Need a good dog shampoo - any groomers out there?

[Louieandthecrew]

Hello,
My father used to be a veterinarian and he just cleans his dog with regular old "Garniar Fructis " human shampoo

 

[wonderpup]

Bathing is only hard on skin if you use the really harsh detergents. Back when dog shampoo was basically lye soap, avoiding frequent baths was a good idea. Now, with dog shampoos following the human shampoo market and using the same ingredients, it's no worse for them to have their hair shampooed than it is for you to wash your own. Clean coat is good coat; if it's clean it tangles less and breaks less. Dirty coat is no more natural than your own dirty hair. Frequent grooming also helps people keep track of their dogs' skin and body condition, and clean dogs are nicer to have in the house and on the bed.

My dogs get weekly or semi-weekly baths from the time they're born until they die, and the cats aren't far behind. This coming weekend I'm going to be in a building with 1200 dogs who all get bathed constantly; by Sunday virtually every single one of them will have been bathed three nights in a row. There's absolutely no way you can show a dog whose skin and coat are sick and damaged; we would NEVER do it if it were bad for them.

Have to agree with this. If bathing were so damaging show dogs would be in a world of trouble, especially breeds like poodles, and non of mine are. Even my creative grooming dogs have better skin than most... and they get LOTS of baths.

For good shampoo I love me some Isle of Dog

lol. I don't use it on most of my grooming clients b/c it is not cost effective really but I suggest it to their owners for at home baths if they are so inspired, (or they can purchase it and I'll use it on their dog), and probably 90% of my training clients buy it for their pups. Smells nice too which is a bonus. Personally I like the salon element series, stay clean is the all purpose in that line

Rinse the Thick n Thicker Foaming Protein really well. It's great stuff, I like it, but it takes longer to rinse sometimes VS a shampoo and of course as already suggested you've got to rinse and rinse and rinse to make sure you have all the shampoo off. I don't use it much anymore b/c of the extra time and for what I do most often the spray if better or Stand Up shampoo from Isle of Dog. (Doubt you would need the spray version though.)

Bio groom makes an ok whitener. As good as any other I suppose *shrugs* I don't put a lot of stock in whitening shampoos honestly but if I am going to use one that is the one I reach for the most.

The longer it is the more it's going to kink up on you. It is not naturally straight and won't stay straight for long with just a brush. In order to really straighten it you're going to need to blow dry it, just a person would need to. If you use a human hair dryer you'll need to brush it out straight as you dry, same if you use a lower power dog dryer. Dry in sections getting one section at a time completely bone dry before moving on. This will keep it straighter for longer but any humidity in the air will kink it right back up. *looks at walking mop at her feet in disgust* Yeah... humidity... great.

 

[pbjmaker]

Quote:
They get dirty ALL the time. It is rainy/snowy/muddy then all frozen here right now and they like to go under the coop and roll in the dirt.

I bathe them about every 2 weeks and brush them out the rest of the time.

 

[pbjmaker]

I'm not worried about it being straight and they don't get too tangled unlike their mother. This is a picture of the hoodlums. I need to trim around their eyes again. I have a blowdryer for dogs - made by andis. Not high end but better than nothing. I always blow dry them because I don't want them to catch a chill in the Iowa winter weather.

I will be online shopping today for some of these products.

I appreciate all the great tips. I already bathe them every 10 days to 2 weeks just because they get so dirty. They aren't greasy though.

These guys are worth the extra grooming effort just because I was really sick yesterday and instead of playing like they usually do, I had puppy protectors all over my bed. They didn't leave my side even once. Of course this morning they are making up for their lack of play yesterday...

 

[WoodlandWoman]

When my husband has to leave for work and I'm sick, I always tell him not to worry, because I have all my little nurses to watch over me.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

My Cockers, both retired show dogs (although no longer in full show coat - just a modified clip ! are bathed weekly. I like Nature's Specialties Plum Silky - it has a conditioner already in it, for this time of year when the heat is on in the house & it's drying to their coats.

In the summer I switch between Crown Royale #2 formula and Crown Royale conditioner or #1 All Systems shampoo & their botanical conditioner. #1 All Systems is low sudsing & rinses very clean, very easily.

I have an old Edemco stand dryer I bought second hand from a friend who upgraded to a newer model -- it's worth it's weight in gold & even though it's over 20 years old, still runs great - just needs periodic cleaning & tuning up. It cuts my drying time in half & the dogs love it-- they practically fall asleep under it!

By the way, your pups are ADORABLE!

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Quote:
Bathing is only hard on skin if you use the really harsh detergents. Back when dog shampoo was basically lye soap, avoiding frequent baths was a good idea. Now, with dog shampoos following the human shampoo market and using the same ingredients, it's no worse for them to have their hair shampooed than it is for you to wash your own. Clean coat is good coat; if it's clean it tangles less and breaks less. Dirty coat is no more natural than your own dirty hair. Frequent grooming also helps people keep track of their dogs' skin and body condition, and clean dogs are nicer to have in the house and on the bed.

My dogs get weekly or semi-weekly baths from the time they're born until they die, and the cats aren't far behind. This coming weekend I'm going to be in a building with 1200 dogs who all get bathed constantly; by Sunday virtually every single one of them will have been bathed three nights in a row. There's absolutely no way you can show a dog whose skin and coat are sick and damaged; we would NEVER do it if it were bad for them.

I have seen way too many dogs with oily coats and stinky skin just from over bathing. You bathe your dogs frequently and its on a schedule so you'd not see what I am describing. I have seen dogs come in for training that their owners usually bath them 2-4 times a month and they don't ask me to bathe them and within a week they stink and are greasy. I have advised them to stop over bathing and after about two months their coats regulate their oil production and they stop being nasty. If harsh things such as dishwashing detergent is used its much worse. Dogs coats are meant to be the way they are. If your dogs stink prior to over bathing that can, often, have to do with poor food or the wrong food for your dog.