Best Brush for Great Pyrenees

The Great Pyrenees, also known as the Pyrenean Mountain Dog, is one of the most powerful, yet loving protectors of the canine world. They’re known for several key characteristics, including an affectionate temperament, fierce loyalty, and thick, luscious coats. 

Just as Great Pyrenees care for their human companions through their sweet natures and protective instincts, so owners of these beautiful dogs must look after them. One of the most important physical tasks involved in caring for the Great Pyrenees is maintaining their fur. 

The Great Pyrenees has a long, thick coat, which can be either straight or wavy. The coat consists of a top coat and an undercoat and normally feels coarse to the touch. Because Great Pyrenees are double-coated dogs, they shed hair throughout the year. This means that loose hair needs to be regularly brushed out to prevent knotting. 

This may sound like an arduous task, but luckily, there is a wide selection of brushes on the market for grooming your Great Pyrenees. Today, we’re going to take you through our top 5. 

If grooming day is fast approaching, you can check out our top pick right now: 

Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker Brush

• Stimulating metal bristles 
• Bristle-retracting mechanism
• Painless brushing 
• Ergonomic grip 

Best Overall: Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker Brush

Hertzko’s Self Cleaning Slicker Brush is a popular and reliable staple of the pet grooming market, and long-haired dog and cat owners alike swear by its grooming power and other amazing benefits! 

The primary selling point of this slicker brush is its metal bristles, which are very fine and bent at a specific angle. The construction of the bristles allows them to fully penetrate the layers of your dog’s coat and simultaneously massage the layer of skin underneath. This stimulates circulation and promotes thicker, healthier hair growth. 

Something else owners love about Hertzko’s bristles is that they are able to fully retract into the brush head through a mechanism controlled by a button on the top of the handle. This serves 2 functions: cleaning the bristles and protecting them.

When you retract the bristles, any hair caught on them will be left behind, eliminating the need to pull out individual hairs. When the bristles are inside the brush, they’re also less likely to be damaged. 

Built into the handle of the Hertzko slicker brush are a soft, rubberized grid grip and a thumb rest. The grid prevents the brush from easily slipping out of your hand and also provides some cushioning for the fingers, while the thumb rest encourages more controlled movements and reduces strain on the wrists. 

However, the button on the handle must be pushed down to keep the bristles exposed while brushing, which may cause hand fatigue. 

Pros

• Circulation-stimulating bristles 
• Bristle retracting function 
• Comfortable handle 

Cons

• Button must be held down for the duration of brushing

Runner Up: Maxpower Planet Pet Grooming Brush

This pet grooming brush from Maxpower Planet is one of the best purchases you can make for your Great Pyrenees’ grooming routine. 

The design of this brush puts it in the undercoat rake category because it uses rounded ‘teeth’ to (gently) dig under the topcoat and get to the layers of hair underneath, which are the most prone to matting. 

This tool does look like a double-sided garden rake, but it’s actually surprisingly comfortable for both your dog and yourself! 

In total, the Maxpower undercoat rake brush has 26 teeth. 17 of these are lined up along one side of the brush, while the remaining 9 make up the other side.

The reason the teeth are unevenly distributed is to make this brush essentially multifunctional. The 9-tooth side of the brush is designed for slowly tackling the more serious tangles, while the side with 17 teeth is for smoothing out less knotted areas of the coat. 

Be careful when using the 9-toothed side of the brush to work through matted areas, however. It’s important to use the brush delicately and slowly because the teeth are so effective that too much force may cause hair to be pulled out. 

With all those metal teeth, you might expect this brush to be heavy and cumbersome to use, but the opposite is true. The plastic handle of the brush is lightweight and features built-in grooves for an ergonomic, non-slip grip. 

Pros

• Double-sided rake 
• Lightweight 
• Non-slip grip 

Cons

• Requires delicate handling

Alternative: Pet Republique Dog Dematting Tool

Pet Republique’s Dog Dematting Tool is another rake-style dog brush that’s absolutely perfect for the Great Pyrenees breed. 

The reason we and other reviewers recommend this brush so highly is partly because of the way its teeth are constructed.

Rake brushes are highly effective at getting deep into long coats and accessing those hidden tangles underneath, but it’s not uncommon for them to cause pain either from being too sharp or not sharp enough. 

On this brush, the insides of the teeth are sharp, while the outside edges are rounded. This means that the teeth are able to cut through tangled areas of hair without cutting or otherwise hurting your dog. 

What’s more, this brush is sure to last you for years of regular use due to its durable, high-quality construction. The stainless steel and plastic components have been put together and checked under scrutinous quality control standards. 

The handle of the Pet Republique brush is ergonomically designed with ridged areas to ensure a secure grip. It’s also shaped to curve naturally to the palm of the hand, so even grooming thick coats like those of Great Pyrenees dogs won’t feel exhausting. 

Pros

• Blunt/sharp-edged teeth
• Durable construction 
• Ergonomic handle 

Cons

• Not sharp enough for serious matting

Alternative: FURminator Undercoat Deshedding Tool

FURminator is one of the big names on the dog grooming market, and the company’s undercoat de-shedding brush has received outstanding reviews. 

This de-shedding brush is available in small, medium, and large sizes, but for adult Great Pyrenees, we recommend the large option. 

This brush technically looks more like a comb because it consists of a metal blade with many small, individual teeth. These teeth are designed to slip through the top layer of fur into the undercoat for effective de-shedding and untangling.

The process is painless and even helps to stimulate the oil glands under the skin for healthier hair growth. 

The FURminator de-shedder also features a fur-ejector button that pushes hair from between the teeth for quicker, easier brush cleaning. 

Where the design of this brush really stands out, though, is in its handle, which has an interesting shape, to say the least. The curvature of the handle has been designed to maximize user comfort, while the tiny raised bumps provide a non-slip surface to hold onto. 

Unfortunately, this is by far the most expensive brush on our list, and the price may be prohibitive for some. 

Pros

• Fur-ejecting function
• Highly ergonomic 
• Painless detangling 

Cons

• Expensive 

Alternative: FURminator Slicker Brush

FURminator’s brand popularity is partly down to how extensive its range of dog grooming products is, as well as the quality of the products. The slicker brush from FURminator’s range is another excellent tool for brushing and grooming Great Pyrenees dogs. 

While this slicker brush is specifically designed for dogs with long, curly fur (Great Pyrenees typically do not have curly coats), it’s a fantastic brush for most long, thick-haired dog breeds. 

One side of the brush has straight, metal bristles, while the other side’s bristles are curved. This gives you some flexibility in terms of using the bristles that feel most comfortable and effective at any time. 

Speaking of flexibility, this brush has a dual-flex mechanism that allows the brush head to move in accordance with the shape of your dog’s body. This reduces the likelihood of the brush feeling uncomfortable for your dog and ensures that every inch of their coat is accessible. 

Like the FURminator de-shedding tool, the slicker brush has a curved handle with raised bumps to make it just as comfortable for you as for your Great Pyrenees. 

We should specify, however, that this brush is not intended for in-depth detangling. It performs exceptionally well with surface-level tangles and even minor matting, but you should not expect it to fully untangle severely matted undercoats, nor should you attempt to use it for this purpose. 

Pros

• Double-sided 
• Dual-flex head 
• Ergonomic handle design 

Cons

• Not for in-depth detangling 

Best Brush for Great Pyrenees – Buyer’s Guide 

Need some help combing through all these amazing brushes? No worries! Keep reading and let our buyer’s guide inform you. 

Brush Type 

You’ll find many different types of brushes on the market for dog grooming, but not all of these will be appropriate for the coats of Great Pyrenees. 

The most useful brushes for detangling Great Pyrenees’ top and undercoats are slicker brushes, undercoat rakes, and de-shedding brushes.

Slicker brushes are good all-over brushes for superficial detangling. Their bristles are normally long enough to penetrate several layers of fur and reach the undercoat, so as long as you groom your Great Pyrenees regularly and don’t allow matting to build up, you shouldn’t have any problems. 

Undercoat rake-style brushes have rows of ‘teeth’ from which they get their name. These brushes are best suited to gently separating tangled hairs in the undercoat while removing loose hair to prevent matting. 

If your grooming schedule is regular enough, you’ll be able to simply brush out loose hairs before the majority of tangling occurs. This is where a de-shedding brush can be an absolute lifesaver.

De-shedding brushes are designed to simply extract loose hairs from within the rest of the healthy coat before they a) lead to severe tangles or b) fall out all over your freshly-vacuumed carpet. 

Using this information about the different Great Pyrenees grooming brushes on the market, you should be able to get an idea of which type of brush best suits your pet’s needs.

That being said, it might be a good idea to invest in more than one type of brush so that you’re ready to handle any kind of knot or tangle if and when it arises. 

Bristle/Tooth Construction 

We’ve touched on how differences in dog brush bristles dictate brush type, but it’s also necessary to consider the construction of bristles and ‘teeth’ on a more specific level. 

Many dog owners might hesitate to buy a brush with metal bristles for their pets, but it’s generally the best option. Plastic bristles are less durable than metal ones and are at greater risk of breaking off mid-brush. 

Although metal bristles might look a little scarier, they’re generally very finely constructed and flexible so as not to hurt your dog during the grooming process. 

If your dog has very sensitive skin, however, it might be a good idea to choose a brush where the bristles are tipped with epoxy, just to provide that extra protection.

If you’re opting for a rake-style undercoat brush, there are models available (like the Pet Republique de-matting tool) that are sharp on one side and rounded on the other to prevent discomfort and/or injury. 

Handle Construction

Great Pyrenees’ have a lot of thick hair, so even if you’re grooming regularly every week, you might find yourself brushing away for quite a while.

Of course, it’s 100% worth it to keep your dog healthy and happy, but it helps if your brush is ergonomic and comfortable to use. 

The first thing you’ll want to look for in a dog brush handle is a natural curvature. This means that the handle should be shaped in such a way that it sits naturally in the palm of your hand without digging in anywhere or feeling generally clumsy or uncomfortable. 

You can usually tell when a handle has been designed with proper curvature simply by looking. It should be wider at the base than at the top where it meets the brush head, and there should also be an inward curve for the heel of your hand to fit into. 

Grooming your dog should be a sensitive and delicate process. Think about brushing your own hair; unexpectedly coming across a tangle can cause you pain, even when you’re the one holding the brush. Dogs have even more sensitive skin than humans do, so you want to be very careful, and the last thing you want is for your brush to slip in your hand. 

Non-slip grips are one of the most important parts of dog brush handles, so we’ve made sure only to include brushes in our top 5 with some form of grip enhancement. This could be in the form of ridges or dots – just as long as it allows you to maintain control over the brush. 

And if you want to take precision handling of your grooming brush to the next level, a thumb rest can make all the difference. A thumb rest should ideally be positioned towards the top of the handle. This feature is designed to provide another point of contact between your hand and the brush closer to the head.

The point of this is to extend your grip over the brush so that the head is more controlled. 

Mechanical Functions 

A brush for grooming Great Pyrenees can be so much more than just a brush. Many are fitted with mechanisms for enhancing the grooming experience, both for yourself and your pet. 

One example of this is the retractor mechanism, which is popular amongst owners of long-haired dogs. This feature allows the bristles of the brush to be retracted into the head of the brush, preventing damage and simultaneously removing the remaining hair from the bristles. 

The problem with some models that use this feature is that sometimes, the bristles are defaulted to the retracted position, and the button, therefore, needs to be held down for the duration of grooming to keep the bristles extended. This can be tiring and inconvenient for some users.

An alternative to the retractor function is a hair ejector, which is usually in the form of a button behind the bristles. Pushing this button triggers the hair ejector, which comes forward and pushes the hair from between the bristles. 

Another useful mechanism to have in a dog brush is one that allows the brush head some flexibility. These mechanisms, such as the FURminator’s dual flex head, allow the brush to follow the natural curves of the area you’re grooming, causing less pain and facilitating more thorough brushing. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

How often should I groom my Great Pyrenees?

You will need to brush your Great Pyrenees regularly throughout the year because, unlike some other breeds, the Great Pyrenees sheds all year round. 

However, the frequency with which you should be brushing your Great Pyrenees depends on a few different factors.

For example, if your Great Pyrenees is still in the prime of their life, they’re likely to be relatively active and enjoy playing outside. Therefore, they may get their coat tangled more often than, say, a senior dog who prefers napping over running around. 

The general guidance for grooming Great Pyrenees dogs is to spend at least half an hour each week on brushing. Depending on your own schedule and how often your dog’s fur seems to get tangled, you could do one weekly brushing for 30 minutes or split this up over a few days.

The more regularly you brush, the less time the sessions will take because you’ll have less tangle buildup to work through.