It's always interesting
to talk to exhibitors and find out their problems and the things
they avoid doing. Blow drying seems to be a big avoidance and
if it is done it is usually minimal. It can and ought to be easy.
The main negative for those
with long flowing coated dogs is the tangles they get into. Some
breeds have massive length on their coats and the question is
how to tackle this with less fuss.
Understand that the blow
dryer has to blow in the direction that the coat grows - in other
words, away from the skin so the dryer has to be pointed away
from the skin towards the end tips of the coat. It's the same
with people hair. Blow it in the correct direction and no more
fuzz and tangle.
You can use a stationary
dryer on a stand or as I do with a hose and nozzle style dryer.
You can adjust the speeds and heat for the coat that you are drying
but once adept can usually manage most things with a strong blasting
cool dryer. The quicker I get my dogs coats dry the better. I
have run out of patience as I have got older. I like to do things
that are quick and no wasted time.
My friend who is a great
groomer likes to sit in front of the dog and with the air from
her stand dryer coming over the back of the dog towards her. She
then brushes the coat towards her body using various mixes of
styling products to ease the brush through the various textures
of coat.
I prefer to stand and hold
the dryer nozzle in one hand and brush with the other away from
my body. Maybe it's all the years of hairdressing and working
to a mirror for the client? I just find this easier. You decide
what you feel is most comfortable for you but it isn't that pleasant
having a dryer coming at your face if you work the former method.
I like to use my fingers
for the first part of the drying whilst it is really wet. Once
the coat starts to dry a bit then I revert to using an appropriate
brush for the coat I am working on. For the longer coats I like
to use a half bristle and half plastic oval pin cushion brush.
For the softer single coats I like an all bristle brush. Plush
Puppy has two brushes available at the moment. The Porcupine
Brush which is a 1/2 and 1/2 oval pin cushion and the
all bristle Silver Bullet. Neither
are expensive and the Porcupine is really cheap for it's type.
A Mason Pearson it is not but at this price you can have a few
get eaten by the dog and a few borrowed from your grooming trolley.
I tend to mix my styling
products with water at the strength that will suit the various
coats. Some coats I can use products neat but the infinite variety
of the coats necessitates a tailored to the individual approach
to get the best from all of them. Plush Puppy makes a dinky Water Spray Bottle that holds approx 1
cup water or 250 mls with graduated marked levels on the side.
They fit just right into the tack box and are just right for most
things.
For tangle free coats
I use a variety of things but mostly one of 3. For the lighter
less likely to tangle coats I use Reviva
Coat plus water at a rate of 1 tablespoon to 1 cup/250
ml water. For coats that require more and where I want it to hang
flatter I use Blow Dry Cream at
the same dilution rate and for the coats where I want more lift
and volume I use Volumising Cream
and water again at the same dilution rate.
If you want to achieve
a straighter coat, you can combine Swishy
Coat and Blow Dry Cream
- a dessertspoon of each to 1 cup/250 ml water. Make it warm water
for easy dissolving. The Swishy Coat
is a wonderful product and though a silicone product is
totally water soluble and will not attract dirt and dust nor build
up on the coat. It is not a single molecule silicone but one of
the newer, expensive, multiple molecule silicones. Chemistry has
progressed.
You can break down/dilute
these products as much or as little as your dog's coat requires.
These are a guide line only, however they serve to satisfy the
requirements of the majority of coats that I see. In one scenario
that we recently had to solve the rate of dilution was 1 tablespoon
Swishy Coat to a gallon or roughly
5 litres of warm water. This was for a young puppy Shih Tzu changing
coat.
I just love Blow
Dry Cream for most tangling situations. I use it and trust
it. It works just fine and I never get nasty snarling tangles
on my Eurasiers pants anymore. An Eurasier is a rare breed rather
like a coloured Samoyed to look at though that is a simplistic
description. He has long coated pants and ruff and long heavily
tufted coat rear of his front legs. His tail is a long plume.
These coats can be a nightmare if not handled correctly especially
whilst changing to adult coat. Thank Heavens for Blow
Dry Cream. I have just had a litter with a nice black
Eurasier boy in it. This will be fun to roadtest my grooming skills
on. There is officially no grooming regime for the Eurasier so
I have invented one and present them much to the interest of the
many FCI judges we get here in Australia, this being a German
breed.
Most of the products we
have developed have been developed out of direct need. We show
dogs just like you and our quest is to find newer and better ways
of achieving a good presentation. All dogs need attention to coat
and being able to achieve what you want the coat to do makes that
time in grooming worth while.
CHERYL LE COURT
Plush
Puppy Reviva Coat
Plush
Puppy Swishy Coat
Plush Puppy
Spray Bottle
Plush Puppy Volumising Cream
Plush Puppy
Blow Dry Cream
Plush
Puppy Porcupine Brush
Plush Puppy Silver Bullet