Bath-Time & Other Stuff

So nowadays I don't pluck either of my ACD girls' ears. I do, however, trim ear hair and make sure it's growing OUT of ears and not into ears. I also clean once a week (during their weekly grooming sessions) and after beach visits or other contact with water; including after a bath. I also ensure that hair behind ears and round to under chin is kept clipped short to allow air-flow (details on grooming page).

You'll need Kleo, (or EpiOtic or similar) for cleaning ears - I've tried both and went back to Kleo as it doesn't seem to bother the dogs as much. I think epiotic must sting as, although I DO try all products on my own skin first, I draw the line at pouring stuff down my ears! You'll also need cotton wool for drying off after using the Kleo (I use the round make-up remover pads as they don't drop fluff); doggy toothpaste and toothbrush for keeping teeth nice and clean as even with regular chews their teeth will need descaling eventually if you don't clean them. I was recently reading about home-made doggy toothpaste which is equal parts coconut oil and baking soda. I haven't tried it yet, but will adjust this comment when I get 'round to testing it.

UPDATE:  Yes I tried the home-made doggy toothpaste and I'm a convert. The dogs don't object to it at all really, certainly much less than the commercial stuff; better yet, I know there's nothing nasty in it. More importantly it does a really good job - so much so that I tried it myself .. yeah, NAH! The dogs might not object to the salty taste of the bicarb, but not something I'm a fan of!

I have read some stuff about bicarb being poisonous for dogs but the tiny bit they ingest when having their teeth cleaned every week isn't enough to do any harm - and YES I did check that with a vet.

You can buy doggy toothbrushes from the Reject Shop for a few dollars, but I've found the type pictured on the right to be the most effective. The ones that look like human toothbrushes can be a bit harsh on the gum-line, while the ones that look like little shovels kept falling off my finger.

Picture on right links to where I got mine on Aliexpress. They're inexpensive (I paid under $3 each including the plastic holder), come in a range of colours, you can actually feel what you are doing as your finger is inside. The plastic holder is very handy as it not only keeps things clean when not in use, it can be used to hold a spoonful of your home-made toothpaste so you don't "double dip" into your bigger container. I just throw the whole lot into the cutlery thingy in the dishwasher when I'm done.

Check out Ebay and Aliexpress for current prices. I got mine for under $3 each from Aliexpress (free delivery) and they came in the box. The one I got from ebay was double and didn't have a box, but I did get it quicker as vendor is in Australia.

UPDATE:

I can't actually remember where I heard it first, but my clean teeth "go to" nowadays is a product called "Simply Seaweed". It's a particular sea kelp (dried) that you put in your dogs' food. Apparently it works on the gut enzymes which then come back up into the mouth and dissolve plaque.

Again, do an internet search as pricing varies enormously. It's cheaper to buy in bulk - so a group of us got together and split a 5kg tub. As you only use a tiny bit, I keep the bulk of mine in the freezer just to keep as fresh as possible, and then decant into a smaller container on my benchtop. The difference in the breath and general mouth health is particularly obvious with my Little Muppet (ageing Maltese X Pom) - we don't mind her breathing in our faces nowadays; plus we're saving a fortune/not risking her life by not having to get her teeth cleaned at the vet every year or so.

I learnt the hard way not to use hard bones when Molly cracked a tooth on a goat foot a few years ago. $1200 that little exercise cost at the vet, not to mention the pain she must have been in but didn't tell me about (I discovered it on weekly teeth cleaning - another very good reason to include checking mouths in your weekly grooming regime). Nowadays my lot only get chewy stuff like dried sharkskins and cartilage from https://www.cleardog.com.au/ - the cheapest and best place I've found for all natural doggy treats, particularly if you like to buy in bulk like I do when not making my own. Cleardog states their products contain no additives and all ingredients are only sourced from Australia or NZ. Picture on the left is a favourite in our house - 1kg bag of fish jerky strips for less than $60 last time I checked (also comes in smaller bags). They do everything from beef to goat, lamb, pork and venison. I don't buy chook anything any more due to Indie-Dog's allergies.

When buying treats (or anything really) I always check the per kilo price. Most natural dog treat sites think "large" is a 200g bag - when you calculate the per kilo price, you faint! Cleardog's idea of small is usually about 400g and most can be bought in kilo bags. If you spend more than $99 (easy peasy!) it's free delivery and once you've sorted out your fur-baby's "faves" you can save even more by placing a recurring order. When I first found the site, a bunch of us (local ACD parents) got together to place an order so we didn't have to pay postage. After that we didn't need to combine any more because each of us spends over the $99 individually. Also worth noting is that if you sign up for their newsletter they let you know about monthly specials - usually 15% off. Other than letting you know about specials they pretty much leave you alone, so it's worth doing IMO.

I also make my own doggy treats - but that's another story that I've linked to HERE and in the menu bar if you're interested.

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Detanglers - Vital for Your Mental Health

Everyone has been raving about Cowboy Magic as a detangler, but I found that the chemical smell didn't aqree with me at all, plus it turns the floor into a skating rink if you drop any - I nearly killed my hubby when unbeknownst to me I'd "dribbled" some on our verandah when grooming outside one sunny day!

I found that Dr Zoo Grooming Cream works better, smells better, doesn't turn the floor into a skating rink if you drop some, leaves MY skin feeling soft (probably because it's all natural ingredients including coconut) and per ml is cheaper. I also started using their shampoo/conditioner on my lot and liked that too. I also like that Dr Zoo products are Australian made 🙂. Dr Zoo products are here: https://moogoo.com.au/au_pack/.

Then there's the Underwater Dogs detangler; also Australian made and with nothing nasty added - so if you have a dog with sensitive skin I'd suggest it might be better to stick with either the Dr Zoo or Underwater Dogs products. I've also used the Underwater Dogs shampoo and conditioner and they're excellent too (see shampoos and conditioners below for full run-down).

I then trialled Heiniger Pro-Magic, I have to say it's the bomb! I probably won't be restocking the Dr Zoo detangler as I bought the 500ml pro-magic concentrate rather than the premix. It's significantly more expensive but you can dilute it at different rates for different purposes: 10:1 for heavily matted coats, 20:1 for light detangling and shine or 30:1 for a pre-scissoring spritz. So if you're thinking long-term it's much cheaper.

Amazingly it's much cheaper buying Pro-Magic from Mars Grooming Products than directly from Heiniger - go figure! At this stage I'm thinking all I'll need is this, my trusty coconut oil (see below) and my UWD comb (see brushes and combs page).  I can also happily report that even Indie-dog's hugely sensitive skin doesn't object to any concentration of the Pro-Magic either (relief!).

For really bad mats just use coconut oil (yep, the one from the supermarket) rub a little well into the mat, leave a few minutes and then gently comb through. I've found that unless you get right down to skin when you cut a mat out, it will just reform from the tiny bits left behind. With the coconut oil method you can gently line comb out the very last teeny weeny bits right down to the skin and the mat doesn't come back - well not in that spot anyway. Plus you don't end up with a dog reminiscent of an ageing bear-skin rug (full of holes!). Remember though, it's oil so it hangs around - best used sparingly unless you know baby is going in the bath straight afterwards.

For a totally matted dog, rub oil right down to the skin and up, anywhere there's matting. Then crate for a couple of hours/overnight (so you don't end up with oil everywhere), then line comb from the skin out and bathe. Set aside plenty of time cos it's going to take a while! Remember you're starting at the skin and working OUT towards the topcoat. Same with combing, working from the top means you'll likely miss the real trouble-makers at skin level. If you hit a mat that you just can't comb out, then cut it VERTICALLY from the ends to the skin so it's in several sections, then gently tease each section out with your comb. If you do it vertically rather than horizontally you're less likely to leave a hole that shows. I guarantee you that once you've had to do all this ONCE, you'll never go that long without grooming again (experience talking).

On the subject of bathing; ALWAYS do a brush and comb through before giving a bath, otherwise the bath will make any matting MUCH worse. So you groom, bathe and dry without rubbing as that causes matting. I currently let mine dry naturally after using a shear magic towel I bought on spec when I got my clippers (to combine postage) and I LOVE it. I can't believe how much water it soaks up - easily the equivalent of 4 ordinary towels for each dog. Then I recently had the opportunity to try a friends' collection of doggy hairdryers; I'll review those and tell you which one I've ordered and where to get it once it's arrived and I've used it on my girls a few times to make sure I made the right decision.

Once they're completely dry I groom again. It's a long process and one of the reasons mine only get a bath 2 or 3 times a year unless they've rolled in something truly disgusting. Mostly I don't bath too often as it's very bad for their skin, destroys all their natural oils and really isn't necessary if you groom weekly - exception being Indie-Dog who has to have a bath after every beach visit as the salt will set up major skin problems if not completely washed out. Oh yes, you'll need nail clippers too - the type that look a little like garden shears not the ones that push the blade forward as that can tear or crush the nail - and you'll only get to hurt your dog once to never be allowed to clip their nails again!

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Shampoos & Conditioners

So first off I need to have my say on recommendations I've seen posted around the internet for using human shampoos etc. or even wool wash for bathing your dogs. My advice would be DON'T - dogs have a different skin PH to we humans so if you use human products you'll likely end up with skin problems long-term. As for wool wash? Is this a living animal or an item of clothing? Enough said! Dogs and horses have similar physiology believe it or not, so horse products are generally fine for dogs - I'm talking shampoo, conditioner, detanglers here, not worming products etc.

I have four dogs: 2 ageing Maltese Crosses and two Australian Cobberdogs. Of the four, three are "normal" dogs and one is a very, very itchy dog indeed!  That would be Indie (ACD) and I've tried all kinds of shampoos and conditioners on my gorgeous Indie to try and relieve her symptoms; from the Malaseb prescribed by the Vet, to Aloveen, Moogoo, various herbal potions and everything in between. None of them even slightly alleviated her symptoms and a lot of them made her scratching and chewing even worse.

Then someone on one of the ACD FB pages recommended Underwater Dogs shampoos and conditioners, so I emailed the company and asked what they suggested I use to try and help my lovely itchy girl.

Gayle of UWD was very helpful and suggested using their puppy shampoo and conditioner for a weekly bath and condition for 3 weeks, leaving conditioner on her most affected areas but rinsing off from the rest of her body. After the initial three weekly baths, I should gradually increase the time between baths - first 2 weeks for a month or so, then every month, then back to my normal bath intervals (in our house twice a year or if they've found something truly putrid on the farm and rolled in it!).

Products arrived and Indie was duly plonked in the bath for the start of the trial. For the very first bath she had to be bathed twice - my instructions were that the product doesn't "foam" up very much so don't get worried and use too much. I was actually amazed at how much dirt came out of her with so few bubbles. The second wash foamed a little more, but again Gayle had told me that I shouldn't expect lots of bubbles as Underwater Dogs doesn't contain any of the nasties that make bubbles happen. She also told me to expect Indie's coat to feel very soft and "silken" by the time she'd had two washes and one condition. She didn't exaggerate, Indie smelt divine and felt amazing to the touch. I blotted her dry with my trusty shear magic towel and then let her loose to finish air drying. Quick comb through and all done. She didn't touch any of her usual attack spots for a good 24 hours. Then gradually it became business as usual in the chewing department. Still 24 hours was better than we'd ever managed before.

   
Click on piccies to go to appropriate page on the UW Dogs website - far right is the new formula for extra sensitive skin

Week 2 and Gayle said only one shampoo followed by conditioner as usual. This time I left the conditioner on her whole body and that, as it turned out, was a mistake. It made her SO soft that she turned into a giant mat-ball! Yes I could have used my trusty Pro-groom spray, but there's no sense in running a trial of a product line and then mixing it with another product. A quick SOS email to Gayle and the Underwater Dogs Detangler was on it's way Express Post to arrive in time for her Week 3 bath.

Week 3 I learned my lesson and, after removing all mats before her bath with the UWD detangler, I shampooed once, then conditioned but only left the conditioner on the parts Indie regularly chewed and scratched, the rest of her body I rinsed off. Then she was dried and combed through as usual. No major matting this time, and any tiny ones were taken care of with a quick spritz of the UW detangler and a gentle tease out with the comb.

Week 4 was supposed to be bath-free with next one due Week 5. However, I gave all my dogs brisket bones I found in the bottom of the freezer - NOT a good idea for Indie, who proceeded to tear her feet and under chin to pieces by that evening. So next morning I washed/conditioned her feet, ladybits and under chin, leaving the conditioner in. This seemed to ease symptoms significantly ... and I took myself off to the naughty corner!

Week 5 she was supposed to have another full bath, but as she was doing well l just washed and conditioned her feet/chin/bits. I figured that it could be she'd just have to have a weekly feet/bits/chin wash forever, with a full bath/condition after we've been to the beach or if she'd rolled in something truly putrid - I decided to just play it by ear.

Conclusions: I do believe the root cause of Indie's problems are almost definitely a food (all meat protein other than fish) and environmental (grass) allergic reaction. However, unlike a variety of other products I have tried, from Malaseb and other medicated potions (prescribed by the vet), to Aloveen, Oatmeal, a range of herbals and other "soothing" shampoos and conditioners, the Underwater Dogs products (unlike the others) do actually ease symptoms for a while - even when I've done something really bad like giving her a brisket bone. Although there has been no "cure" as such to date, the reduction in symptoms is enough to make me a convert. I'll update this section as time goes on, so if you have an itchy dog yourself, pop back to see how we're going from time to time - and yes, I would most definitely recommend giving Underwater Dogs a go.

Update: Early 2023 Gayle introduced a new "extra sensitive" formula for both shampoo and conditioner. Smells divine and works just as well on Indie-Dog's sensitive skin without causing any problems. It's designed for dogs severe skin problems, so if your fur-baby is a sufferer then maybe start with this combination.

 
Miss Molly and her curly coat on the left, Indie and her much finer coat on the right

I gave Mollydog her pre-xmas bath in the Underwater Dogs products and was suitably impressed with how soft, silky and mat-free she was after her bath. Usually her curls take a few days to reform nicely after a bath/clip, but she was back to "normal" almost immediately after the UWD bath and condition.

Update: on the recommendation of one of the ladies on an ACD owner group I trialled the Tropiclean shampoo designed specifically for curly and wavy coats on Miss Molly - who is definitely a curly lady. Works like a dream with her curls left beautifully formed and springy with no "fuzziness". Also leaves her soft to the touch and shiny. It works just as well on Indie's wavy coat, but as Indie-dog is such an itchy girl I tend to stick to the UWD products for her as I know they don't cause any irritation to her highly sensitive skin. For the Tropiclean shampoo Amazon was the cheapest, but as always do a google search as prices are changing all the time.

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Equipment Hygiene

To keep Clipper blades clean you'll need something like Andis Cool Care or Trimmercide. The Trimmercide is great as it has a long nozzle thingy and blasts really hard so you can get the hair out from between blade teeth; both say they cool, disinfect and prevent rust - and I have found that to be true in both cases.

There's one called Clippercide which comes in an orange spray can - I was just about to try it when I came across quite a few reviews claiming it had rusted peoples' blades, so I didn't bother. I've invested too much in my equipment to have it rusted out that way thanks!

Andis Cool Care is great for cooling blades during use, then cleaning blades and scissors when you've finished grooming. It doesn't have a nozzle like Trimmercide though so not so great at cleaning between blade "teeth". However it's cheaper and easier to get hold of than the Trimmercide.

ALWAYS hold clippers with blade down when spraying during use to cool down so liquid runs AWAY from your motor not into it. When you've finished with your clippers for the day, take off the blade and clean inside clippers with the brush provided. If you bought second-hand and don't have the brush, then a cheap toothbrush (kept ONLY for that purpose) does the job just as well.

Spray and clean your blades and scissors; let dry, then oil them, wipe clean with a soft cloth (I use cheap microfibre ones you get from the Reject Shop in packs of 3 for $2) and put them away in their case(s). Clipper oil should come with your clippers and will last AGES as you only use a teeny weeny bit.

I've recently learned that clipper oil is not the best for scissor care - for that you need Camellia oil. A small bottle will last forever, so don't go mad with a huge size unless you want to use it on your face/body as well (it's supposed to be good for human skin too - I'll let you know if my husband asks what I've done with his wrinkled up missus at some stage in the not too distant future).

If you need to store your blades for a long time for some reason; then after oiling and wiping off excess, wrap in cling-film before putting away in your blade case. If you don't have a blade case, a "tupperware" type container works just fine, just wrap in a soft cloth so they don't rattle around in the box and potentially get damaged.

I found this blade case on Temu for less than AU$20 (including GST and delivery) which works really well for storing blades safely. If you click on the link it will take you to the current listing; but if that's gone then just do a search for "blade case". As with all things "Temu" there are usually several vendors selling the same thing for vastly different prices, so scroll around and check. Also, I've found if you leave stuff in your cart for a day or so, you'll frequently be offered a discount to encourage you to check-out.

As with everything, do an internet search for the cooling/disinfectant spray and oil refills as prices vary enormously and a place that was cheapest this week could be the most expensive next week (don't forget to take postage costs into account when comparing as that can vary enormously too).

UPDATE: I thought I'd try compressed air to blow hair out of blades before using (much more expensive) Trimmercide. Then I actually read the instructions for cleaning my Opal clippers and was told that you should NEVER use compressed air on any part of your clippers or blades ... oops!