# Daily comb out ?



## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

I have a question to for those of you with longer haired pups. I comb Mae out at least once a day and have been spraying some leave in conditioner in my hands and wiping her down before combing her out. I am using a wood pin brush first then a metal CC comb. Is it correct that I shouldn't be combing her out dry? Should I be using a water mist or is a spray conditioner what I should be using? Won't all that product eventually build up? Any product or procedure suggestions are appreciated.


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## Piper's Mom (Dec 10, 2012)

Yes, you are correct in that you need to dampen Mae's coat before you comb/brush her out. It's SO important to do that as grooming her dry can causes static breakage, especially during the dry winter months. You don't need to soak her, just dampen so when you run the comb through it doesn't shoot back up with static. Do you find when you wipe her down with your wet hands, she's damp enough to stop static? I like to use a fine mister bottle and spray Piper as I go (if I sprayed her all over at the start, by the time I got to her back end I'd have to respray anyways) but that may be just personal preference. What type of leave in conditioner are you using? Are you diluting it when you use it? You can use a plain water mist, which is what I was using until CC's Ice on Ice (I used it after baths and to help slide out knots/tangles) completely dried out her coat and now I use a moisturizing LIC (The Coat Handler) which has been magical in repairing the damage. I think using a water mist vs LIC is personal preference and what your dog's coat is like. Like I said, I used to use water but switched to a moisturizing LIC spray after Ice on Ice made her really dry. I don't find there's much build up as I do dilute it and she gets bathed ~2 weeks. I've gotten used to what her clean vs dirty coat feels like so I'm pretty good at telling when she needs a bath by feel and I don't let it get to the point where she's so grungy that the comb starts to stick and catch. I find a dirty coat with lots of build up won't let even the CC 005 buttercomb slide through, even when the hair is completely tangle free.

A part of grooming is knowing your dog, and what works best for your dog and its coat type. I know it's a pain in the butt that it's not "one size fits all" but ALL dogs coats vary to some degree and you might have to do some experimenting to see what works for Timmy and Mae, and I can pretty much guarantee that your products/routine will change throughout their lives (eg during/after Mae blows coat). Even potentially throughout the year. Eg for me, I live in Southwestern Ontario. Our winters are LONG and DRY so I really make sure she's conditioned/moisturized well and our heat isn't too high as that can really dry out her coat. It sometimes means I have to wear a sweater under a blanket when it gets really cold (a few weeks ago we were around -30C), but she's worth it. Piper has a very fine coat, but she has A LOT of it with what seems like a very mild amount of undercoat. If you're curious, right now I use the Coat Handler Maintenance Shampoo/Conditioner and grooming spray (I think it's just called leave-in-conditioner. It's pre-diluated but I dilute it even more to help prevent build up as mentioned above). It's done miracles with the mess that Ice on Ice left me. 

I'm certainly no expert but I LOVE grooming Piper myself and researching products/trying different methods ect. I take pride in her coat. At a year and a few months old she's yet to visit a groomer. Some may say that's a bad thing but I enjoy doing her myself and we do it in a positive way with lots of treats that I feel it makes our bond even stronger. A picture speaks a thousand words, so you don't think you're getting bad advice from some crazy, here's two pictures from our Valentine's Day picture gone wrong. Sorry for the bit of a novel, just sharing some of my experience. Hopefully I answered some of your questions and others can pitch in with their experiences.


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## mcleal (Mar 30, 2013)

She is beautiful!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Piper's mom covered most of it!  

Personally, I use a spay bottle fromCVS with a mixture of 1 pt my normal conditioner (usually BioGroom Silk) and 9 pts water. More or less… it doesn't have to be exact… I eye-ball it!

Also, I don't bother with brushing first. I find that I do almost all my grooming with my CC Buttercombs… the 05 mostly, and the face comb for his face and tight spots. I only use the brush for quick "brush-ups" for looks in between regular groomings, and when I am drying him.


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## RitaandRiley (Feb 27, 2012)

What's a good grooming spray that's no too "perfumey"? I've been using Ziggy's and it works really well but it makes me sneeze. When it gets used up I'd like to get something unscented, if possible.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

RitaandRiley said:


> What's a good grooming spray that's no too "perfumey"? I've been using Ziggy's and it works really well but it makes me sneeze. When it gets used up I'd like to get something unscented, if possible.


I haven't found a commercial grooming spray that wasn't either too perfume or left a residue on Kodi's coat I didn't like. That's why I went back to what Pam King suggested, and just use the diluted conditioner. BioGroom works really well on Kodi's coat, but it IS more perfumy than I like. CC Spectrum 10 conditioner is a bit more expensive than BioGroom, but works just about as well, and has almost no smell to it.


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

Thanks ladies, I knew I'd get some good advice. I'm actually using a Pantene leave in conditioner, I really should order some Coat Handler products I've heard some good things. Dampening Mae's hair has helped with static, which is bad this time of year. I haven't been through a summer with Mae yet but it's very humid so we'll see. Piper is adorable and you know I'm a major Kodi fan! I know that I would not be able to handle Tim's hair much longer then it is now it seems very thick and curly to me compared to Mae's. Laila, Mae's mom, seems to not be too curly maybe Laurie will chime in. This long hair thing is all new to me and the reason I'm continuing with it is that Mae seems to almost enjoy it, she's so good. I've trained her to put her head down on a neck pillow so I can put in her top knot and sometimes she's even closed he eyes for a snooze. I never went through a bad experience with Tim blowing coat but he's always been in a short puppy cut. Although my goals is to try and keep Mae long I also know that things could change on a dime and as soon as it's not fun anymore we'll review and change things up. I bath both of them in between groomer which is about every couple weeks, I can definitely tell when they need a bath coat texture changes drastically. I have found if I start out with the wood pin brush I get a lot of the little surface knots and debris out, yes Mae is a tomboy and I find lots of stuff in her hair. :laugh:


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## Piper's Mom (Dec 10, 2012)

jabojenny said:


> I know that I would not be able to handle Tim's hair much longer then it is now it seems very thick and curly to me compared to Mae's. Laila, Mae's mom, seems to not be too curly maybe Laurie will chime in. This long hair thing is all new to me and the reason I'm continuing with it is that Mae seems to almost enjoy it, she's so good. I've trained her to put her head down on a neck pillow so I can put in her top knot and sometimes she's even closed he eyes for a snooze. I never went through a bad experience with Tim blowing coat but he's always been in a short puppy cut. Although my goals is to try and keep Mae long I also know that things could change on a dime and as soon as it's not fun anymore we'll review and change things up.


I definitely recommend The Coat Handler! I had been using Pure Paws Oats & Aloe prior and while it worked well her coat really changed texture as she silvered out and after blowing coat, which was surprisingly a breeze. I wanted to try something to bring moisture back into her coat. I heard good things about TCH so I bought it and couldn't believe the difference it made. Piper (errr.. me) also got a CC Kool Pup Dryer for Christmas and I think that's made a big difference in her coat as well. Last summer (our first summer with her) I spent at home in a beautiful little town right on Lake Huron, it'll be interesting to see what staying in the city does to her coat this summer.


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