extremely strong, much stronger than in hyenas for example and it is extremely rare for African wild dogs to live alone. Males and females have separate dominance hierarchies and only the most dominant male and most dominant female can reproduce. The rest of the pack is also important, as they are providing food and they even take care of the offsprings. The hierarchy is not as structured as for example in wolves and there is the one dominant couple and than the rest of the pack is more or less equal. This is definitely one of the most social wild animal in the world and cooperation is the key for African wild dog suvival and reproduction. Typical pack size is somewhere between 5-12 dogs, but there are recorded packs with more than 25 individuals.

3) Females in pack
The African wild dog has interesting pack system, which is preventing interbreeding. It is normal that male puppies are staying with the pack for their whole life. That is not the case for females. Female relatives typically leave the pack and they join pack of the opposite sex. That is how a new pack is form. This pattern is extremely interesting and rare, but similar behaviour can also be found is primates, such as chimpanzees or gorillas.

4) Litters
Another interesting fact is the size of the litter, which is one of the highest of any canid. The average litter size consists of 10 puppies. It is also interesting, that African wild dogs very often use abandoned underground warthog dens to give birth.

5) Pups first
The pups are extremely protected and valued in the pack. Actually, when the pack hunt some prey, pups are given priority for feeding even over the dominant pack members.

6) Hunting
Wild dogs do not hunt like large wild cats. They are not as strong and they do not have that powerful jaws and it would be very hard for them to hunt large animals on their own. That is why they use their intelligence, endurance and pack mentality on the hunt. They use their strong sense of smell, but also seeing and hearing. When they find the prey, they silenty approach it, than follow it, tire it, catch it and kill it. Interesting fact is, that they hunt almost exlusively during the daytime and they rest and sleep at night, which is not that typical for many other hunters.

7) Team work
Even though the African wild dog is not the largest hunter, definitely much smaller than lions or leopards, they have higher success rate on the hunt which is extremely large and it is said, that 80% of their hunts ends sucesfully. It is most likely result of their excellent team work and social behaviour on the hunt. The whole pack work as one team and when they decide to hunt some prey, in most cases it is a death sentence for the prey.

8) Prey
Speaking of the hunting, what is the typical African wild dog prey? Well, probably they most often hunt antelopes, but they can also hunt gazelle, zebra, wildebeest, impala or warthog.

9) Enemies
It is also important to say, that the African wild dog is not the king of the jungle, which means, they also have enemies in nature. Their typical natural enemies are lions, leopards and hyenas. They most often kill African wild dog puppies, but lions can easily kill adult African wild dog as well.

10) Conservation status
Once, the wild dogs were found all over the African continent, from deserts to mountains. Sadly, African wild dogs dissappeared from most of the region and for last few decades they are listed as endangered animals and there is only few thousands of these wild dogs alive today.

11) Habitat
So where does the remaining African wild dogs live? They can be typically found in different regions of Sub-saharan Africa, where they typically roam the open plains and sparse woodlands. There is a map of African wild dog range and the largest population can be found in countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia or Tanzania.

12) Threats
The main reason why the population of African wild dogs is declining are of course people. We are the biggest threat for these animals. Farmers very often kill and shoot these wild dogs in order to defend their livestock. Habitat loss due to human activity is another big threat. The third largest threat are illnesses such as rabies or distemper.

13) Saving African wild dogs
Of course, there are some groups that are trying to save and preserve the African wild dog as an important part of African wild life ecosystem. These groups and some governments are creating protected wildlife corridors that are helping to connect fragmented habitats. There are also awareness initiatives that are trying to educate farmers and other people to reduce the conflict between people and wild dogs. Many countries are legally and officially protecting the African wild dogs on paper but in reality, there are no punishments for killing these dogs and their population in almost all African countries is declining

14) Endurance
One of the main African wild dogs weapon on the hunt is their endurance. They hunt patiently in pack and they are able to catching the prey for hours, until it tires. Thanks to their long legs and large lungs, they are able to run very long distances without tiring.

15) Speed
Not only that the African Wild dog has great stamina, it is also very fast dog. Actually, it is said, that the fastest African Wild dogs can reach speed up to 40 mph, or 65 kmh, which is on similar level of the fastest domesticated dog – the English Greyhound.

16) Large ears
One of the first thing you will notice when looking on African wild dog are the large rounded ears. The large ears serve two main purposes. The first one is hearing and indeed, this dog has excellent hearing. But the ears also help to cool down the dog in hot African climate.

17) Toes
One of the differences between African wild dogs, wolves and domesticated dog breeds is the number of toes. While other dogs and wolves have 5 toes, the African wild dogs only have 4 toes on their paws.

18) Size
As i already mentioned earlier in the video, the African wild dog is much smaller than lions or leopards, but it is still pretty robust, strong and big animal. Their height is typically between 24-30 inch, which is 60-75 cm and weight between 18-36 kg, which is 40-79 lbs. Females and males have almost identical size and there are no huge differences between them.

19) Coat
The fur of the African wild dog consists stiff bristle-hairs with no undercoat. They gradually loose hair as they are getting older. Coloration of these dogs is very interesting and it is said that no two African wild dogs have the same coat pattern and it probably serve for visual identification. African wild dogs in different parts of Africa has slightly different coloration, but they have musky colored coats.

20) Lifespan
Just like most of the wild animals, even the African wild dog is very hardy and healthy dog, because only hardy and healthy dogs can survive in nature. Their lifespan is not extremely long and the average is somewhere around 11 years.

1) German Pinscher
The German Pinscher is the ancestor of many other Pinscher breeds. The history of this breed is unknown, but it is not ancient breed, as the first mentions about the German Pinscher are from 1800s. During this time they were highly valued for their high prey drive and ability to succesfully hunt, chase and kill vermin.
BTW the name Pinscher is derived from the French word pincer, which means nip or seize and which fits the breeds utilization perfectly.
Over the time the interest in vermin hunters and ratting in general declined, which also declined the interest in German Pinscher breed. Luckily, these dogs are highly adaptable, loyal and lively and thanks to that, they become perfect companion dogs for many people and families.

​2) Austrian Pinscher
The Austrian Pinscher is one of the less known breeds in this video and i would not be surprised if you would never heard about them before. They were developed in the second half of the 19th century by crossing the German Pinscher and local Austrian farm dogs. This mixed the high prey drive of German Pinscher and guarding instincts of the various farm dogs and it created a multipurpose versatile Austrian Pinscher.

3) Affenpinscher
Also known as the monkey terrier, the Affenpinscher is also great ratter, but they are almost exlusively kept as companion dogs these days. They are nicknamed as Monkey Terriers because of their terrier like personality and because of their monkey like appearance, especially the facial appearance.
They also possess some monkey like temperamental characteristics and indeed, the Affenpinscher is very active, adventurous, outgoing, fun to be around and affectionate dog breed.

4) Doberman Pinscher
Of course, the most popular and the largest of all Pinschers must be included in this video as well. The Doberman was developed not to be vermin hunter but personal protector. They were developed by tax collector Louis Doberman by mixing several different breeds and one of them is of course the German Pinscher. The rest includes Beauceron, Rottweiler, Weimaraner and possibly some other breeds as well.
These dogs are best known for their absolute loyalty, incredible intelligence, athletic and strong body, brave and courageous temperament and last but not least for alert and vigilant personality. All these characteristics are reason why Dobermans are not only awesome personal and property guards, but also professional police and military dogs.
BTW if you would like to learn more about any dog breed from this video, i created separate videos about each one of them on this Rocadog channel. If you will be interested in any of them and you would like to learn everything about it, just search for Rocadog + dog breeds name in Youtube search and check it out!

5) Miniature Pinscher
Another descendant of the German Pinscher is the Miniature Pinscher. It was most likely developed by crossing the German Pinscher, Italian Greyhound and possibly Dachshund. It is smaller than other Pinschers with height only around 11 inch, which is 28 cm and weight around 4 kg, which is 9 lbs.
But even though small in size, this is definitely not an ordinary toy dog. This is more of a big dog in small dogs body situation. It is a very assertive, outgoing and lively, intelligent, alert and independent dog breed. And just like many other dogs in this video, even the Min Pin was originally used to hunt vermin.
The Min Pin is also sometimes nicknamed as the King of Toys. Of course it is referring to the dogs playful and lively personality, but it also fits greatly to the possesive temperament of the Min Pin. They just want to own all the toys, they want to be the king of the toys!

6) Danish Swedish Farmdog
Even though the Danish Swedish Farmdog does not have the word Pinscher in its name, it is sometimes counted as one. They were most likely developed from the Pinscher breeds mixed with British hunting terriers and the breed is sometimes nicknamed as the Danish Pinscher.
The breed works on farms as watch dog and rat exterminator, but it is also known as very friendly, active and easy going companion dog.

7) Schnauzer
Adding Schnauzer into this list is also little bit debatable, but in reality, the Schnauzer is more related to the original Pinscher, the German Pinscher, than any other dog breed. Back in the 19th century, the Standard Schnauzer and the German Pinscher were viewed as one breed with two coat types. One was known as Smooth Coated Pinscher and the second as the Wire Haired Pinscher.
The Schnauzer, just like the German Pinscher, is a versatile dog breed and their main utilization was guarding and hunting vermin. Later, the Standard Schnauzer was crossed into creation of two other Schnauzer breeds – the Giant and Miniature Schnauzers.
The temperament of Schnauzer is very similar to the one of German Pinscher and it is also very brave, courageous, smart, naturally alert, kind of independent and active dog breed.

8) Pinscher crosses
There are also some Pinscher breed crosses. Of course, they are not recognized as pure dogs, but some of them are quite popular. I will mention two Pinscher crosses as examples.
The first one is Harlequin Pinscher, which once was official merle or piebald variety of Min Pin that went extinct. Not so long ago, the variety was revived by crossing the Rat Terrier with Miniature Pinschers and it is gaining more and more popularity once again.
The second one is Carlin Pinscher, which is a cross between the Pug and the Min Pin. It is also relatively rare cross, but it is gaining more and more popularity today.

 There are a lot of different dog breeds with the word Griffon in its name. Most of them are rather rare, but you might already heard about some of them, maybe about the Basset Griffon Vendéen, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon or Brussels Griffon. But what does the word Griffon actually means? What is the origin of the Griffon breeds? Are all the Griffon breeds related together and what do they have in common? In this video i will answer all these questions and i will show you all the different Griffon dog breeds.
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Basically the main thing all the Griffon breeds have in common is their wiry or rough coat and hunting ancestry. All the griffon types are characterized by the wiry hair and all of them are, or at least once were used for hunting purpose.

Most Griffons are associated with France, Belgium and Netherlands, but it is not a rule and some Griffons come from other countries as well.

Not all the Griffons are related, but some certainly are. We can separate all the Griffons into three categories – the scenthound Griffon Vendéen dogs, small dogs that evolved from a so called „Smousje“ dog, which are today known as Brussels Griffons and the last category would be various wirehaired pointers.

Lets start with the Griffon Vendéen dogs. It is a group of individual scenthound breeds whose main ancestor is old dog from the French Vendée region known as Greffier whose lineage dates back to the 16th century. One of the first dog developed from the Greffier is the biggest of all Griffon Vendéen dogs – the Grand Griffon vendéen.

The Grand Griffon Vendéen was later used in development of some other smaller Griffons. One of them is the Briquet Griffon Vendéen. There are several others medium sized Griffon Vendéen dogs, Those would include the Griffon Bleu de Gascogne, known for its white mottled with black coat, which gives the dog a slate blue overall appearance.

Than there is the Griffon Nivernais, which is very old breed and that even predates the Grand Griffon Vendéen. But over the time, the breed went extinct and it was reconstructed in the 1920s and 1930s and the reconstruction of the breed was done based on the Grand Griffon Vendéen.

The last medium sized Griffon Vendéen dog breed is the Griffon Fauve de Bretagne, which is a descendant of large hunting breed Grand Fauve de Bretagne, which was crossed with Briquet Griffon Vendéens to create the smaller Griffon Fauve de Bretagne.

There are also small sized Griffon Vendéen dogs, also known as Basset Griffons. The largest of the Basset Griffons is the Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen. The smaller one is the Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen. Due to the long names of these two breeds, they are very often named as GBGV and PBGV.

The last dog that could be mentioned in this group is Basset Fauve de Bretagne. Even though they do not have the word Griffon in its name, they are definitely French wiry coated hunters so they could be included in this video as well.

All the Griffon breeds are quite rare and most people do not know these breeds. But i would say that the most popular would be the dogs from the Brussels Griffon category.

The Brussels Griffon is popular companion dog, but in the past, it was used as skilled ratter and vermin hunter. It can be separated into three different breeds, the smooth coated Petit Brabancon, which technically is not a griffon and two wiry coated dogs – the Griffon Belge and Griffon Bruxellois.

The Griffon Bruxellois is red coated and the Griffon Belge black or black and tan coated dog. Other than the color, the two dogs are identical. All the Brussels Griffons evolved from a dog known as „Smousje“ that lived in the area of Brussel and that was similar to todays Dutch Smoushond.

And the last category of Griffon dogs consist of various pointer dog breeds. Those dogs come from all around the Europe. Any wiry coated hunting dog can be branded as a Griffon but the three breeds that comes into my mind and that have the name Griffon directly in its breeds name are Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, the Bohemian Wirehaired Pointing Griffon also known as Český Fousek and Spinone Italiano, which is also known as Italian Griffon.

Of course, other breeds can be mentioned as part of the Griffon family too. Those might include wirehaired Vizsla, German Wirehaired pointer or Slovensky Stavač, also known as Slovak Rough-haired pointer.