# Bathing without matting



## CaroleG (Aug 13, 2016)

I have a Hav with long cotton texture coat. I thoroughly brush/comb before bathing. I fill the tub with water, put him in the tub and shampoo. I then drain the tub, apply conditioner, wait, then spray water to rinse. I put him in a towel and then blow dry. He always gets terrible matts. What am I doing wrong?


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## PNWAlan (Oct 9, 2018)

I hope you get some replies from more experienced dog washers.

Skye is in full coat, I would call it silky as opposed to cottony, but maybe it's the same.

We don't immerse him in water. Put him in the tub and soak him down with gentle spray. Lather with earthbath Mango Tango 2-in-1 Conditioning Shampoo. Work the shampoo gently through his coat and let set for a couple of minutes to allow conditioner to absorb. Rinse throughly with the sprayer. Dry with towel and blow dry. Drying is a two person job. My wife runs the blower while I fluff up his coat with my fingers, a pin brush and/or comb.

I think immersion in a full tub may allow mats to form. Think of the hair floating up in the water. With working the lather through his wet coat we can be massaging any potential mats out at the same time. Skye might have few little mats following our drying routine but nothing that can't be very easily worked out with a little finger massaging and the steel comb.

.


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## cishepard (Apr 8, 2018)

I (retired dog groomer) agree with PNWAlan, don’t fill the tub. Dilute your shampoo in a large squirt bottle with a lot of water. Wet the dog with a sprayer nozzle with the lay of the coat, then saturate with the diluted shampoo. Minimal “scrubbing”, just gently massage the shampoo through the coat. Rinse well, again with the lay of the coat and gently. Repeat with conditioner and/or a diluted vinegar and water rinse. A vinegar rinse will get out any soap residue which can contribute to matting.

Towel dry by patting and squeezing - no rubbing. If you want to try a leave in conditioner, put it on the dog now, while still damp.
When you blow dry, use a pin or slicker to brush while the dryer separates the hairs for you. Try to direct the dryer in a way that the hair gently blows in one direction, while you brush, then when that section is dry move to the next. Having the dryer on a stand is extremely helpful in this regard. For a dog that mats easily, I recommend thoroughly drying in this manner so you wind up with a dog that is perfectly “finished” when done - completely dematted and silky smooth. This is the best time to scissor for a a nice even look, as well.

Good luck!


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

cishepard said:


> I (retired dog groomer) agree with PNWAlan, don't fill the tub. Dilute your shampoo in a large squirt bottle with a lot of water. Wet the dog with a sprayer nozzle with the lay of the coat, then saturate with the diluted shampoo. Minimal "scrubbing", just gently massage the shampoo through the coat. Rinse well, again with the lay of the coat and gently. Repeat with conditioner and/or a diluted vinegar and water rinse. A vinegar rinse will get out any soap residue which can contribute to matting.
> 
> Towel dry by patting and squeezing - no rubbing. If you want to try a leave in conditioner, put it on the dog now, while still damp.
> When you blow dry, use a pin or slicker to brush while the dryer separates the hairs for you. Try to direct the dryer in a way that the hair gently blows in one direction, while you brush, then when that section is dry move to the next. Having the dryer on a stand is extremely helpful in this regard. For a dog that mats easily, I recommend thoroughly drying in this manner so you wind up with a dog that is perfectly "finished" when done - completely dematted and silky smooth. This is the best time to scissor for a a nice even look, as well.
> ...


That's what I do - the wet, diluted shampoo (in a regular bottle not squirt), lather, rinse (wet/ rinse with the shower head spray nozzle). Perry is in a puppy cut so I don't blow dry him (it's warm here year round  )


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## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

Great Question and Thanks!! @cishepard for your Awesome Tips.

I recently bought a dog grooming hair dryer, a hair dryer-holder and another grooming stand on Amazon, which helped a lot. The hairdryer doesn't get hot, has a lot of power and definitely works better than a regular human hair dryer. It's not the best professional dog grooming dryer but I'm very happy with it. I sat the grooming stand on a table and attached the dryer holder to the table.

I have large grooming table but found the small grooming table worked better because Patti doesn't have as much room to move around and I can turn the table. Patti is an average size Havanese weighing between 13-14lbs.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Mostly I just do everything I can to avoid “rubbing.” I spray everything in the direction of the hair, comb shampoo and conditioner through with my fingers instead of lathering vigorously, wrap him in a towel instead of rubbing the towel, etc. Sometimes when I do this with the Ice on Ice conditioner where there are lots of tiny tangles I swear the water almost washes them away. 

I don’t always dry because in my climate he dries quickly on his own. Lately, though, I’ve been drying most of the time because I notice the heat combined with whatever spray product I comb with works better than the spray alone.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I forgot, I do wait until he’s probably 50% dry before I start blow drying. This is about 5 minutes wrapped in a towel.


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## Jeanniek (Mar 20, 2018)

CaroleG said:


> I have a Hav with long cotton texture coat. I thoroughly brush/comb before bathing. I fill the tub with water, put him in the tub and shampoo. I then drain the tub, apply conditioner, wait, then spray water to rinse. I put him in a towel and then blow dry. He always gets terrible matts. What am I doing wrong?


Thanks for asking, Carole! I am doing the same thing as you, with the same results. I just figured that is the way it goes! I am glad we got very busy yesterday and I had no time to bathe her. I learned a lot with this post which I am going to try out this morning!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I was thinking about this today and I think it’s the washing and scrubbing in the tub of water that is counterproductive. I have “floated” the coat, something suggested to me here because my Havanese has a very dense undercoat, and it allows the conditioner to penetrate where I’d have to lift up all of the layers to otherwise get conditioner. The tub of water doesn’t seem to cause more tangles this way. I don’t do it often because it’s kind of a hassle with my bathroom setup since the hand sprayer is in the shower, so I shampoo him as usual and rinse with the hand sprayer in the shower stall first. Then I move him to the tub. Basically you fill the tub with water and dilute conditioner in it and let him soak for a few minutes. Then you either don’t rinse or just lightly rinse, in the direction of the hair growth. When I do this and pull him out of the water, all of hair falls naturally in the proper direction because it is soaking wet. 

Part of the reason I don’t do it often is because the shower isn’t there to contain him, and at the end of his bath I always tell him to “shake, shake, shake,” off the extra water. So he makes a mess! But I don’t think this would be a problem with most people’s routine, lol! I’ve been meaning to try floating his coat in a rubber tub inside the shower instead of in the bathtub, to use less water and avoid moving him, but I haven’t gotten around to it.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

We always use a tub of water too. It may be what you're doing with your fingers while he's in the water. If you stroke down, and through with your fingers, it shouldn't mat the fur.

Shampoo gets rinsed out before conditioner.

If there is any mat before the bath, it will just get felted. Always brush before.

A lot of people think their dog is brushed out, but mats have to be brushed out all the way down to the skin-not just so they look brushed out on the outside of the coat.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

I have bathed my dogs and their coats never look nice as when they are groomed. I always watch because we have a home groomer. She spends a lot of time brushing and combing them completely out before bathing. Seems I always miss some areas because she always finds mats. They get bathed in a big sink with a sprayer. After bathing she applies conditioner and then combs it through the coat. I think that helps to distribute the conditioner on the coat evenly. They always turn out soft and shiny when she is finished.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

We use two tubs in the dog sink. It's a six foot long sink that was originally for developing photographs. On one end are the two tubs-one for shampoo, and one for conditioner. The dog is taken out of the shampoo tub, rinsed off, and then put in the conditioner tub.

In the puppy sink, there is only one tub for shampoo, and Pam pours the conditioner over after rinsing.

One is never bathed until completely brushed out, and that tested with a comb. After brushing, you should be able to run a comb through it, all the way down to the skin.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Tom King said:


> We use two tubs in the dog sink. It's a six foot long sink that was originally for developing photographs. On one end are the two tubs-one for shampoo, and one for conditioner. The dog is taken out of the shampoo tub, rinsed off, and then put in the conditioner tub.


What a smart setup!

How do you make room for such a long sink?


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

It was planned in the Dog Room. The Dog Room is 16 x 24, and was planned in the addition on our house that allowed part for a Master Bedroom Suite, but mostly for the dogs. Outside the dogroom is a 16 x 42 foot covered patio, so they can go outside when the weather is bad.

There are pictures on the Photo Gallery page on our website, including the sink. The Puppy Sink is a modified laundry tub sink, that's raised so Pam can lay her hands flat in the bottom without bending over. That is in the Puppy Room, which is directly behind the Living area in our house. No pictures of that anywhere that I know of, but there are some floating around somewhere.

The picture of the sink there only shows one tub. Since that was taken, the grate on legs for rinsing has been moved over to the left end, and two larger tubs in the right end.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> What a smart setup!
> 
> How do you make room for such a long sink?


They have THE best dog room! That comes from years of experience! LOL!

OTOH, when we had our kitchen remodeled, I was smart(er) too... to the bemusement of our builder. He took me to the pumbing supply place, and I wouldn't even LOOK at kitchen sinks that weren't big enough to be swimming pools for Havanese, and I INSISTED on a pull-out, spray nozzle! LOL! I couldn't have cared less about fancy copper, or farm house fronts... gimme a BIG, DEEP Havanese swimming pool! LOL!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I walked through a few houses in the “parade” this summer, the new construction showcase for local builders, and quite a few of the houses had these beautiful, elaborately tiled dog sinks - out in the garage! I thought, maybe these garages are all better insulated than mine?? I am glad Havanese are small enough that there are many options to accommodate bath time!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Tom King said:


> It was planned in the Dog Room. The Dog Room is 16 x 24, and was planned in the addition on our house that allowed part for a Master Bedroom Suite, but mostly for the dogs. Outside the dogroom is a 16 x 42 foot covered patio, so they can go outside when the weather is bad.
> 
> There are pictures on the Photo Gallery page on our website, including the sink. The Puppy Sink is a modified laundry tub sink, that's raised so Pam can lay her hands flat in the bottom without bending over. That is in the Puppy Room, which is directly behind the Living area in our house. No pictures of that anywhere that I know of, but there are some floating around somewhere.
> 
> The picture of the sink there only shows one tub. Since that was taken, the grate on legs for rinsing has been moved over to the left end, and two larger tubs in the right end.


Great dog room and dream property! So beautiful!

The restoration/construction on the house is incredible!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

That old house is not on our place. That's what I do for a living. I just put those pictures there a long time ago, before I built a website.

Here's my website: www.historichousepreservation.com I have been too busy to work on the website in a couple of years, and it's accumulated a bunch of formatting errors. Some pictures are out of place, and whole blocks of text have been misplaced, overlapped, or chopped up. It will give you some idea though.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Tom King said:


> That old house is not on our place. That's what I do for a living. I just put those pictures there a long time ago, before I built a website.
> 
> Here's my website: www.historichousepreservation.com I have been too busy to work on the website in a couple of years, and it's accumulated a bunch of formatting errors. Some pictures are out of place, and whole blocks of text have been misplaced, overlapped, or chopped up. It will give you some idea though.


I love reading about it! My favorite is the pine floors. I still have a pine dresser with fantastic handmade drawers from my childhood. i refinished it when I got married and later painted it to match my daughter's room but just for aesthetic reasons, it stayed in great shape. It dents here and there but they're soft, beautiful kind of dents. I always thought it was so strange that so many people dislike working with pine because I love it so much. I finally realized a couple of years ago, it's a completely different pine!

The work you do is really beautiful!


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## Kay O (May 31, 2012)

I discovered Isle of Dogs shampoo and conditioner for my cottony show coat HAV at a confirmation show. It’s pricey but tremendously cuts down on the matting. I’ve used it for 5 years because nothing else works. I use Isle of Dogs Jasmine Vanilla conditioner after bathing with their shampoo. I leave it on for 3 minutes before rinsing. If the matting is severe I don’t completely rinse it out. Hope this helps. Bathing them with some other brand of shampoo doesn’t work because these two are formulated to be used together.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Kay O said:


> I discovered Isle of Dogs shampoo and conditioner for my cottony show coat HAV at a confirmation show. It's pricey but tremendously cuts down on the matting. I've used it for 5 years because nothing else works. I use Isle of Dogs Jasmine Vanilla conditioner after bathing with their shampoo. I leave it on for 3 minutes before rinsing. If the matting is severe I don't completely rinse it out. Hope this helps. Bathing them with some other brand of shampoo doesn't work because these two are formulated to be used together.


I like Isle of Dogs, too. I don't think mine is quite cottony, but he has a very fine, dense undercoat. The problem I have is that I go through it so much faster than Spectrum 10. I can imagine it works well for a cottony coat because it leaves the coat feeling very light and it isn't a heavy conditioner but it still makes combing easier.

I also love the fragrance of everything by Isle of Dogs except for the "Repláscent" spray, which is so strong, but I guess it's supposed to be, because it's an odor spray I ordered by mistake. It must really work on stinky dogs! Fortunately, mine doesn't have an odor problem


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## CaroleG (Aug 13, 2016)

Thank you so much for the lesson! Carole


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## CaroleG (Aug 13, 2016)

What a beautiful Hav and love his hair color.


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## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

I have a kitchen sink that is "swimming pool" size :smile2: for a small dog. I may give it another try. I like the bathtub because Patti can Shake! Shake! Shake! Lots of very helpful information about bathing doggies. Thanks!!


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