Balancing the need for
a great show coat and the desire and sensibility of having a dog
lead an active dog's life, is sometimes a dilemma for exhibitors.
I have seen exhibitors
keep dogs in crates or boxes for most of the show career sitting
up like little Budgies in a cage, let out for supervised periods
to do the necessary. Sure they have great coats and no staining
on elbows etc but others like to let the dog romp and frankly,
I for one, am forever dreaming up kennel suituations and concoctions
in my endeavours to balance my act!
So if like me, you let the dogs run free and despite using white
rounded stones in the runs and despite using two pack paint on
the concrete and everything else known to man you have ended up
with red elbows or stained whites, then here are some suggestions.
We have spoken about bleaching
and my thoughts on it and my alternative recipe in a previous
article "The Big Coverup". There are other ideas you
may wish to resort to as well. Those that know, tell me that Velvet
Soap is good and I have used it with success myself as I have
with Sard Wonder Soap. Both are available from the supermarket
and I lean towards Sard for crisp white but if it is a creamier
white you like - good on whites for a red or gold/tan dog - then
use Velvet. Work the soap well into the stain and leave for 10
minutes. Wash well.
The other blissful bit of info I gleaned at recent shows in the
U.S.A. was the use of Baking Soda - good old bicarb! Again available
in the supermarket and if you want something environmentally friendly
and useful for 9 squillion different things, then this is the
thing for you. There's a great book out, titled Baking Soda by
Vicki Lansky explaining how you can clean out all the other houeshold
cleaning stuff and this will do the trick.
To clean up those whites
you can mix a paste of Bicarb and water and apply to stain and
leave for 15 minutes and wash well.
Then use Plush Puppy Deep Cleansing Shampoo for
all the white areas to remove any residual staining of products
or toned build up from shampoos. If you have ever had blonde hi-lites
in your own hair you will note that after a couple of weeks they
are less bright and a clarifying shampoo can pick them up once
again. Well, PP Deep Cleansing
Shampoo is a clarifying shampoo and all the whites will
be pristine once you give them a good going over with this. Use
neat or diluted but every time you dilute you lessen the cleansing.
You can leave it on for as long as you like to lift staining and
then rinse well. Now you are working with a clean slate once more.
Now for that lovely silvery sheen. Using the Plush Puppy Whitening Shampoo go over the
areas once more. Bingo! Nice shimmery and sparkly whites. Use
the Whitening Shampoo
the times in between the deep cleansing week as your regular whitening
shampoo.
Now condition! You need
to build up a nice barrier to safeguard against further grit and
grime and conditioner is the easiest and best thing. Use Plush Puppy Silk Protein
Conditioner. Smells, good, feels great and puts lovely
organic proteins back into the coat.
The grooming process on
show day is simple. If you have any areas that are still an issue,
then you need to cover them up whether it be elbows, tear stains
or dribble staining around the mouth or bib. Whip out the Plush Puppy Cover Up Cream
which is a nice thick white paste and is opaque and will mostly
stay on till washed off.
Cover Up Cream
is a cinch to use. Cut up a kitchen sponge into manageable pieces
and use lightly damp to dab into the paste and apply, or, use
an old toothbrush and dip into the paste and then work right through
from skin to ends of coat with the brush. This is especially good
for elbows and short coat areas. Let it dry slightly No little
wall-flower dog for you any more!
All you need to do now
is seal the finish with a spray of Plush
Puppy Shine & Comb for extra gloss and that look of
gleaming good health. You can apply the Shine & Comb either directly or if
a fine coat and you like less rather than more, then apply to
hands and skim over.
Don't forget the perfume.
Let's look and smell really good about this. Spritz with Plush Puppy Odour Muncher.
This fab product works kind of like Fabreeze but as that is an
industrial grade product we have sourced a wonderful animal friendly
variant and combined it with a glorious fragrance. This does not
just mask the odour but leaves a fresh clean smell. It literally
munches the odour.
If you have special recipes
for removing stains we'd love to hear them and share them around.
Happy showing!
CHERYL LECOURT
Plush
Puppy Deep Cleansing Shampoo
Plush
Puppy Herbal Whitening Shampoo
Plush
Puppy Cover Up Cream
Plush
Puppy Shine & Comb
Plush
Puppy Odour Muncher