# Basic bathing questions



## tempeCarlson (Feb 10, 2019)

Hi, our Havanese, Murphy, is now 6 most old. He's a fun little dog currently going through Terrible Twos phase, but still charming.

I brush Murphy pretty much every day, he doesn't mind. I bathe him once a week and have a good high velocity dryer so that he's getting used to the routine particularly when he goes to a groomer.

I have a couple of really basic questions.

First, is there a sticky thread somewhere that describes the generally accepted best practices for washing a Havanese assuming a "full coat"? He's 6mos old so it's still technically not full, but he doesn't get clipped except his face, tummy and feet. The groomer calls it a "bath and tidy"...

Second, what's the purpose of diluting shampoo and applying it with a sprayer or a squirt bottle. With our last dog, we just mixed some in the palm of our hands before massaging into the coat and working my way up. Murphy's coat ends up very dry after I wash him, but he's just gorgeous after the groomer does. She said it had something to do with me wetting the dog first, and that I should be spraying him with diluted shampoo first and then wetting, rinsing. Does this make sense?

Finally, what *is* the purpose of these finishing sprays and conditioners? Applied to his dry coat, it just seems to make a sticky mess. Is it supposed to be used after you wash the dog?

I guess I was also wanting to know if there was a generally accepted list of shampoo, conditioning sprays for wet and dry coat, and application methods.

Too many questions for one thread? Sorry! I can break it up if so.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Wow! your dog's coloring sure looks @krandall's Kodi!


tempeCarlson said:


> Hi, our Havanese, Murphy, is now 6 most old. He's a fun little dog currently going through Terrible Twos phase, but still charming.


Just wait til he gets to the frenetic fives! :wink2: and still charming.



> First, is there a sticky thread somewhere that describes the generally accepted best practices for washing a Havanese assuming a "full coat"? He's 6mos old so it's still technically not full, but he doesn't get clipped except his face, tummy and feet. The groomer calls it a "bath and tidy"...


A "tidy" (sanitary) generally refers to the potty and poop areas and just evening out those loose ends.

There are several Youtube videos about bathing a Havanese (and some are contradictory). Google the topic and see what makes sense to you. In my opinion, there is no one right way because each Havanese coat is different .



> Second, what's the purpose of diluting shampoo and applying it with a sprayer or a squirt bottle. With our last dog, we just mixed some in the palm of our hands before massaging into the coat and working my way up. Murphy's coat ends up very dry after I wash him, but he's just gorgeous after the groomer does. She said it had something to do with me wetting the dog first, and that I should be spraying him with diluted shampoo first and then wetting, rinsing. Does this make sense?


Yes and no. Our groomer bathes Ricky about once a week. She applies a mild detergent directly to his coat. He then gets a blow dry before a brushout. And then he gets a brush out.....but NEVER with a dry coat. We take in our on spray bottle of conditioner which we prepare - distilled water, high quality conditioner, and Chris Christiansen Ice on Ice finishing spray. Our groomer knows that we require that our little prince is always brushed out with a moist coat. He is returned to us with a beautiful fluffy coat and he lets us know he thinks he is the cat's meow!



> Finally, what *is* the purpose of these finishing sprays and conditioners? Applied to his dry coat, it just seems to make a sticky mess. Is it supposed to be used after you wash the dog?


The purpose of a finishing spray is to keep the coat soft and silky by making the comb and brush glide smoothly, even into the undercoat. If you have a sticky mess something is not right. Ask questions, we will try to walk you through it. We apply our blend of spray to Ricky on our daily 5 minute brushouts and his coat is gorgeous.



> I guess I was also wanting to know if there was a generally accepted list of shampoo, conditioning sprays for wet and dry coat, and application methods.


If you search on this forum, you will find a number of different favorites. There is no generally accepted list of shampoos, because every Havanese coat is different, from long and silky to short and curly.

Ricky's Popi


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

My Havanese coat is so dense, if I applied the shampoo to it directly it would be really hard to spread and take forever to rinse. I always wet first and then use diluted shampoo because it’s easier, I hadn’t even considered that it might be more drying but it makes a lot of sense. Sort of like if your hair is wet with fresh water before you go into a chlorinated pool the hair shaft won’t soak up as much chlorinated water. 

As far as finishing/brushing spray, I think it unfortunately takes a while to find the right one. A good one will help the brush/comb glide better, prevent breakage, and keep his coat a little fresher. I have the best luck mixing or diluting them. Some feel too heavy, others don’t saturate enough, and it depends on when and how you’re using them. I like the formulas that have a very slippery feel to them, like Ice on Ice Ultra, applied very lightly. Regular ice on ice is great, too, and way more popular. Right now I have them mixed in a regular spray bottle. I’ve tried most of the Chris Christensen sprays and a few of them that a lot of people find too heavy, like Precious Drops, work really well if I add just a little to something else. One of my favorites when our Hav is dirty is a super cheap Well and Good spray. It’s not the best for detangling but it seems to actually clean and freshen his coat if he’s been in the dirt but can’t have a bath yet. It works better than the waterless shampoos I’ve tried even though that’s not it’s purpose, so you just have to play around according to your needs and preferences.


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## tempeCarlson (Feb 10, 2019)

All sound advice I'm guessing. 

This is the first time I've cared for a drop coat dog like this, so much of this is new to me.

Murphy's fur looks like wavy cotton candy to me. It's only wavy next to his skin, but the coat, which is about 3 - 4 inches long is straight for the most part. Is that silky, curly? Dunno...

So, that makes it harder I guess to choose some of these techniques and products. I was trying to find some things that were a little less expensive than the CC stuff. If I knew for sure it would work well, I don't mind purchasing the good stuff.

I bought a bottle of the BioSilk detangler and shine because my wife uses the human version. It smells OK to me, but a little like hairspray. It doesn't seem to really help with detangling to me. Either that, or I'm not using enough. It did seem to do better when I diluted it and sprayed more liberally.

My breeder shows very successfully and she only uses a dry brush and diluted Dawn, and the dogs always look gorgeous. Seems like a bad idea to me.

Has anyone tried the Biosilk product?

Do people tend to use a conditioner? I guess you'd wash, condition then blow out, saving the finishing spray for in between baths? 

I watched a couple of grooming videos on YouTube by some guy named Rudy with his helper Snoopy (whose very sweet). He mixes a little conditioner with his shampoo (Crazy Dog). That doesn't sound like a bad idea.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Of the less expensive products I’ve tried, I liked Espree Silky best. Cherrybrook has a little trial set of CC spectrum 10 and I tried that first to make sure it worked well before buying the larger sizes. Many people have said here that Spectrum 10 ends up being the most cost effective because you dilute it, and this is really true. I bought expensive bottles of Isle of Dogs to try just for fun and the primrose conditioner was really a nice fit for my Hav’s coat but it’s really more like 5x the price of CC because I had to use so much. The less expensive Isle of Dogs wasn’t bad either, but we went through that one super fast so as far as number of baths CC was much less expensive. Even with the Espree, the final price is probably negligible because I have to use so much more conditioner compared to shampoo. 

It was frustrating for me because I didn't feel like I was looking for the perfect thing, just something decent. With human hair products the market is so competitive that even at a drugstore price point it might not be as good as a salon product, but you generally will see decent results. With dog shampoo, it’s like a different world. There were a couple of conditioners where I couldn’t even comb after his bath, and I had to stick him back in and recondition with something else. 

I have pretty much used up all of the so-so brushing sprays I’ve tried by just diluting them with water or mixing them with something else so they’ve weren’t completely wasted. The ones that feel sticky or heavy have been okay on my Hav’s coat when they were diluted. 

I haven’t tried the Biosilk for dogs but I have used a drop or two of Biosilk for humans on him a couple of times  it’s actually fantastic on mats but it seems to attract dirt so I just use it on mats right before a bath or if I have extra on my hands from my daughter’s hair i’ll run my hands through his coat.


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