Bernese Grooming & Shedding: An Ottawa Guide

A great deal, year-round, plus two heavy seasonal blows, this is a serious shedding breed, and prospective owners should be ready for it. A Berner’s thick double coat (a long outer coat over a dense undercoat) sheds moderately-to-heavily all year, leaving fur on floors, furniture, and clothing, and then "blows coat" twice a year (typically spring and fall), releasing the undercoat in dramatic quantities over a few weeks. Combined with the breed’s giant size, that means a lot of hair, more than most breeds. Regular brushing intercepts much of it, but no amount of grooming makes a Bernese a low-shedding dog. If wall-to-wall fur, a serious vacuum habit, and fur in your food occasionally are dealbreakers, this is not the breed for you. For those who love the breed, the shedding is simply part of the package, managed with consistent brushing.

At least a few times a week year-round, and daily during the twice-yearly coat blows. The double coat tangles and mats without regular brushing, especially in the friction areas, behind the ears, in the "armpits" and groin, on the britches (rear legs), and around the collar, so a thorough brush-out several times weekly keeps the coat healthy, reduces loose fur in your home, and lets you check the skin. Use an undercoat rake to reach the dense undercoat, a slicker brush for the outer coat and tangles, and a metal comb to check for mats down to the skin. Line-brush in sections, working from the skin outward, rather than skimming the surface. During a coat blow, step up to daily brushing (outdoors is easier) to keep the shedding undercoat under control. A well-maintained Berner coat is beautiful; a neglected one mats painfully and may need a groomer to sort out.

Blowing coat is the twice-yearly process, usually spring and fall, when a Bernese sheds its dense undercoat over a few weeks to adjust for the coming season. Given the breed’s size and heavy coat, the volume is genuinely impressive, you can brush out bags of undercoat. Managing it is all about intensive brushing: during a blow, brush daily with an undercoat rake and a de-shedding tool, working the loose undercoat out in sections down to the skin, ideally outdoors. A high-velocity dryer (at a groomer, or bought for home use) is the professional tool for blasting a blowing coat clear quickly and is especially useful for a giant breed. The more loose undercoat you remove with the brush and dryer, the less ends up carpeting your home. Between the two big blows, brushing several times a week keeps the year-round shedding manageable. Patience during the few-week peaks is the whole game.

No, never shave a Berner (except for a genuine medical reason on veterinary advice). The double coat is not just for warmth, it is an insulation and temperature-regulation system that protects the dog from both cold and heat and shields the skin from sun. Shaving does not keep a Berner cooler in summer, that is a myth, and can actually make the dog hotter and vulnerable to sunburn, while the coat often grows back patchy, damaged, or with altered texture, sometimes permanently. For managing summer heat (a real issue for this heavy-coated breed in Ottawa), the answer is never shaving, it is shade, water, air conditioning, cool surfaces, and exercising in the cool of early morning and evening, plus keeping the coat well brushed and free of mats so it can do its insulating job. A well-groomed, un-shaved double coat is the dog’s best protection in both Ottawa’s cold winters and hot summers.

Somewhat, though less than the truly heavy-drooling giant breeds like Mastiffs or Saint Bernards. Bernese Mountain Dogs have fairly tight lips for a large breed, so their drool is moderate rather than extreme, but they do drool, especially around food, water, and after drinking, and some individuals more than others. Expect the occasional slobber string, drool flung when they shake their heads, and water dripped from their beards after a drink. Keeping a "drool towel" handy, wiping the mouth after meals and water, and accepting a bit of slobber as part of giant-breed life all help. It is a minor consideration compared with the shedding and the health profile, but it is worth knowing that a Bernese is not a tidy, drool-free breed, and if you are extremely fastidious about slobber on walls and clothing, a giant breed like this may test your patience. For most Berner lovers, it is a non-issue.

The two seasons ask opposite things of you. Winter is the breed’s element, the heavy coat handles deep Ottawa cold effortlessly and most Berners love the snow, so grooming is straightforward: brush several times a week, and after snowy walks, rinse road salt off the paws and belly, dry the coat, and check for ice balls in the feathering. Never shave for winter, obviously, and keep the coat clean and mat-free so it insulates well. Summer is the challenge: the same coat that protects against cold makes the breed genuinely prone to overheating in Ottawa’s hot, humid July and August, so keep the coat well brushed (a matted or fur-clogged coat cannot regulate temperature), provide shade, water, air conditioning, and cool surfaces, and exercise only in the cool of morning and evening. Spring and fall bring the coat blows, when daily brushing keeps the undercoat explosion under control. Work with the coat’s natural cycle rather than against it.

Brushing does not reduce the total amount a Berner sheds, that is set by the coat cycle, but it dramatically changes where the fur ends up: in your brush and outdoors rather than on your floors, furniture, and clothes. Regular brushing also keeps the coat healthy and insulating, prevents painful mats, and lets you spot skin issues or lumps early (valuable given the breed’s cancer risk). During a coat blow, aggressive daily brushing removes enormous quantities of loose undercoat that would otherwise carpet your home. As for allergies: no, Bernese Mountain Dogs are emphatically not hypoallergenic, they are heavy shedders with a dense coat that releases plenty of dander and fur, placing them firmly at the high-allergen end of the spectrum. If someone in your household has dog allergies, a Berner is one of the breeds most likely to trigger them. (A Bernedoodle cross is sometimes chosen for lower shedding, but even those vary and are not guaranteed.)