Tailor Made to Suit

There are so many variables in dog coats that to find the perfect product for that individual is sometimes a lengthy and expensive process.

Many people tell me that in their breed they can have even in their own lines, many variations in the coats. Some coats are just right, some are a touch silky and some are a touch coarse. The product that suits one coat may just as certainly not suit the littermate. So, how does one find something to suit everyone? Simple - just adjust it to fit.

Okay, so find the product that you like and that does what you want it to do on one of the dogs and then dilute it according to the needs of the coats you need it to work on. The dog that you choose the product for, ought to be the one it works on neat/undiluted or the most extreme usage.

For instance - Plush Puppy Blow Dry Cream is a great product for disentangling when drying, for flattening a boofy coat and for general comb through ability when drying. I would use this undiluted on my Siberians if they were starting to look cloddy in coat and perhaps about to blow coat or on the pants and leg fringing on the Eurasiers. However, what I can use indiluted on my male Eurasier, would be too heavy on the bitch. So, I dilute it 1/2 and 1/2 with water and then apply it.

The same principle applies if you have a Pomeranian for example which has blown coat and you desperately want to take this dog to a show. The product for this dog in need is PP Volumising Cream and can be used sparingly but undiluted to make 3 hairs look like 3,000. At the same time another Pom in your kennel could have more coat but still not quite enough and have a different texture needing less oomph. In this case just dilute 1tbsn PP Volumising Cream with 300ml warm water, shake and put into a water spray and spray it on - then dry.

Shampoos of course ought to be diluted 90% of the time. The only time I apply shampoo undiluted is for heavy duty cleansing on really grubby areas. Bathing every week for shows means mine never get to the disaster stage so the full strength shampoo only gets applied to maybe the legs and feet. With all Plush Puppy shampoos dilute them at least 5:1 (i.e.) 5 parts water to 1 part shampoo or 10:1 if you don't want lots of froth and bubbles and just want to sluice through to freshen a coat. Nothing worse than suds from here to Kingdom come and spending forever to rinse them out. Yes there is! That is flaking and scurfy skin where a shampoo has been applied neat and not properly rinsed out. Some dry into yukky scurfy flakes like dandruff. Nothing spoils the shiny black of a Rottie or Doberman more than white scurf!

Conditioners of course should be diluted too the same way. Let's not waste good products and why again spend forever to rinse the bulk of it out?

I have a nice big plastic jug that I measure and dilute my shampoos and conditioners in. Then I decant that into a screw top bottle for later use. To wash the dogs I then pour enough into a squeeze nozzle bottle and then keep topping that up from my large screw top bottle of diluted product. I always have plenty ready on hand BEFORE I start the dogs. Amazing the number of people who aren't organised and who don't have everything ready to start with. Obviously they don't have or never have worked with Siberians before. I cannot possibly get a throathold on a puppy Siberian and mix shampoo at the same time!

For showday and the on site grooming processes, it's very important to work with the product at just the right strength to do the job. I have several Plush Puppy Spray Bottles with various mixes of products for each of my dogs. The spray bottle is just the right size. I designed it to fit a tackbox. It was also designed with graded measurements on the side so I could mix quickly. It is a dinky size and just perfect. for use at home and around the ring.

Each and every one of us has our personal little ways of doing things and we all like to have a recipe that works for us. Here's your chance to really experiment for the best outcome on all your dogs - not just one of them. The products are strong enough and in sufficient concentrations to enable you to do just about anything! I will be waiting to hear all the great recipes you come up with. I am sure there are some very creative groomers around.