When Do Dogs Blow Their Coat? An Australian Spring Shedding Guide

When Do Dogs Blow Their Coat? An Australian Spring Shedding Guide

Every year, somewhere between the end of winter and the first properly warm week, double coated dogs start leaving fur on everything they touch. The couch, the car seat, the good work trousers. It looks alarming, and it happens fast.

This is not ordinary shedding. It is a seasonal coat blow, and knowing roughly when it lands where you live makes it far easier to stay ahead of.

What "Blowing Coat" Actually Means

A double coated dog wears two layers. The outer guard hairs are long, coarse and weather resistant. Underneath sits a dense woolly undercoat that traps air and does the insulating.

Through winter that undercoat thickens. As the days start stretching out, the dog releases it in bulk, usually over two to six weeks. The fur comes away in clumps and tufts rather than individual hairs, which is why it feels so much more dramatic than the shedding you see the rest of the year.

The trigger is daylight hours, not temperature. That matters here, because a mild Australian winter does not cancel the shed. Your dog is responding to the sun, not the thermometer.

When It Happens Where You Live

Queensland, the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia

Coat blow tends to start earliest up north, often from late July through August. The seasonal swing is smaller, so the shed is frequently less concentrated and more drawn out, sometimes ticking along at a low level for much of the year.

New South Wales, South Australia and southern Western Australia

Expect the bulk of it through late August into September, usually peaking around the first proper run of warm days.

Victoria and Tasmania

Later again. September into October is typical, and the shed is often heavier and more compressed, because the winter coat had more work to do in the first place.

Treat these as patterns rather than rules. Indoor dogs living under artificial light and air conditioning often shed less predictably, and desexed dogs can run to their own timing entirely.

Which Dogs Actually Blow Coat

Double coated breeds do. In Australia that most commonly means:

• Border Collies and Australian Shepherds
• German Shepherds
• Australian Cattle Dogs and Kelpies
• Huskies, Malamutes and Samoyeds
• Golden Retrievers and Labradors
• Corgis

Single coated breeds do not blow coat at all. Poodles, Cavoodles, Groodles, Maltese and Shih Tzus grow hair more or less continuously, which is why their problem is matting rather than tufts on the floor. If that is your dog, the Slicker Brush is still your daily tool, but you are managing knots, not undercoat.

The Four Step Spring Shed Routine

1. Brush before the bath, never after

Wet undercoat clumps together and turns into felt. Ten minutes of dry brushing before water touches the dog removes a surprising volume of loose fur and stops it packing down against the skin during the wash.

Start with the Slicker Brush to lift the loose undercoat, then follow with the Coat Brush to smooth the guard hairs back down.

2. Bath to release what the brush could not reach

A warm bath swells the hair shaft and loosens undercoat that is still anchored. This is the single most effective thing you can do during a heavy shed, and it is why groomers bath before they de-shed rather than the other way around.

Work the 2 in 1 Shampoo right down to the skin with the Wash Brush. The silicone spikes push lather through a dense coat far better than fingers can, and the massage itself pulls loose fur away. If you are washing outdoors, the SudsMate mixes shampoo and water in one pass, which cuts the whole job down considerably on a big coat.

3. Brush again while the coat is damp

Blot the coat down with the Travel Towel until it is damp rather than wet, then brush again. This is where the volume comes out. Expect to fill a bag.

4. Look after the skin underneath

A coat blow exposes skin that has spent months insulated and shaded. Between the extra brushing and the extra sun, it can get dry and reactive.

A light mist of All Day Spritzer through the coat between baths keeps things comfortable and makes the brush glide instead of drag. For dogs whose skin is already sensitive, the hypoallergenic Hypo Shampoo is the gentler option during a heavy shedding stretch.

Three Things Not To Do

Do not shave a double coat. The undercoat insulates against heat as well as cold. Shaving it off removes the dog's own climate control, exposes pale skin to Australian sun, and the coat frequently grows back patchy or with a changed texture. This is the most common and most damaging spring mistake.

Do not attack it with a blade style de-shedding tool. Those tools cut undercoat rather than lift it, and used hard on the same spot they thin the guard coat and leave tracks. Slow and repeated beats fast and aggressive.

Do not bath every second day. Bathing helps, but stripping the natural oils out of skin that is already adjusting to a new season causes flaking. Once a week through the peak of the shed is plenty for most dogs.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How long does a coat blow last?

Usually two to six weeks from the first heavy day to the tail end. Brushing does not shorten it, but it does move the fur from your floor to your bin, and it keeps the loose undercoat from matting against the skin while it waits to come out.

Is it normal to see bald patches?

Thinning is normal during a heavy shed. Genuinely bald patches, especially round or symmetrical ones, or any patch with red, scaly or broken skin, are not part of a seasonal coat blow. That warrants a vet visit rather than a brushing routine.

My dog sheds all year. Are they still blowing coat?

Very likely, it is just less obvious. Dogs living mostly indoors under artificial light get a muddled daylight signal and tend to shed steadily rather than in a defined burst. You will usually still notice a heavier fortnight somewhere in spring.

Should I brush before or after the shampoo goes on?

Before, always. Loose fur that gets wet mats down into the coat and becomes far harder to remove. Dry brush, then bath, then brush again while damp.

Will a good brush help with the hair in my house?

Enormously. The fur is coming out either way. Fifteen minutes with a brush outside means it does not end up in your carpet, and it is the difference between a manageable few weeks and a miserable few weeks.