Yay, an opportunity to geek out about grooming...!
The collies' and shelties' double coats are actually decently waterproof; even swimming don't moisten their undercoats, and most dirt brushes out easily once the guard layer dries. Bliss in particular looks very nobly Scottish when it rains. That said, keeping their coats healthy (and therefore more water-repellent and dirt resistant) is relatively maintenance-intensive, compared to some dogs. I bathe them weekly to bi-weekly with professional grade shampoos and conditioners (I like Tropiclean's Awaphui white for white coats and Bio-Groom's Alpha Black for black coats, Bliss' blue parts and Rogue. I have yet to try a Pure Paws product that I did not love. Bliss gets conditioner every other bath or so, but Coba's softer, thicker coat has to be conditioned every single time. I've used Avo-Derm up until now, but I picked up some Spectrum One rough-coat conditioner at the last show, and that stuff is absolutely wonderful. I want to try their shampoo; I bet it's just great. It would probably do wonderful things to Border collie coats as well!
Ideally, I linebrush the entire dog with a pin brush after every wash, although sometimes I have time to be more thorough than others. They should be brushed when the coat is completely dry but has just a little hydration left in it; even if it is pretty pliable, I always use a grooming spray to make sure I don't break the coat at all. (even more so when brushing between baths). It takes Coba's dense undercoat about 14 hours to completely dry from a shampooing. I go through average pin bushes at a rate of one about every other month; I just picked up a nicer brush with longer pins, and I hope it has greater longevity. I don't do much shaping on Bliss, other than cleaning up his paws, but Coba gets quite a lot of shaping with thinning shears. Collies and Shelties are shown with hock fluff, which I loathe for its ability to track mud into the house, as well as its messy appearance. I keep them clean-hocked, fashion be damned.
The whole process can be relaxing for the dogs and I, and is rather meditative. Bliss loves it, although not as much as Pryde did; Coba is starting to enjoy it more and more on recent grooms. I think he likes the longer pinned brush. That's great, because the little fluffball needs the most grooming of all of my pack. Zhava, by contrast, has oddly human-like hair that gets dirty only a little more slowly than mine does. I bathe her about every 4 days or so (I'm finicky about it because she sleeps in my bed) but bathing her and brushing her takes hardly any time. Bathing double coats that often wouldn't be healthy.
That is WAAAAAAY more information than you probably wanted. XD But their coats are a bit of a hobby.
Fall and spring are my favorite seasons, and fall is a kind of spring here; the first rains have new grass up and brought the moss that grows all over everything back to life. I love the fallen maple leaves.
That's fantastic info! I usually cop-out and just take my collies to the groomer. I've seen what my dog-sister had to do to prepare for a show when she still did confirmation (Springer Spaniels). Also the issues about sneaky whitening and chalk and all that. I'm just happy if my dogs don't leave a walking dirt cloud like Pig-Pen or stink like a sulfer pond.
So, on average-- how many hours a week do you spend grooming/brushing/washing? The Borzoi must feel like a no-brainer by comparison (especially compared to Coba!).
To a certain extent my dogs enjoy the brushing, though with Apache it's only on her terms (so a lot of one side gets brushed at a time).
Oh, and my sister passed on a GREAT tip for burrs, etc.: get a horse product called ShowSheen ! You mist it onto their coats and work it in as deep as the burrs tend to go. Also keeps dirt off. My de-burring of Apache has gone from up to two hours of detangling burrs to just ten or twenty minutes! Just make sure not to do this inside or just before the dogs come inside-- or the silicon stuff will transfer to the floor and you'll do a slip-n-slide!
I think I spend about an hour a week brushing/grooming on weeks when I'm just doing maintenance (not including the time it takes to actually bathe them, which is half an hour to 45 minutes for the whole pack) 2 hours when I do a complete groom with all of the shaping, and...I try not to keep track of it, but more, if it's a pre-show groom. Honestly not that bad for four furry dogs, and I really enjoy it.
Zhava is easier to groom than the ultra double coated set, because there's just so much less hair. There are a lot of things that happen to her, however, and she's still squirmy about it. I spend about half an hour grooming her feet and legs before a show---thin off all of the excess fruff to accentuate her lovely, sculpted lines and all that. It would take less time if the puppy was more cooperative. This is a conversation that we will probably be having for some time.
Chalk and show-only cosmetics---oh LOL I hate grooming chalk, although I don't hate it nearly as much as I did when I first got it. Zhava's white bits get chalked an hour or so before entering the ring---you brush it in, let it sit for awhile, and then brush it out, because there must be none in the coat in the ring. it's especially nice for the feet, which get grass stains just walking around at the show ground. I loathe what the chalk does to Coba's texture, though, so, other than a bit to touch up his paws, I don't chalk him at all. Grooming Coba up is a long (fun!) process, but your friend with the Springers probably had to do even more---the sporting dogs need some amazingly delicate scissor work. Can't deny it looks nice on them, but that is not a skill I have (or need to); Shelties are more than enough scissoring for me!
Before a show, I add texturizing shampoo to the bath, and Coba has a texturizing mousse that gets brushed in an hour or so pre-ringtime; it's nice stuff. (I use Pure Paws brand for all of this). While bathing, just before the final rinse, I rinse Zhava's white bits and the entire Coba with hydrogen peroxide, for a truly sparkling white; this doesn't harm the coat at all, although I only do it pre-show or other special occasions. It's a nice trick. Zhava has black dog hairspray to keep her unruly, whorled coat in line; I actually really love the stuff, because it does its job really well without harming the texture of the coat.
I hadn't heard of that use for show sheen (which I know from horses); I will remember that. The river where I ride sometimes grows the most horrible goat head burrs, and once Bliss and Coba went crashing through the underbrush...and must have taken every single one they could find home with them. De-burring was horrible and took hours.
Your dogs make me wish I was a skilled dognapper. Such lovely, lovely, animals. I wish I could toss my collie-beast to you for grooming. He has been bathed 3 times in his entire life. He is a dog with some sense, so there is no fuss over grooming, but i feel like a tornado hits the bathroom and I am eating collie fur for days.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-11-03 10:50 pm (UTC)How in the world do you get the muck out of all that floof?
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Date: 2012-11-04 03:39 am (UTC)The collies' and shelties' double coats are actually decently waterproof; even swimming don't moisten their undercoats, and most dirt brushes out easily once the guard layer dries. Bliss in particular looks very nobly Scottish when it rains. That said, keeping their coats healthy (and therefore more water-repellent and dirt resistant) is relatively maintenance-intensive, compared to some dogs. I bathe them weekly to bi-weekly with professional grade shampoos and conditioners (I like Tropiclean's Awaphui white for white coats and Bio-Groom's Alpha Black for black coats, Bliss' blue parts and Rogue. I have yet to try a Pure Paws product that I did not love. Bliss gets conditioner every other bath or so, but Coba's softer, thicker coat has to be conditioned every single time. I've used Avo-Derm up until now, but I picked up some Spectrum One rough-coat conditioner at the last show, and that stuff is absolutely wonderful. I want to try their shampoo; I bet it's just great. It would probably do wonderful things to Border collie coats as well!
Ideally, I linebrush the entire dog with a pin brush after every wash, although sometimes I have time to be more thorough than others. They should be brushed when the coat is completely dry but has just a little hydration left in it; even if it is pretty pliable, I always use a grooming spray to make sure I don't break the coat at all. (even more so when brushing between baths). It takes Coba's dense undercoat about 14 hours to completely dry from a shampooing. I go through average pin bushes at a rate of one about every other month; I just picked up a nicer brush with longer pins, and I hope it has greater longevity. I don't do much shaping on Bliss, other than cleaning up his paws, but Coba gets quite a lot of shaping with thinning shears. Collies and Shelties are shown with hock fluff, which I loathe for its ability to track mud into the house, as well as its messy appearance. I keep them clean-hocked, fashion be damned.
The whole process can be relaxing for the dogs and I, and is rather meditative. Bliss loves it, although not as much as Pryde did; Coba is starting to enjoy it more and more on recent grooms. I think he likes the longer pinned brush. That's great, because the little fluffball needs the most grooming of all of my pack. Zhava, by contrast, has oddly human-like hair that gets dirty only a little more slowly than mine does. I bathe her about every 4 days or so (I'm finicky about it because she sleeps in my bed) but bathing her and brushing her takes hardly any time. Bathing double coats that often wouldn't be healthy.
That is WAAAAAAY more information than you probably wanted. XD But their coats are a bit of a hobby.
Fall and spring are my favorite seasons, and fall is a kind of spring here; the first rains have new grass up and brought the moss that grows all over everything back to life. I love the fallen maple leaves.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-04 09:20 pm (UTC)So, on average-- how many hours a week do you spend grooming/brushing/washing? The Borzoi must feel like a no-brainer by comparison (especially compared to Coba!).
To a certain extent my dogs enjoy the brushing, though with Apache it's only on her terms (so a lot of one side gets brushed at a time).
Oh, and my sister passed on a GREAT tip for burrs, etc.: get a horse product called ShowSheen ! You mist it onto their coats and work it in as deep as the burrs tend to go. Also keeps dirt off. My de-burring of Apache has gone from up to two hours of detangling burrs to just ten or twenty minutes! Just make sure not to do this inside or just before the dogs come inside-- or the silicon stuff will transfer to the floor and you'll do a slip-n-slide!
no subject
Date: 2012-11-07 12:23 am (UTC)Zhava is easier to groom than the ultra double coated set, because there's just so much less hair. There are a lot of things that happen to her, however, and she's still squirmy about it. I spend about half an hour grooming her feet and legs before a show---thin off all of the excess fruff to accentuate her lovely, sculpted lines and all that. It would take less time if the puppy was more cooperative. This is a conversation that we will probably be having for some time.
Chalk and show-only cosmetics---oh LOL I hate grooming chalk, although I don't hate it nearly as much as I did when I first got it. Zhava's white bits get chalked an hour or so before entering the ring---you brush it in, let it sit for awhile, and then brush it out, because there must be none in the coat in the ring. it's especially nice for the feet, which get grass stains just walking around at the show ground. I loathe what the chalk does to Coba's texture, though, so, other than a bit to touch up his paws, I don't chalk him at all. Grooming Coba up is a long (fun!) process, but your friend with the Springers probably had to do even more---the sporting dogs need some amazingly delicate scissor work. Can't deny it looks nice on them, but that is not a skill I have (or need to); Shelties are more than enough scissoring for me!
Before a show, I add texturizing shampoo to the bath, and Coba has a texturizing mousse that gets brushed in an hour or so pre-ringtime; it's nice stuff. (I use Pure Paws brand for all of this). While bathing, just before the final rinse, I rinse Zhava's white bits and the entire Coba with hydrogen peroxide, for a truly sparkling white; this doesn't harm the coat at all, although I only do it pre-show or other special occasions. It's a nice trick. Zhava has black dog hairspray to keep her unruly, whorled coat in line; I actually really love the stuff, because it does its job really well without harming the texture of the coat.
I hadn't heard of that use for show sheen (which I know from horses); I will remember that. The river where I ride sometimes grows the most horrible goat head burrs, and once Bliss and Coba went crashing through the underbrush...and must have taken every single one they could find home with them. De-burring was horrible and took hours.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-10 02:46 am (UTC)