In This Chapter
- Understanding what makes a longer-haired double-coated breed
- Handling the big hair
- Grooming and grooming your double-coated dog
- Sprucing up your long hair’s coat for show
When I talk about double-coated
dogs, I’m referring to dogs that are specifically bred to deal with colder
climates. These dogs have what I call natural to woolly coats. I say natural
because they are coats like you might see on a wolf, minus the coloring —
thick, with an undercoat and a top coat equipped with guard hairs that can be
fairly coarse. The woolly coat is an extension of the natural coat — sort of a
natural coat on steroids. These thick, heavy coats can be real nightmares when
you’re trying to remove mats from them.
If you own a double-coated breed,
you’re probably wondering what you’re in for, and that’s what I tell you about
in this chapter. You’ll find out everything you need to do to groom your double
coat and make him the best looking pooch on the block.
Introducing the Big Hairy Deal: Double-Coated Breeds
Technically many dog breeds that
aren’t discussed at length here in this chapter actually have double coats.
Among them are breeds like Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, and even
Pugs. But unlike the hairy dudes I’m going to tell you about, those breeds are
not as difficult to groom (see Chapter Warming
Up to Double-Coated Breeds). Big hairy double coats are dogs that
are typically characterized as having dense double coats that shed once or
twice a year (see Figure 9-1). Some breeds in this category actually can shed
year-round, especially in warmer climates.
Here’s the list of the
double-coated dogs that I’m talking about:
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As I talk about these
double-coated breeds, you may notice a huge variation in length of their coats.
Some breeds, like the Norwegian Buhund and the Siberian Husky, can have
relatively short, dense coats, but others, like the Keeshond and the Samoyed
can be downright woolly. So the coat length usually is somewhere between one
and four inches.
Woolly coats probably are the
most difficult to groom, because there’s just so much fur to deal with. Not
only are wooly coats long, but they also usually have a dense, thick undercoat.
If you’re talking wicked mats, you’re probably talking about a woolly dog — and
dozens of breeds qualify. Woolly fur is so long and thick, you may feel like
grabbing the sheep shears instead of a brush.
Figure 9-1: An Akita (a)
and a Bernese Mountain Dog (b) don the bulky characteristics that come with wearing
a double fur coat.
Remember
You have to brush and comb a wooly double-coated dog every day to keep his coat from looking ratty. During shedding season, you’re in for a royal headache. The undercoat becomes matted with guard hairs, making it nearly impossible to comb through.
If you’re wondering why you can’t
just shave your double-coated pooch, well, doing so essentially defeats the
purpose of having a double-coated breed. After all, if you didn’t like the look
of the breed, why own a double-coated dog in the first place? Other more
important reasons for not shaving your double-coated breed include:
- Skin protection: Double-coated dogs aren’t made to walk around without their coats (truly naked) and can be more susceptible to sunburn, hypothermia, and heat stroke without them. When a double-coated dog’s fur is brushed and free of blown or shedded hairs and mats, the guard hairs (or top coat) provide shade to the body and enable air to circulate closer to the dog’s skin. With a well-maintained coat, your dog can actually remain cooler than she can with a shaved coat.
- Skin health: Don’t forget that your dog needs time to regrow his coat. After you shave him to the skin, he’s starting at square one. Health conditions can impede your dog’s ability to regrow his coat, and that can spell trouble, especially with fall and winter approaching.
Caring for your dog’s coat is
better for him than shaving it. The following sections explain how.
Brushing
As you may have guessed, brushing
is a big hairy deal with these dogs. They won’t look their best unless you
brush and comb them at least twice a week. In some cases, you’ll be brushing
them almost every day to remove loose fur from that undercoat, especially when
they’re shedding.
The basics
Here are the basics of how to
brush your double-coated dog:
1. Look for tangles or mats
and remove them using detangler solution and a medium-toothed comb (see Chapter Caring
for Your Canine’s Teeth, Toes, Ears, Face, and Ahem, Other Areas for specific instructions).
Remember
The best way to deal with mats — especially with a double-coated dog — is to not let them form in the first place. You can do that by brushing and combing your dog regularly. If you take care of your double-coated dog’s hair, it’s probably going to look good and be free from tangles and mats.
2. Backbrush, or brush against
the lay of your dog’s hair, first using a slicker brush and then again with a
medium- or coarse-toothed comb — depending on the thickness and length of your
dog’s coat.
Using a slicker brush removes the loose hairs, and using a comb helps you make sure no tangles are present and removes more hair.
3. Brush your dog’s coat with
the lay of the hair using a slicker brush.
Be sure to get all the way to the skin as you brush your dog this way.
4. Go over your dog’s coat
with a flea comb both to look for fleas and remove tangles.
You can best use a flea comb by parting the coat, starting at the root, and combing through.
5. Depending on how hairy your
dog’s pads are, you can either leave them natural or clip them by running
electric clippers with a No. 10 blade over the paw pads to remove any excess
hair.
Don’t clip the hair between the pads — just any excess that otherwise may get in the way or inhibit a neater appearance.
Grooming easy-going wash-and-wear dogs |
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As you’re brushing your huge and hairy dog, you may
be wishing for (or dreaming of) a washand-wear type pooch. Well, being the
sadistic author I am, I’ve decided to list those just plain easier-to-groom
breeds right here in this sidebar amid your long-coated agony:
- Basenji - Chinese Crested (for those who think bald is beautiful) - Dalmation - Doberman Pinscher |
- Great Dane - Mastiff - Pharaoh Hound - Pointer - Rhodesian Ridgeback
Nonetheless, you love the look of your
longhaired, double-coated breed, don’t you? I do, too. I have Alaskan
Malamutes. Still, we’re allowed to look longingly at the easier-to-groom breeds
— don’t you agree?
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These steps are merely the basics
of brushing out a double-coated dog. If your dog is shedding, you’re faced with
much more to do — keep reading!
Surviving shedding season
Double-coated dogs usually shed
out their undercoats once or twice a year. Occasionally, depending on the breed
and the geographic climate, you may see double coats shedding year-round.
(Lovely, isn’t it?) Dogs that shed year-round usually are found in temperate
climates (think south).
When the shedding season starts,
you know it . . . oh boy, do you know it! Shedding starts innocently enough.
Cotton tufts of hair poke through the top coat here and there. Usually you
first find it around your dog’s flank. When you see that, you need to watch
out! You’re going to have to start brushing and combing every day to get rid of
all that excessive fur; otherwise, you’re going to be hip deep in it.
Technical Stuff
If you own an intact female dog, she usually blows coat, or sheds, right before or during her heat or season. In fact, that usually was the sign I looked for so I knew when one of my intact females was ready to come into season. (I’ve since spayed them all.) But some females don’t follow this menstrual schedule, or they blow their coats only after their season, so you can’t rely on this hint as a solid tip.
Warning!
Some people recommend bathing a dog in warm water to loosen the hair and facilitate shedding. Although this works to a certain degree, you’re more likely to have clogged sewer pipes and a tangled mess for a dog if you do it. Better to bite the bullet and brush and comb out your dog before and after bathing. Having a hair strainer in your drain helps, though.
Start where the problem is worst,
and use the shedding blade to pull the hair out in a downward motion. Most
double-coated dogs are pretty tolerant of having their coats pulled in this
manner, but they may not be as tolerant when you pluck the tufts from their
coat. I’ve also noticed that Zoom-Groom combs also pull loose hair out with
minimal problems.
After you get a fair amount of
fur pulled off the dog, bag it up as soon as possible. I use grocery store bags
that I can tie off and throw away. They help keep the hair problem under
control. Or you can use a shop vac to tidy up.
Puttin’ on the dog: Spinning dog hair |
You may be amazed (and amused) to discover that like wool, dog hair can
be spun into yarn. The fur is called chiengora, (SHEE-en-gora) which is just
a fancy term for dog hair. (That way your mom won’t balk when you hand her a chiengora
hat for Christmas.
Here are some Web sites that cover knitting with dog hair. These Web
sites are for information only; I don’t specifically endorse any of them:
- Handspinning Dog Hair Homepage - www.mdnpd.com/pd/default.htm - VIP Fibers - www.vipfibers.com/index.php
- Betty Burian Kirk Dog Hair Yarn Custom Spun - www.bbkirk.com/Dog%20Hair%20Yarn.htm
- Wolf Tales/Wolf Yarn - www.inetdesign.com/wolfdunn/wolfyarn/
One book a knitter friend of mine recommends is Knitting With Dog Hair:
Better A Sweater From A Dog You Know and Love Than From A Sheep You’ll Never
Meet by Kendal Crolius (St. Martin’s Griffin, 1997). My friend considers it
the bible of dog-hair knitting.
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Bathing
Bathing can be easy or a big
hairy deal when it comes to double-coated dogs. The double-coated dogs that I
deal with consider bathwater akin to a near-death experience, so they can be
really difficult in the tub. The good news is that with proper brushing and
coat care, you don’t really have to bathe a double coat as much as you do a
single coat or a short-haired dog. All that brushing and blowing out their coat
gives long-haired, double-coated dogs a better chance of keeping clean (or at
least cleaner).
Some people swear that many of
the dogs with natural coats don’t have a doggie smell. I can’t swear that’s
true, because my first dogs as an adult were northern breed dogs (Samoyed
crosses, Keeshonden, and Alaskan Malamutes), but I do notice that some
shorter-coated breeds have a houndy type smell. So, maybe there’s something to
that natural-coat characteristic.
How often and when, really?
How often you bathe your double
coat depends a great deal on how dirty he gets and how often you brush and comb
him. Most people get by with a bath once a month, but your mileage may vary.
Here are some factors to keep in mind when deciding when to bathe a
double-coated dog:
- You can bathe your dog as much as you want provided you use a pH-balanced shampoo for dogs. You won’t ruin his coat by bathing him too often. Forget that old wives’ tale.
- If your dog gets dirty digging a hole or getting into other filthy things, it’s time for a bath; otherwise, the dirt will just cause mats.
- Bathing your dog will take a fair amount of time, because he needs to be brushed, bathed, dried, and then brushed again, and you may even want to add a clipping session or two. That mean’s you need to plan ahead for your pup’s baths.
The basics
After performing the pre-bath
brush (see the “Brushing” section earlier in this chapter), follow these
step-by-step bathing instructions:
1. Wet down your dog
thoroughly with tepid water in a tub that’s an appropriate size for your breed
of dog.
When bathing your double-coated dog, be sure to wet your dog all the way to the skin. Some coats are so dense they keep water away from the skin, so be sure to feel all the way down to the skin to make sure your dog’s all wet.
Tip
A handheld shower head or tub faucet attachment is ideal for wetting down dogs if you have good water pressure.
2. Using a pH-balanced dog
shampoo, thoroughly lather up your dog’s entire coat except around the face and
eyes — which you must do separately with a wet cloth.
3. Rinse your dog’s coat
thoroughly.
Be sure to rinse the residue from the skin and undercoat.
4. Apply a good conditioner
for dogs.
One made to keep the hair from tangling is good. No-residue conditioners are good, too.
5. Rinse really well.
Feel for any soapy, slimy spots next to the skin, and continue rinsing until they are gone. Although billed as no-residue conditioners, these products will leave a residue, if you don’t rinse them out.
6. Dry your dog thoroughly.
(See the section on “Drying” your long coat later in this chapter.)
7. Brush out your dog’s coat
thoroughly.
Preventing tangles and mats
A double-coated dog’s fur may
easily tangle, or it may not, depending on how fine or coarse his hair is. The
tricks to preventing tangles and mats from forming include keeping the
following points in mind when grooming your double-coated dog:
- Brushing out your dog’s coat before bathing is imperative. Yes, I know, she may be filthy or stink beyond belief, or she may be shedding worse than anything you’ve ever seen. Brush and comb her; otherwise, after you get that double coat wet, it will mat and tangle worse than a preschooler’s hair. Do you and your dog a favor and brush and comb her out before her bath.
- Detangler solution is your next best friend. Removing all mats, foreign objects (twigs, burrs), and blown coat before you bathe your dog prevents tangles from forming after the bath.
- Use a mat rake and mat cutter to eliminate tangles that can become serious mats.
- Use a coat conditioner that prevents tangles and matting.
- Rinse your dog thoroughly when bathing. Any leftover residues will attract dirt and cause mats.
- After bathing, always blow-dry your double coat in a clean area where he’s unlikely to pick up more dirt that can cause tangles.
- Dry your dog thoroughly. Wet hair picks up dirt and thus causes tangles.
Drying
If you have a sopping wet dog in
your tub, grab the towels and start drying, blotting and squeezing as much
water from the thick coat as you can. Hint: You’ll need plenty (a
lot) of towels.
Preventing collar marks
One big problem with double-coated breeds is the
marks that collars can leave on their necks. If you’re a conscientious owner,
you know that you must have a collar and tags on your dog at all times so you
can identify him if he accidentally slips away from you and so he can then be
returned to you. The problem is that most collars rub the fur in such a way
that a mark is left where the collar was worn — even after you clean up and
brush out his coat.
Many show dog owners don’t make their dogs wear
collars, preferring instead to rely on microchip or tattoo identification of
their dogs. However, this form of identification can be risky, because many
people don’t know to look for tattoos and microchips. Someone may find a dog and
not bother to take him to a vet or humane shelter, because no tags were
present and the person who found him may not be aware of microchip IDs.
Another issue with microchips is that the devices that read the information
on the chips haven’t been standardized; not all readers read all microchips.
So if you decide on microchipping your dog, be sure that it is a common
microchip. Check with your vet.
You can keep a collar on your dog without ruining
his fur. Rolled leather collars do a minimal
amount of damage to the neck fur. They come in buckle
and slip styles (ones that tighten when the collar is pulled on), and you can
use either type. Be aware, however, that when these collars get wet, some of
them can stain your dog’s fur.
As a note or warning: You should never leave a slip-style
collar on an unattended dog.
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After your dog is no longer
dripping, move him to your grooming table and doggie blow-dryer and start
drying. At first the coat will be too moisture-laden and heavy to comb or brush
as you’re drying it, but as it begins to dry, you can begin combing it with a
medium-toothed comb and then eventually move to a slicker brush. Lift the outer
hair with the comb so that you can dry your dog’s top coat and undercoat.
As you dry your dog, be mindful
of how you’re using the brush and comb. Like blow-drying your own hair, a dog’s
hair follows the style you set as you dry. So, for example, if you want a
stand-up coat, you have to backbrush with a comb to get it to stand up away
from the lay of the hair. If the coat is to lay flat, you brush with the grain,
not against it.
After your dog is dry, backbrush
his coat with a comb and a slicker brush, and then brush the hair forward.
Preparing for Show
Getting a double-coated dog ready
for a confirmation show isn’t necessarily a big deal if you maintain his coat,
but the process is time-consuming.
Remember
When showing your dog, understanding the breed standard and the correct coat type your dog should be wearing, if you will, are essential. A good place to look for breed standards is on the Internet at www.akc.org.
The list that follows contains
the basics of what you have to do to get your dog ready for the show:
- Trim your dog’s toenails.
- Brush out your dog.
- Remove any mats.
- Bathe your dog.
- Dry your dog.
- Brush out your dog again.
- Clip stray hairs and trim your dog’s coat to keep the clean line that is allowed by his breed standard.
- Use coat dressing to spruce up you dog’s coat, whenever appropriate.
If you want to show your dog,
you’ll need to know some of the finer points of getting your dog’s double coat
ready. I tell you about them in the sections that follow.
Mousse and a spritz — Conditioning the coat
Plenty of good coat conditioners
are available to get dogs ready for show. Most, like coat dressings and
bodifiers, are used to add volume to your dog’s hair. Texturizers also are
available to give your dog’s coat the proper feel.
Technical Stuff
You need all this stuff, because using it has to do with giving your dog the proper coat type. For example, certain breeds are supposed to have what’s called a harsh coat. That means the dog’s coat feels a little stiff to the touch and is weatherproof. When you bathe and condition your dog frequently, that feel can be lost because of coat maintenance, or the dog’s coat simply may not have the right feel. Whatever the reason, you need to adjust the coat so that it feels as close to the way the breed standard dictates as possible, and that requires some coat dressing.
Coat conditioners won’t make a
bad coat perfect, but they will improve it tremendously, especially when you do
all the other good-grooming tasks correctly. Coat conditioners won’t
necessarily make your dog into a show winner, but they will keep you from
losing badly because your dog’s coat looks awful.
Making the hair stand up
Now that you’ve conditioned your
dog with enough mousse and coat texturizer to saturate her coat, you may be
wondering just how to get her fur to puff out like the other show dogs you see.
If you have a dog with a stand-up coat (meaning, she puffs out naturally),
you’re in luck! Your dog has a natural show coat. But if yours doesn’t puff,
here are some tricks you can try to make your dog look like she has a stand-up
coat:
- While your dog’s coat is drying, use your blow-dryer against the lay of the hair and backbrush your dog’s coat (using a brush or comb) to puff it out.
- Spray bodifier over your dog’s coat, backbrush again, and let the coat air dry.
- If the hair starts to lay back down, use a bodifier or water mister to spray on the coat and backbrush the hair as required.
All of these tips are legitimate
tricks you can use to get your dog’s hair to stand up and look pretty for the
show.
by Margaret H.Bonham
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