# Itching NONSTOP after bath



## Diann (Apr 25, 2011)

Hello. Last night I needed to give Lucy a bath and dreaded it! It takes forever to dry and comb through her hair. Her wet hair is "stuck and tangled" against her body and I've always used a CC 000 comb because I didn't want to "rip" her hair so I'm very meticulously and it takes FOREVER! 

So I did some quick Google searching and ran into a Havanese breeder's website that gave me some real good ideas. I tried them and the drying/combing time was a breeze and we were done in at least half the time. Problem is, Lucy has been itching nonstop since. 

1) Use free-flowing water (non-spray nozzle). I am a believer now that the sprayer tangles the hair, which is what the website states. 

2) Focus product away from the skin and gently knead the product into the hair. 

3) Combine Neutrogena Body Oil 20-1 and spritz that on the coat while wet. 

4) Don't let the dog romp and skid their wet body across the floor or in towels as this also tangles the hair. 

I did these things, well sort of. First, I think I may have mixed up and washed her with CC Spectrum 10 conditioner instead of the CC Spectrum 10 shampoo. The only reason I think this is that when I went to grab the conditioner, it was shampoo. So I don't know for sure. (Old age glitch happened.) 

I rinsed her gently, trying to not tangle the hair and because I tried to not rub the product (whatever it was) into her hair, I did not rinse her body as deeply and powerfully (no jets from shower head). 

I couldn't find an empty spray bottle to mix the neutrogena so I added it to an existing solution mix I had of Coat Handlers conditioner/water. 


The drying process was a breeze. I loved it! The pin brush went through her hair like butter. She looks beautiful, but she's scratching all the time. 

So my questions now, if you're still reading this, are 1) What do you think is causing Lucy to itch so? Did I miss getting all the product out of her hair rinsing her so gently? 2) Is it the Neutrogena (the only product that was different in this process)? 3) Do I rewash her or just re-rinse her? 4) How do you keep the hair from being "stuck" to the skin and matted when you get them out of the bath/shower? 

Thank you.

By the way, Lucy's hair is about 8 inches long now.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Diann said:


> Hello. Last night I needed to give Lucy a bath and dreaded it! It takes forever to dry and comb through her hair. Her wet hair is "stuck and tangled" against her body and I've always used a CC 000 comb because I didn't want to "rip" her hair so I'm very meticulously and it takes FOREVER!
> 
> So I did some quick Google searching and ran into a Havanese breeder's website that gave me some real good ideas. I tried them and the drying/combing time was a breeze and we were done in at least half the time. Problem is, Lucy has been itching nonstop since.
> 
> ...


If she's that itchy, if she were my dog, I'd completely re-wash her. You changed a lot of variables at once, so it's hard to be sure what is causing her to itch, but my first guess would be that she wasn't adequately rinsed. Even if (especially if!) you don't use a sprayer, you are going to have to work HARD to get her rinsed thoroughly, right down to the skin. I have to say, I've ALWAYS used the hand sprayer on our sink, and never had any problems with it causing tangles. I do make sure I spray in the direction the hair grows, though, not randomly. Could that be the difference?

Also, I'm not sure that mixing the Neutrogena and the other conditioner might have been a problem. I love the smell of Neutrogena products, but any scents have the potential to irritate some animals' (and some people's!) sensitive skin. 
So you'll need to play with these variables separately, and see if you can figure out which is the problem.:bathbaby:


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Just another thought because it happened to me. Could she have fleas? I had also changed shampoo at the same time and blamed it on that. But within a day or so I found a flea on Zoey. 
I gave Zoey a bath last night and she itched for awhile after too. I used the sprayer and I also use a pitcher. I mix their shampoo and conditioner in the pitcher. I also give the final few rinses with the pitcher because more water comes out. Maybe she got a bit of a burn did you use cool air? Maybe the pin brush is to stiff? Or like Karen thought the sent in the product may have caused a reaction. I use Apple cider vinegar as my final rinse. Its not only good for the skin but will help flea control.
Can you copy and paste the video? I would like to watch it.


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

I personally have untangled many coats over the past couple of years. There are a few points that I think are important. Actually, Karen has already touched on most of these.

1. A product you used may have irritated her skin. You need to figure out what that was and not use it again. Just like people, dogs have different reactions to different products, especially if it has a lot of fragrance. 2. Products were not rinsed out of the skin and coat properly. This is common on a tangled coat, the product takes longer because of all the bends and twists and it doesn't flow out easily. You need to do a "squeak test." Even after conditioning, the hair should feel clean. when you rub your fingers against the hair, it should "squeak". This is more important for the shampoo as that is more of an irritant to the skin. Conditioner should be rinsed out well too. The hair may not "squeak" so much as after a shampoo, but it should not coat the dog either. 3. Water does not cause the hair to tangle, although a dryer can tangle a coat. The tangles are already in the coat. The only reason why you are just noticing them now is because the water collapses and condenses the hair all together, forming the tight tangles. 

The tangles were loose in the coat before the bath, and they may be hard to notice. You need to use the fine part of a comb all over to see where they are. I use a good slicker brush to work the tangle out, as a comb will just pull on the dog. The comb is for maintenance work if you are already doing it faithfully every day, and for identifying hard to see mats. Also if a dog is dirty it can be harder to comb out the coat out because of the build up of natural oils. 

You need to make sure the dog is combletely combed out with NO tangles in the coat, as in you can lie the dog down, line comb the coat, and the comb will not have ANY resistance through the hair, throughout the ENTIRE dog. If you can't do this, you will only make the situation worse by bathing the dog, as now the tangles are tightened and can be harder to get out. It's easier in the sense that you can now actually see where the tangles are, but harder in the sense that you will lose a lot more coat getting the tangles out at that stage. Which is only a problem if you are showing your dog. IF not, then you just have to work on it and get the coat back into good condition. 

If I were you, first I would determine how much the dog is being bothered by the product. If she's really itching and it's bothering her, I would bathe her again with whatever regular shampoo and conditioner you've used before that you know didn't bother her. If she is not that bad and can stand it, I would work on the coat for a little before rebathing her.

This is something I've told many of my clients: It doesn't matter if you have the best shampoo, conditioner, detangler, whatever, products don't untangle a coat. You do. Getting in there and working on the problem areas until the tangle is completely gone. Instead of brushing a little bit all over, only work on one area until it's perfect, then go to another area. You have to observe the dog for signs of stress and also look at the skin to make sure it is ok. If your dog knows you won't hurt her, she will tolerate it. If you're yanking and pulling and taking 4 hours to do it, the relationship suffers. 

I will look on youtube to see if I can find any good de-matting videos so you can see what I'm talking about.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

I'm confused why the website you found said the sprayer tangles the hair!??
I couldn't do Tillie's bath without my hand held sprayer!!! Filling up a cup and dumping it over her not only takes forever, but it doesn't fully rinse the products out!!
I used the hand held sprayer and rinse and rinse and rinse and rinse some more!!


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## Diann (Apr 25, 2011)

I misspoke. It wasn't a breeders page, it was a Havanese clubs page. http://www.northstarhavaneseclub.com/Pages/GroomingFullCoat.aspx

I do line comb her before bathing. The problem I have is after she's wet the hair is stuck to her and a comb or brush will not go through her hair. I basically have to line comb her again before I blow dry that area and then the dryer tangles it again. I wonder if my obsession with keeping her mat free has worn the ends of her hair and its not healthy.

Another note, she'll be 2 in July and I've just started noticing lots of white guard hairs coming in all throughout her black hair. Could part of the tangle problem be blowing coat still?
thank you for your help!


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

Diann said:


> I misspoke. It wasn't a breeders page, it was a Havanese clubs page. http://www.northstarhavaneseclub.com/Pages/GroomingFullCoat.aspx
> 
> I do line comb her before bathing. The problem I have is after she's wet the hair is stuck to her and a comb or brush will not go through her hair. I basically have to line comb her again before I blow dry that area and then the dryer tangles it again. I wonder if my obsession with keeping her mat free has worn the ends of her hair and its not healthy.
> 
> ...


Hard to tell without seeing the dog. If she truly is mat-free she shouldn't have tangles after a bath, especially after a conditioner. Yes, if she has new hair growth that could be creating problems. Also, if you are brushing too harshly and pulling out hair that is not tangled, there will be new growth for that and it could cause you problems.

But basically for me I couldn't tell you exactly without seeing her. But something's not adding up for me. She either is mat-free or she isn't. If she isn't then that would explain your issues.


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

I find Brody very hard to comb when he is very wet, the comb doesn't even want to go through. I comb him out really well before his bath, then after his bath we sit together with him wrapped in a towel (no rubbing) for about 30 minutes to an hour and then I let him run around and air dry for a while. Once his hair is partially air-dried and fluffed out some, he's really easy to comb out again. I tend not to use the hair dryer because he doesn't like it and I'm un-coordinated. I need a dryer stand before trying to mix that into the works.

Somehow I think that like shampoos and conditioners, different things work best on different dogs.


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

The thoughts I had have been mentioned by the others, namely, not getting her coat rinsed thoroughly and a sensitivity to a product. I use a hand held shower head when I bathe my guys. And rinse, rinse, rinse... It was about at that age where I found it difficult to find a shampoo/conditioner combo that worked well on my guys. When they were puppies, most any shampoo and conditioner would work well. But once coat blowing happened, it seemed there were many shampoos that would make their coats feel 'gummy' and difficult to comb through. These days, I don't even try to comb when they are just out of the bath. I soak as much water off them as I can with a couple of Sham Wows and then I dry them for awhile, running my fingers through their hair, and after it is partially dried, I comb with the end with the widest teeth spacing or brush them a bit with the wood pin brush to separate the hairs so it dries a bit faster. I also agree with the comment that not all products work the same on all dogs. My favorite shampoo is the Pure Paws Ultra Reconstructive shampoo. And, out of frustration when I was having difficulty finding a conditioner that I liked for Augie a couple of years ago, I grabbed my own conditioner and used that on him. ISO Hydra Condition. It worked better than any of the dog conditioners I had tried, and I am still using it - on both boys.


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## Diann (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks for all your suggestions. Linda, where do you get that conditioner?


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Diann said:


> Thanks for all your suggestions. Linda, where do you get that conditioner?


My hairdresser picks it up for me from the beauty supply place. It is carried in hair salons, but doesn't seem to be well known, at least around here. I have used the shampoo and conditioner on myself for many years and still like it. It never seems to create buildup like some I have tried. You can go to their site and see if there is a salon near you that carries it, if you are interested. In the beginning, I used coat handlers on Augie. After his adult coat came in, I didn't like it on him at all.

http://isohair.com/products/view.php?id=9


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## Dory (Jan 4, 2012)

I just started using the Biogroom Super Cream Coat Conditioner with Q's last bath. I used it as a hot oil treatment. I left the treatment on him for about 45 mins and then rinsed it out. It works great for the tangles and he's blowing coat a bit. I had been noticing some dry skin flaking (he's black so it's easy to see) and after the hot oil, his skin looks great and no flaking. For me, the cleaner he is, the easier he is to comb/brush. I am trying to bathe him once a week. I do brush him one to two times a day as well to help keep the tangles down. For shampoo, I'm still using the Fluffy Puppy that I bought when he was little. He'll be a year old this month. Hard to believe!


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