Although I haven't attempted to tie flies yet, some things come to mind. Dental offices should have lots of 1" by 2" thin lead foil (backing of bitewing dental x-rays film).

My hound dog sheds plenty of course white fur.

Now I have more to think about. I have two cats, and four dogs. The dogs are all short hair though, so that isn't much help. The cats might be easier to get some fur off of though...lol. They don't shed much but I could brush them and see what I get. One cat is a calico, and the other is a blue or lilac point siamese. I wonder if the fish would mind going after a fly with cat hair...lol. I saw a fly show where a guy cut hair off a dog like a poodle that had it's hair died. No kidding. He made a great fly out of it. :-)

i am presently not shaving my beard in a effort to make some "home grown" flies.

gnarly

Now that is radical!

A few brush strokes should collect some nice dubbing.

My first fly was tied with a cat whisker tail (found, not plucked) and dubbed cat fur.

The whiskers don't have much action, but the gray dubbing looks good.

What'a you know finally a reason to have one of those hair ball hacking critters around. Harvesting the hair may be a trick while it is still alive.

I could either brush the cat, or better yet get a sharp pair of scissors and just trim a bit off the belly hair of my calico. It is about the same as artic fox hair. (great for cat's whiskers fly) The siamese hair isn't long enough to just cut....so I could only brush her hair to get enough for a fly or two. It isn't as soft as the calico cat's hair, or long. My mastiff has a nice brindle that would make a good fly, but she does not really shed. The other dogs hair is not worth the effort...very short, black hairs mainly. I will let ya know if I can make an adequate fly out of my pets hair...hehehe. If I get hair off of either cat, it must be fast, as they tend to get persnickity if you hold them down. (they are afraid that means flea medicine, which they hate with a passion)