How to Maintain Your Dog’s Coat
The first step in learning how to keep your dogs coat maintained, is understanding what type of coat your dog has. Once you know what type of coat they have, then you can get all of the tools and supplies you need to take care of it. Most dogs will fall under more than one category of coat type!
In this blog I am going to be telling you all about the different coat types and the amount of maintenance needed with each one. I’ll even show you the exact tools you will need in order to make this happen. I’ll make it super easy for you and link the most affordable ones below!
So let’s get to it and hopefully by the end of this you’ll be able to tell which type of coat your dog has and you’re able to get the tools that will make maintenance in between grooms so easy!
Smooth Coat
Dogs who have a smooth coat are Labradors, Great Danes, Beagles, etc.
A smooth coat is when the hair stays short year round. These dogs are the ones that require the least amount of maintenance. Although they do require baths, brushing, and the occasional deshedding treatment.
These dogs are the most popular because of their low maintenance, but if you would like to keep the vacuuming at home to a minimum and also your pups coat and skin healthy and clean, then I highly recommend daily brushing and a bath at least every 2 weeks.
The types of brushes needed for this type of coat are a slicker brush and an undercoat rake. These brushes will take that dead undercoat out and also stimulate the skin for a healthier coat. My favorite and affordable at home brushes are linked below!
Undercoat Rake:
Slicker Brush:
The first one linked is an undercoat rake, which will loosen up that dead undercoat, then you come in with the second linked brush, the slicker brush, and collect all of the loose hair.
Even though these types of coats are easily maintained at home, it is always nice when your dog can get their very own spa day at the groomers!
Double Coat
A double coated dog is basically any dog that sheds. This is when the dog has a thick, rough layer of hair close to the skin with a softer, thinner layer on top. These types of dogs can have short hair like Labs, Boxers, Great Danes, or they can have long hair like German Shepards, Huskies, and Aussies.
Although these types of coats don’t require haircuts, they definitely require deshedding treatments at least once a month. If they don’t receive the proper deshedding then it can lead to the undercoat becoming impacted. This especially goes for the longer haired dogs.
The undercoat gets impacted because the dead hair is unable to shed out and will get tangled up with the hair in the top coat. Normally, if the coat is not impacted too badly, a groomer will be able to blow it out with our force dryers and an undercoat rake, but if they are too close to the skin, then they will have to be shaved out.
Shaving double coated dogs is highly unrecommended. The reason for this is because their coat is designed to protect their skin from all of the different elements, and to keep their body temperature regulated. When shaving it, not only are you taking away their natural ability to protect their skin, but you also risk the hair not growing back. When a double coated dogs hair grows back after being shaved, the undercoat grows faster than the top coat causing the coat to be rough, it could also grow back in patches, or it could not grow back at all.
A common misconception that people have is that by shaving a double coated dog, they are reducing shedding. This is a MYTH!!! The dog is still shedding the exact same amount of hair, the only difference is that the hair is shorter and not as noticeable as the longer hair was before.
So the best way to help maintain a double coated dog is by bathing in a deshedding shampoo AND CONDITIONER. If you’re wondering why CONDITIONER is in all caps, it’s because this is the most important step when bathing a double coated dog. The conditioner loosens up all of that undercoat. I always use conditioner first, brush them with the conditioner in, then shampoo and conditioner AGAIN! This will help to get most of that dead coat out.
They make all kinds of deshedding shampoos and conditioners but my favorite is the Furminator brand:
This shampoo and conditioner set is the bomb dot com!! If you click on the link above it’s on sale right now! It not only helps to get that dead coat out but it also adds omega 3 and vitamin E into the coat to help reduce shedding. I have real life reviews from clients and they have told me that it drastically helped with the shedding!
I also recommend the same undercoat rake and slicker brush that I have linked above under smooth coats, but for the dogs with longer hair I have another undercoat rake that I love to use:
This one is great for longer haired double coated dogs because the longer rake can reach all the way down to the skin to help reduce any impacted undercoat and to stimulate the skin! It is VERY important when brushing a long haired dog that you make sure to always get all the way down to the skin, this is where those sneaky little matts start, underneath where you can’t see them.
Wire Coat
Dogs who have a wire coat have very coarse fur. Terriers, Daschunds, and Schnauzers are prime examples of dogs with a wiry coat. These dogs do require a little more maintenance especially because their skin seems to be a bit more sensitive.
Just like with the others, baths and brushing are very essential to maintaining these types of coats, but they also require haircuts from the groomers at least once a month. Due to their coarse hair and sensitive skin, these dogs should not be bathed very often, normally every 2 weeks. If you bathe them too often it will dry out their coat and skin even more. They also require certain shampoos that are able to add the moisture they need back into their coat.
My favorite shampoos for sensitive skin is the Tropiclean brand because they are all natural. I will link the one I use for moisturizing the skin and hair below.
Moisturizing Shampoo:
Moisturizing Conditioner:
I also recommend the slicker brush that I have linked above!
Long Coat
Dogs with a long coat do require more grooming and maintenance in between grooms. Long coated dogs can have coarse or soft hair. Yorkie, Maltese and Shih Tzu are all long coated dogs. These dogs are often known as show dogs because, if groomed and maintained regularly, their hair could grow to the floor. They are mostly kept short for just a common house pet though.
These types of coats definitely need to be brushed daily and brought to the groomers every 4-6 weeks, especially if you like to keep their hair long. When brushing long haired dogs you want to make sure you are getting all the way to the skin, just like I stated above for the long double coated dogs. These are the dogs that will get matted, especially if they have a softer and more finer coat.
I would love to get more into matting and what it does to your dog but that is going to be a whole other blog by itself. The main thing you need to know is that matting is very painful to your dogs and it can also be very dangerous. So that’s why I want to help you and give you all of the information and tools you need to prevent this!
When brushing a long coated dog, I know everyone always says use a slicker brush. Well let me tell you, I despise slicker brushes! The only time I use them is for removing loose coat and for fluffing up the dogs fur before I cut their hair. That’s it! In most cases, especially with long coated dogs, a slicker brush will NOT get all the way down to the skin and it definitely won’t be able to get those tangles out.
What you 100% need for a long coated dog is a metal comb. This is the only thing that will allow you to get all the way to the skin and make sure that there are no knots. Here is one of the metal combs that I use on all of my dogs:
If you are not able to do daily brushing on your dog, then I definitely recommend getting a shorter haircut and going to the groomers very regularly. I definitely understand that our lives can get very busy and we don’t have the time or we forget. I COMPLETELY understand, because believe it or not even though I am a groomer, I have 4 dogs of my own and believe me, they are not always great advertisements for my business.
Curly Coat
Curly coated dogs like a poodle or bichon frise require the MOST maintenance. These dogs have tight curls that are close to the skin. This means that they require daily brushing and frequent grooming appointments(4-6 weeks). This type of fur is very prone to matting.
Like I said before with long coated dogs, I also do not recommend using a slicker brush for curly coated dogs. It is very necessary to use a metal comb to brush through their tight curls. ESPECIALLY their ears, tail, and in the creases under their legs. These are the areas that tend to get the most matting. Matting in their ears can actually lead to a vet visit if it gets too bad, but I will get to that in my blog about matting.
These types of coats are the ones that are mostly having to get shaved down due to matting underneath, close to the skin. That is why I can not express enough how important using a metal comb is. You should also have a good detangler spray, I use The Stuff, which is an awesome detangler. I have had clients ask me what I use because their dogs ears were staying matt free in between groom. This spray really is awesome, on the bottle it even says that it is a tangle remover AND preventer!
Detangle Spray:
And I’m going to go ahead and link this bad boy again because everyone needs one:
Also, a really good shampoo can help out a lot in between grooms. I use the biosilk or Paul Mitchell even came out with a line of dog shampoos, conditioners, and detangling spray that I use on my own personal dogs that I love. I have 3 Goldendoodles that require a ton of maintenance and also have bad allergies so I can only use certain shampoos or sprays on their coats. The Paul Mitchell line for dogs, which is called John Paul, doesn’t bother their sensitive skin, smells great, and keeps their fur so soft. Now the John Paul detangler spray sure does smell good, but I haven’t found anything that works as good as The Stuff.
John Paul Shampoo:
John Paul Conditioner:
Biosilk Shampoo:
Biosilk Conditioner:
Now that I have told you the 5 different coat types, I hope that you were able to figure out which one your pup has and you now know exactly how to keep their hair and skin looking and feeling great. If you have any more questions or recommendations on what you would like me to write on next, please feel free to email me! If you follow my blog I promise that I will be going into more detail on some of the things I mentioned here today, and much much more, to try and help you understand things that are going on with your dog, what you can do to help, and the tools you will need to help them!
xoPamperedPups
