Our furry problem

The Good Girl is shedding like crazy. Now, I know that dogs shed, George sheds all over the place; but the Good Girl sheds what appears to be her entire coat every spring. In these pictures you can see the fur literally falling off her coat as she's lying there. I know what you're thinking, "Why don't you just brush her?" Well, this picture was taken immediately after I brushed her for 15 minutes. Ridiculous.

For the past few years, once it began to get warm, we would take her to the groomer and have her shaved. This worked well because it eliminated the shedding and also allowed her to dry off really quickly when she went swimming. Last year, she freaked out during her shaving and bit the groomer (who was, embarassingly enough, an acquaintance of mine from high school). Needless to say, she's not welcome back. In fact, while she was at the groomer, she freaked out with only her hind legs shaved - she looked absolutely ridiculous. I had to call Gian and have him come down to the groomer. She finally let him finish most of the shaving, but was left with a long mane around her neck. She looked like a lion for a few days until I was able to finish the job with scissors.

The whole ordeal was a nightmare. I've thought about calling the vet and seeing if I can get a tranquilizer for her, but I don't know how ethical that would be...

For now, we're just vacuuming in the morning and afternoon and brushing her like maniacs.