5 (Gentle) Best Brushes for Dalmatian

Last Updated/Info Checked on October 25, 2023 by Linda Michaels

Dalmatians have single velvety coats that feel so great when you touch a freshly brushed dog.

But since they are short-haired, you cannot use any kind of brush to do away with loose hair. You could potentially be harming the dog without knowing.

I used to take due care and spent time researching the right grooming brush for my clients’ Dalmatians. The dogs were always happier with the tools I used. That prompted me to come up with this list of best brushes for Dalmatians. 

All of these have been tested on dogs. I have found these better suited to remove hair from the top coat and the underlying guard hair. The latter does need brushing every once in a while to remove any curled-up balls of loose hair that could lead up to matting.

Before choosing, though, make sure that you can carry out brushing per week because you know this breed is a super-shedder. 

I recommend once-a-week de-shedding. You don’t need to de-matt these dogs more often as you would poodles, but you still need to be vigilant enough that your dog doesn’t end up there. So, explore the list and find your fit. You’ll thank me later. 

7 Best Brush for Dalmatian – Recommendations That Will Save You From Vacuuming The Hair Every Day

Let’s get on with reviewing the products! 

1. Furminator deShedding Tool For Dalmatian

Dalmatians’ short coat doesn’t want too much digging in. Doing that has the highest risk of exposing the poor thing’s skin or possibly damaging it. You could reach that level by using anything made of steel (on a lighter note) or using Furminator. 

This thing works with a depth no other product has. So, be careful when you’re brushing your Dalmatian with it. But you may be asking why I recommend it then? 

I recommend Furminator for its time-saving and focused brushing. It works so well that you need a few strokes before years of loose hair ends up in knee-deep piles. 

That’s how Dalmatians are and I cannot overemphasize this. 

Holding the brush is convenient. For someone with frail hands like me, this brush is god-sent. It’s like a small wiper and just as easily as it does away with water, the brush does away with hair. 

Still, I’d want you to be extra careful with it. Weekly brushing is highly recommended but the sessions should not extend more. You only need about 10 minutes or so and a few brush strokes to get the loose hair out. 

When doing so, hold the dog’s body just ahead of the portion you’re going to brush with one hand and then use a Furminator on that place with the second hand. 

Brush until the white hair is replaced by fresh hair. Although Dalmatians do not wallow in the dirt more often than other breeds, they still have some dirt accumulating on their single coat. So, by the time you see fresh and super clean white hair, stop brushing. 

If you’re like me who’s always in a hurry, you may not wait until that. I prefer counting minutes to 8 or 10 before stopping. That concludes the brushing session for me and the dog. 

So far, Furminator has my heart when it comes to grooming single-coat high shedders like Dalmatians. It’s ergonomic, firm, super effective, and has a button to take the accumulated hair out of the brush. 

Pros 

• Dedicated button to release the hair 
• Firm handle 
• Reduces brushing time for single-coat dogs 
• Number 3 pro makes it perfect for high shedders to save time 

Cons

• The blades aren’t too long for long-haired dogs

2. KONG Dog Brush for Grooming and Shampooing

KONG has come to my rescue many times before. Its toys are worth it to help dogs with moderate separation anxiety.

I used to fill the toys with peanut butter and give it to a GSD that couldn’t live without its owner. Within a week, we were able to see some real results as the dog would get distracted by the use of the toy and the owner would leave unnoticed. 

The KON ZoomGroom has been equally helpful in removing loose hair from ultra-shedders. One of them has been Dalmatians.

While the Furminator stays true to its word. It terminates loose hair with stringent quality. But the owners who like to groom their dogs during bathing or more than once a week just to bond further do not find it suited for that. 

So, if you’re that owner, you may want a brush that’s softer than Furminator but equally effective. I want you to buy a Zoomgroom. 

It’s not just a grooming brush but also a relaxing massager. The dogs that I used to brush with this wet or dry would stay calm, occasionally kiss me, and move around trying to touch me in any way possible to say thank you. 

Using it with shampoo is entirely safe and convenient. It glides into the coat and removes hair. Wet grooming should be your thing if you don’t want hair lingering here and there. The water takes care of a lot of things. 

However, when wet, it may be hard to hold. I found that it slips, but the grooves to the side help if you hold it well. One thing is for sure. The brush does fit in your palm easily. 

KONG offers it in two colors. Go for the pink one if you want a firmer brush and the blue if you want to just go easy on the dog because why not?

Also, brush in circles to get most of the hair out. Your dog will definitely love brushing sessions.

Pros 

• Easy to hold 
• Perfect for bath times and with shampoo 
• It doubles as a massager as well 
• Firm enough for single-coat dogs 

Cons 

• May slip when using in the shower

3. SleekEZ Original Deshedding Grooming Tool for Dogs

Sleekez wins over Zoomgroom and Furminator in terms of the material used. It’s wood! Round-shaped, easy to hold, and environmentally sound wood!

I highly recommend this product for skittish dogs. Dalmatians count as skittish because they have sudden energy bursts. Whenever I’m training or grooming them, I take care of tiring them out beforehand. That helps me control them well.

The brush has been quite a companion in de-shedding overly joyed and hyper Dalmatians. It takes all the real estate of your palm and is slip-proof. KONG could learn a thing or few from the design of Sleekez.

At first glance, you may be searching for the brush but look underneath and you’ll find a zigzag brush with very fine teeth. That makes it perfect for small, fine hair, which is a characteristic of the breed in question. 

I have found it suitable for even doing away with small and loose guard hair. Although I don’t recommend that you over-brush them, every once in a while, it’s important to go down there just to get rid of any loose hair. 

After doing that to the dogs, they’d be quite happy and relaxed. A single touch would show me how smooth the coat would become. This breed already has a shiny, almost velvety coat. Good exposure due to focused brushing with Sleekez made it softer and even better.

However, I recommend that you do so outside on the porch because the brush works well enough to remove plenty of small hair. I’ve coupled it a few times with the likes of Furminator. This one would remove extra small hair that brushes with longer and firmer combs won’t be able to get. 

So, I definitely recommend it if you groom your dog more often with long-pronged brushes and haven’t used one for small hair. You’ll be surprised to see how much of that small hair would come out. 

Lastly, since it’s made with wood, you’ll be able to use it even for your future pets. Hell, if you already own multiple pets that even have cats, a single Sleekez would do wonders. But make sure that neither of your pets has any sort of pests or transferable diseases.

Pros 

• Durable for use with future pets 
• Could be used with cats and horses as well
• The round wooden handle makes usage convenient 
• A small brush collects small hair before dropping them off 

Cons 

• Some pets may not like the “pulling” sensation it delivers

4. H HANDSON Pet Grooming Gloves for Dalmatian

Why hold a brush when you can literally wear it? I’m talking about the H HANDSON Pet Grooming Gloves. They fit well and have plastic protrusions that act better than a well-managed brush (hear, hear, Furminator).

But what makes them better than traditional brushes is that you feel the body of the dog under your hands. 

That gives you greater control over where you’re going. The dog, too, gets the idea that you’re using your hands and not some product alien to its body. 

Possibly, this is one of the major reasons why Dalmatians and other breeds alike loved them. Most of them would come running alone when they’d see me wearing them. 

My hands are not big. They border on being frail, so most of the time, medium gloves work well for me. But I do want you to first measure your palm as the manufacturer recommends and then buy your fit. This is important because you don’t want the gloves moving around in your hands. 

Cleaning them up after a good deal of work is entirely easy. I normally brushed back and forth and in other maneuvers that you wouldn’t deem normal for a human being. Still, the product didn’t disappoint me at all. Afterward, I’d just give a nice jerk to my hands and the hair would fall straight to the ground. 

I think I loved deshedding with them as much as the dogs did. I also think that they are better than Furminator for frequent groomers. They stay close to your hands. This way you work around the neck, tail, ears, belly, and all-around body of the dog, missing not a single place. 

One thing I want you to remember is that the plastic brush strands are more like cleats, so I don’t recommend that you rub them against each other for the sake of not destroying them. 

Also, do not forget to close off the wrist patch because that helps in keeping the gloves right in their place. 

Overall, I love this product for its convenience. More than that, the fact that it becomes one with my hands takes over the likes of Furminators. This is for medium de-shedding, not hard, but it is one hell of a massager. Your dogs will love it. Just don’t forget to try them during bath times!

Pros 

• Perfect for massage more than de-shedding 
• Gives you greater control over the process 
• Stretchable and durable
• Does not hurt your dog in any way

Cons 

• Bigger hands may not find their match or find them too tight 

5. AmazonBasics Pet Grooming & Deshedding Brush

Behold, Amazon is in the run for the best brush for Dalmatians. It’s fairly simple but works with the same consistency as the Furminator or KONG. I haven’t seen any brush beyond the ones I reviewed get to the undercoat with such efficiency.

It’s like Amazon tried to strike a balance between keeping the undercoat intact and getting most of the loose hair out. The front has been made a little heavier, which makes even the lightest of the strokes reach the focal point just fine.

However, you too have a hand in realizing that balance. Only if you try to use light strokes. Too hard a brush stroke may lead to a naked dog. 

Not just performance, the brush takes over many famous brands in terms of its versatility. There are large, medium, and small sizes ready to be dispatched. The small ones work great for cats and other small animals while the large one is for dogs and even bigger animals such as horses. 

I want you to order the large one for your Dalmatian. It’ll do away with its loose coat with greater accuracy. You could use it for your other dogs as well. That’s probably why I recommend it to households where you see all kinds of animals – mostly cats and dogs. One brush does the job.

Cleaning the brush isn’t hairsplitting hard. Much like the Furminator, it lets the hair cling to the top side of the teeth until you remove it.

Here, however, you’ve to do it manually. There’s no button to assist you. Yes, you’ll see hair flying here and there, but that’s the case with any de-shedding or grooming brush you use. I only wish the button was there. It’s AmazonBasics; we can’t expect much. 

Pros 

• Ergonomic handle
• A heavier head takes less effort to brush 
• The teeth aren’t abrasive. 
• Comes in different sizes for different fur animals 

Cons 

• No hair-removing button 

6. Le Salon Essentials Rubber Grooming Brush

You’re going to see plenty of slicker brushes when you search for deshedding brushes for dogs or even cats.

The Le Salon is one of them. I’ve included it in the list because of the bigger head and rightly sized fine bristles for short to medium coat dogs such as the Dalmatians. 

And yes, there’s a self-cleaning button that’s better than Furminator. I keep on comparing every product with Furminator because that’s the pinnacle of deshedding brushes. Everyone talks about it. Everyone loves it. But I’m a gal of trying more things and finding the right thing for a job. 

Those who have some condition that does not let them clean brushes easily should definitely consider this one. The extra large button helps like a charm. You press it and a piece of the front slides forward to get each hair out of the comb. 

Even the handle is anti-slip. Much like the Amazon Basics brush, it has a tactile, rubbery feel that lets it stay in your hand even when it gets sweaty. 

Working with different dogs has taught me that one size doesn’t fit all. While these brushes do well for Dalmatians, it is Le Salon type of products that make most of the dogs happier. The bristles are ¼ inches long, so you have the freedom of using the brush for other dogs around the house – even cats.

I do need to warn you about hair flying here and there more often than not after using this brush. But that’s not to say that the product has something against de-shedding.

I remember grooming a Dalmatian Retriever mix. She had not been brushed for weeks. The moment I was done grooming her, it seemed as if I had opened up a whole new world of hair. 

Basically, the hair you remove after weeks sits on top of further loose hair. So, do the dog a favor and go for multiple grooming sessions to get rid of all the hair that’s been accumulated over that time. 

Pros 

• Has more real estate for bristles 
• Plenty of think bristles to get to the undercoat with efficiency
• Bigger self-cleaning button 
• The bristles are not too harsh to hurt a dog. Still, be careful.

Cons 

• The moveable layer may get lopsided if you leave too much hair on it. 

7. Alcott Bamboo Groom Curry Brush with Rubber Bristles

I sometimes would have enough hard-bristle brushes. When I’m grooming pets, I do it frequently. This saves me from buying and using hard brushes that I would recommend to owners who do not de-shed their pets more often. 

But that’s just me. If you have the same thoughts, then Alcott Bamboo Groom Curry Brush would do the job extremely well. 

It has a stretchable holder that hovers above a sleek and polished bamboo brush. The feel of it on the hand has a soothing effect for me, to be honest. Brushing a dog with it is also a calming routine for me. 

While you may not buy it for that, you should definitely go for it because of its soft bristles. They aren’t hard on the top coat, let alone the undercoat. I agree that they may not reach deeper to get the mats out but that’s exactly what the brush isn’t for. 

It could serve as your go-to brush to get the oils to spread well on the skin for a shinier and healthier look. I am guilty of using harder brushes, not that they would hurt the animal, but they were necessary to clean off all the stubborn mats.

To give the session a nice ending note, I had a way of using something like the Alcott Bamboo brush. 

It would smoothen the coat and eliminate any roughness caused by metal bristles. The dogs would love it of course for a sudden feeling of softness on their skin. 

So, as an owner of a short to medium-haired Dalmatian, I recommend this to you for its softness, oil spreading, and just sloughing off loose hair properties. 

Pros 

• The bamboo gives you good feelings. 
• Soft rubber bristles keep the coat shinier. 
• The stretchable holder helps you keep strokes focused. 
• Long-lasting. 

Cons 

• Since the bristles are soft, they may not take mats out effectively. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some related questions.

Best Brush for Dalmatian – Conclusion 

That was the list you were looking for. I not only included brushes with hard bristles but also ones that only help in spreading all the good oils on your dog’s skin.

They make their coats shinier and healthier. If you listen to me, you could use both brushes together to give an all-around de-shedding and massage routine to your Dalmatian. You’ll have a happy pet, trust me. 

Have a nice day.