The FURminator deShedding tool is the fastest way to clear loose undercoat from a short or medium shedding coat. Buy the variant matched to your dog's size and coat length, use light pressure with the grain, and keep it off curly, long and single coats entirely.
Buy it if
You own a Labrador, beagle, boxer, shorthaired pointer, standard-coat shepherd or similar — a coat that sheds in volume and is short enough for a close-set edge to reach the undercoat.
Skip it if
Your dog is a doodle, poodle, bichon, Maltese or Yorkie, or has long feathering. There is no undercoat to remove and the blade will cut the coat.
Category
Bladed deshedding tool
Brand
FURminator
Specifications
Spec
Value
Edge
Fine, close-set stainless edge
Works on
Short-to-medium coats, close to the skin
Sizes
Short-hair and long-hair variants per dog size
Feature
FURejector release button
Specification figures above come from Furric — Best Deshedding Tool. Where a figure is not published we have left the row qualitative rather than estimating it.
An undercoat rake pulling loose undercoat from a dense coat
What it gets right
On the right coat, nothing is faster
The fine, close-set stainless edge catches loose undercoat right at the skin, which is why the first use on a shedding short coat produces a startling amount of hair. For the specific job of clearing a short-to-medium shedding coat it genuinely outperforms rakes and brushes per minute of work.
The release button changes whether you finish
The FURejector button clears the edge in one press. That sounds like a convenience and is actually what makes a long deshedding session practical, because stopping to pick hair out of a tool is where people give up halfway.
The size-and-length variants are real
Buying the correct variant for your dog's size and coat length makes a bigger difference than people expect: a long-hair variant on a short coat is inefficient, and a short-hair variant on a long coat is damaging. Get this right and the tool performs as advertised.
What it gets wrong
It is a blade, and it cuts
This is the thing that matters most and is least prominently labeled. Used with pressure, used too often, or used on the wrong coat, it cuts the guard hairs that give a coat its texture and weather resistance. Light strokes, with the grain, and no more than weekly outside a shed. If long coarse hairs are coming out rather than soft fluff, stop.
The wrong variant is worse than no tool
A short-hair edge on a long coat cuts it; a long-hair edge on a short coat barely reaches. Both failure modes are common because the variants are easy to buy wrong online.
Useless on curly and single coats
Doodles, poodles and silky coats have little or no undercoat to remove. The tool has nothing to do except cut, which is why 'I used a FURminator on my doodle' is a recurring complaint with a visible result.
Poor on long feathering
Even on a double-coated dog, keep it off the tail and the leg feathering — those are long single hairs that take months to grow back if cut.
Your dog's coat mats rather than sheds — a doodle, poodle or the feathering on a retriever.
How we assessed it
This assessment rests on the manufacturer’s documented specifications and on published findings from the named sources at the foot of the page, compared against what the coat types in question actually require. We did not test this unit on our own dogs under controlled conditions, and we will not claim to have done. Where a figure comes from a manufacturer we say so; where it comes from someone else’s testing we cite them. The score is our editorial assessment, not a product rating derived from reviews or measurements. Full method on how we review.
The product
Reviewed in full on this page
01
Reviewed in full on this page
FURminator deShedding tool
The FURminator deShedding tool is the fastest way to clear loose undercoat from a short or medium shedding coat. Buy the variant matched to your dog's size and coat length, use light pressure with the grain, and keep it off curly, long and single coats entirely.
You own a Labrador, beagle, boxer, shorthaired pointer, standard-coat shepherd or similar — a coat that sheds in volume and is short enough for a close-set edge to reach the undercoat.
Hair removed per minute9.5
Guard-coat safety6.0
Works on long coat5.5
Comfort for the dog7.5
Value8.0
Overall7.9 / 10
What it gets right
+On a short or medium coat it removes more loose undercoat per minute than anything else
+The release button genuinely speeds up a big shed-out
+Buying the right size-and-length variant makes a bigger difference than people expect
What it gets wrong
−It is a blade. Over-used or used with pressure it thins and cuts the guard coat
−The wrong variant for your coat length does nothing or does damage
−Useless on a curly or felted coat
Who should skip itSkip it on a doodle, poodle or any coat that mats rather than sheds — it is the wrong category of tool.
It has a blade, so it can. That is what it does to undercoat, which is the point — and it is why pressure, frequency and coat type all matter. Light strokes, with the grain, weekly at most outside a shed.
+−Can I use a FURminator on a doodle?
No. There is no undercoat to remove and the blade will cut the coat. Doodles need a dense slicker and a comb.
+−Which FURminator size should I buy?
The one matched to both your dog's size and its coat length. The short-hair and long-hair variants are genuinely different tools, not packaging.
+−FURminator or undercoat rake?
FURminator on short-to-medium shedding coats; rake on long or double coats. Full comparison on our head-to-head page.
How this page was put together
We define the coat problem the tool has to solve, shortlist products currently sold, compare the manufacturers’ documented specifications against what that coat actually needs, and cross-check against published findings from named sources. We do not test these tools on our own dogs under controlled conditions, and we will not say we do. Where a figure comes from a manufacturer, we name them; where it comes from someone else’s testing, we cite them. We print no prices — a stale number is worse than none. Read the full method.
