# Anyone ever use apple cider vinegar on their havanese?



## maggxonn (Apr 15, 2010)

I read online that apple cider vinegar is good to use on your dogs. It has a lot of health benefits, i.e., kills fleas, washes away shampoo residue on dogs, and makes their coat shiny. I'm wondering if this would be good to use on a havanese dog (either show or pet). Any thoughts?


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## tabby2 (Jan 19, 2009)

Yes, I do (and regret it when I don't!). As the final rinse, I use 1/2 ACV and 1/2 water and pour it over him. His hair is extra soft and shiny and easy to comb when I do this.


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

I too use ACV to repel fleas and ticks. The odor can be pretty strong though.


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## psow9421 (Mar 24, 2010)

*Vinigar rinse*



maggxonn said:


> I read online that apple cider vinegar is good to use on your dogs. It has a lot of health benefits, i.e., kills fleas, washes away shampoo residue on dogs, and makes their coat shiny. I'm wondering if this would be good to use on a havanese dog (either show or pet). Any thoughts?


I do, I starting showing Havanese last year and was told to use 1 table spoon of white vinigar : to 1 gallon of H2o for the final rinse to remove any soap residue. I do it but not every time.I wash my Havanese weekly. I am careful not to get it in the eyes.
Some Havanese owners do this as a dip. If you show it is not a great idea to use this rinse on show day.
I have not heard of other benifits but that doesn't mean ther isn't any. 
Pam


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

Me too!
http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=10266&highlight=apple+cider


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

I used white vinegar on Rosie when she had the mange spots. It was supposed to be a cure; but couldn't tell that it did any difference. It did wash out any soap residue; but seemed that the hair was awfully dry. I only tried it two times. If you condition at the end and then use the vinegar, the vinegar takes out the conditioner. All the web sites say apple cider vinegar that may have been the difference; but I don't think so.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

maggxonn said:


> I read online that apple cider vinegar is good to use on your dogs. It has a lot of health benefits, i.e., kills fleas, washes away shampoo residue on dogs, and makes their coat shiny. I'm wondering if this would be good to use on a havanese dog (either show or pet). Any thoughts?


What do you mean? Topically or orally?

I used it orally for a while, by adding it to the water of my dogs, but didn't realize that one of them completely refused the water and became dehydrated. It resulted in anal gland issues (impaction) before I realized what was happening.

For topical use, I'm not sure that ACV is any better than distilled white vinegar, but I've used the latter many times for rinsing the coat.


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## psow9421 (Mar 24, 2010)

Luciledodd said:


> I used white vinegar on Rosie when she had the mange spots. It was supposed to be a cure; but couldn't tell that it did any difference. It did wash out any soap residue; but seemed that the hair was awfully dry. I only tried it two times. If you condition at the end and then use the vinegar, the vinegar takes out the conditioner. All the web sites say apple cider vinegar that may have been the difference; but I don't think so.


I use the vinigar rinse, afer shampooing then a conditioning dip. small amout of conditioner about the size of a dime dispersed in a basin of H20 then dip in the dog allow long hair to rise and float. No more rinsing.


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## Kathy (Nov 9, 2006)

I have been a proponent for ACV for years. In fact, I have it in my puppy contract to use on puppies instead of chemical flea repellant. It is great for their coat as a final rinse as Jane described above, but use a 1/2 cup of ACV with a 1/2 gallon of water.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

I use Vinger on my Lhasa with Allergies doesn't seem to matter white or apple. It helps with the itching. Also in a spray bottle 1 part to 6 parts. It is also great to get smoke smell out of human hair and clothes.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Kathy woke me up to how wonderful it is. I haven't used flea medication on my dogs since using it (I am not advocating this as it is a personal choice and really dependent on where you live). I try to do it regularly with every bath especially in the flea and tick season. LOVE it! I usually do a 10 water:1ACV ratio myself.


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## judith (Dec 15, 2006)

as a child my mother always used ACV as a final rinse, it made my hair shine. i remember she said ACV for brunets and lemon juice for blondes. this was before all the conditioners were on the market.
judy


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## maggxonn (Apr 15, 2010)

Thanks everyone for all your input. I'll try it on my puppy.


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

judith said:


> as a child my mother always used ACV as a final rinse, it made my hair shine. i remember she said ACV for brunets and lemon juice for blondes. this was before all the conditioners were on the market.
> judy


I also grew up using ACV as a rinse for my own hair. No wonder I never had fleas, hehe.:rockon:


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

I had always heard of this for humans, but not for dogs.

What about beer and eggs?  I remember my mom rinsing her hair in beer and then another time...egg white, I think? For shine? I bet that might be a bit tricky (and stinky) though.


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

Question.......After the ACV rinse, do you follow up with any conditioner to aid in mat removal or no conditioning rinse? I’ve felt the IOD has helped prevent matting, does ACV do the same?


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## whitBmom (Nov 27, 2006)

I find this thread so interesting! Thank you for sharing this! I would love to start using ACV as a repellent for fleas. Amanda, with the 10:! ratio, is it used as a rinse or do you put it in a spray bottle to spray them down with?


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

I do shampoo, rinse, conditioner, rinse, acv NO RINSE. As long as I bath them pretty regularly that has been good enough to protect them. We have treated the backyard as my house backs right up to woods. This year no ticks thus far. I just have to keep Dash out of the monkey grass!


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

I'm still curious to know why ACV would be better than white vinegar. Looking online, I'm not finding much info to answer that either. This link was informative about using vinegar on hair: http://www.chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/shampving.htm

Kara, I remember that too. Did your mom use mayo by chance? Several of my friends did that, but I never did. Egg whites on the face for facials and mayo in the hair. Seemed like a pain in the butt to rinse out!


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## whitBmom (Nov 27, 2006)

Thanks for the tip, I think I am going to use that to help repel any fleas


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Here is a website that states the difference- short answer minerals and organic components of ACV v. regular vinegar. I don't use as much of a rinse for hair as I do for flea prevention (and allergies for Belle as well) so for those looking for just a hair build up rinse, it may be fine to just use white vinegar.

http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/white_vinegar_questions.html


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## maggxonn (Apr 15, 2010)

Thanks for sharing your links. It gives me more things to try.


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

I always use an ACV rinse on Tori (for fleas) and myself (for shiny hair. Although, like Carole, maybe that's why I've never had fleas either ound


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## psow9421 (Mar 24, 2010)

Kathy said:


> I have been a proponent for ACV for years. In fact, I have it in my puppy contract to use on puppies instead of chemical flea repellant. It is great for their coat as a final rinse as Jane described above, but use a 1/2 cup of ACV with a 1/2 gallon of water.


I would prefer not to use chemicals. We do have a big problem with deer ticks causing Lyme disease in the North East. I don't want to give the Lime vacine but do need to protect my dogs. What do you suggest to repel and kill ticks? I do know of dogs and people in my area that have contracted Lyme.
Pam


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## Kathy (Nov 9, 2006)

The other thing we do with ACV to prevent flea's is to spray our yard with it. Also, we keep some in a spray bottle with water for floor clean-up and you can spray it directly on the dogs coat in between bathing if needed to rid of fleas.


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## hav2 (Feb 26, 2010)

Does the ACV dry the coat at all? I would be worried that is would dry out the coat and the skin. I would love to be less dependent on topical flea meds, but I need to know how to use the ACV for flea prevention.


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## Kathy (Nov 9, 2006)

hav2 said:


> Does the ACV dry the coat at all? I would be worried that is would dry out the coat and the skin. I would love to be less dependent on topical flea meds, but I need to know how to use the ACV for flea prevention.


No, it actually does the opposite and makes it healthier. ACV is also great for dry skin or itchy skin. It is a good healing agent. Start by using it a FINAL rinse when you bathe your dogs and see if you like it. Use 1/2 cup ACV to 1/2 - 1 gallon warm water and pour all over the dog making sure you lift the coat to allow it to get to the skin.


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## hav2 (Feb 26, 2010)

Thanks Kathy, I appreciate the advice. I would love to go all natural with our pups, so I am going to try this today!


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