Like so many of you, my wife and I are meticulous shoppers. Whether it be online or in-person, we tend to put a lot of research into the things we purchase so that we know we're putting our hard-earned money on the proper products. There are so many options for even basic items like leashes and collars that it's easy to get lost in what we're buying.

We will be writing reviews as we purchase and use these items ourselves. As you do your research for products you're planning to buy, our goal is to add another layer to that research.

This week, we're reviewing a couple of products from FURminator. During our first shedding season with Markus, we picked up one of their brushes which was great for taking off all the surface level debris and loose fur. We ended up getting a second tool - a proper deshedder - to complement the first brush. As we went along, we learned of the different brushes and their specific uses, so as part of this review, we'll share with you the different tools, which ones we used and why.

During his shedding season, we were having to brush Markus every two or three days and having to vacuum the house just as often. Our floors are dark, so it's really easy to see when fur starts to collect. There's nothing that tells us that it's time to brush him like finding little tumbleweed-like bundles of fur rolling on the floor. That's usually our signal to set up the grooming station, including these two FURminator tools.

FURminator Slicker Brush

We like the FURminator Slicker Brush because it's not very harsh on Markus and it brushes smoothly. It doesn't pull on his fur and for the amount of fur that we need to brush from him, the slicker brush runs through his fur very smoothly and it manages to take chunks of loosened fur out at a time. It's very effective for what we need it to do and it's our go-to brush.

By definition, the slicker brush is for removing debris and loose furs that are on the surface. It's also used for untangling fur that might be knotted. For this reason, a slicker brush is more effective as a reactive action once the fur has already been loosened from the dog.

Specific to FURminator's Slicker Brush, there are a couple of things that we didn't find particularly useful. The first is the protective cover that it comes with. The cover comes in two parts and the clasps are really loose, so the two parts tend to separate. The cover also doesn't stay on the brush, so it makes it pretty useless for carrying around. We tend to keep the cover on the shelf where the brush sits, but it really doesn't do much.

The brush also has two sides to it, one with the bristles going down and the other with the bristles going upwards. We found brushing upwards to be a little difficult (you still go with the fur, but it's more of a pushing action instead of a pulling one), so we hardly ever use that side. The slicker brush also isn't the easiest to clean. A lot of Markus's fur end up getting stuck in there. You can pull out the bigger tuffs, but it's hard to get in between the bristles to clear out the fur that's stuck in between.

As its name suggests, the slicker brush is a brush, which is very different than a deshedding tool. Still, we found that it took a lot of the loose fur out. It's our go-to brush because of the type of fur that Markus tends to shed and it ends up doing most of the heavy lifting for us. That said, part of the reason why we need to brush him again only after two or three days is because the slicker brush isn't active in removing fur, which is what a deshedding tool is for. 

FURminator deShedding Tool

With the slicker brush, we noticed that Markus was still losing a lot of fur inside the house. The eternal task of brushing him doesn't seem to get deep enough to reduce the amount of fur that's in the house, so we looked for deshedding tool that could actively get a little deeper. That's when we found the FURminator deShedding Tool, which comes in various sizes and for different length of fur.

When the tool arrived, we noticed that it looks a lot different from the slicker brush. If the slicker brush is more like a comb or a regular hairbrush with metal bristles, the teeth of the deshedding tool is more razor-like. When using it on Markus, there's more of a scratching and pulling feeling, so we were careful about overusing it. This tool really does the trick. It's a lot closer to the body and it doesn't grab as much fur on one sweep like the slicker brush, but the brush gets a lot deeper. It actively removes fur that may be loose, but not quite dislodged and there's also a neat little eject button that you can press to remove the fur from the brush once it's been collected.

We noticed that after using the tool, we were able to go longer without finding fur on the floors. I say longer, but for Markus, it's an extra day or two. This brush is more active, but it is also a bit more harsh on Markus, so we try not to use it as often. On most grooming sessions that we do with Markus, we usually spend the majority of our time taking the surface fur off and then a few minutes at the end with the deshedding tool taking off what we can and we call it a day.

Another quick recommendation is to do it outside if you're able to (we sometimes bring him to a dog park with a table and do it there). The reason for this is even though it's more comfortable indoors, there's a lot of dander in a dog's fur that you won't be able to see, but will definitely inhale. Unless you have an air purifier running or leave the windows open frequently, it's better not to be trapped breathing in the dander and the clean up work is easier, so we recommend brushing the dog outside. In fact, even if it's not shedding season, it's worth brushing your dog to remove the dander.

As a whole, we've been pretty happy with both of our FURminator tools. They're not the cheapest, but they definitely get the job done and we're removing fur from Markus fairly effectively these days. Each tool has its own specific use, so a lot of it will depend on your dog and their type of fur. If your dog's fur is like Markus', then we recommend trying out the FURminator slicker brush and the deshedding tool!

One more thing - if you think you're going to be doing this a lot like we have to with Markus, it's worth just getting a little stool. A typical session for Markus ends up being around 15-20 minutes and that amount of having to bend down to brush your dog is going to put stress on your back and neck quickly, so just grab a stool, put some music or a podcast on and settle in.

We’re so grateful for your support of The Markus Project. We mostly choose our locations through searching and word of mouth. If you know of a park, trail or location you think we should check out, please share it with us. We’d love to know!