Show Dogs - Share some tips?
 

I was wondering for those of you who don't wrap the coats, if you do anything extra for the coats before you go to the competition?

For anyone who shows, what dog food do you feed your dogs you are showing? Do you use any vitamins or anything different than you would if you were not going to show?

I bet Pat or ( YorkieRose) would be able to help you.

I want to know too
:)

Me toooooo - GREAT POST !

Coat
 

I do show my dogs. I do not wrap the coat of any of my dogs and they drag the floor. Dogs are allowed outside and on the carpet and furniture.

What works for us is Mane and tail shampoo for bathing and cheap old suave conditioner. My handler is 62 years old and this is what she has used for a longtime and suggeted to all her clients when the kids are at home. We do not brush the coats dry- this breaks the coat. I bathe the dogs every three to four days- depending on the coat and how dirty they get themselves.

Male that we are currently showing has been in six shows( as of last week)
and we have won in 4 times against older mature dogs. This includes a BOb from the puppy class and a three point Major last week. This states something for the condition of his coat since he is just 13 months old.

I feed Iams, Science Diet, and eukenuba. Not every dog likes the same food.I have bowls down and let them choose. We do place some bacon grease on the food twice a week.

This is just what works for me and the handler that I use. This is how she keeps the other yokies, poms, maltese and pappys on her string in show coat condition. We try to keep it simple and uncomplicated.

You should check with some of the more experienced folks on the forum as to the techniques that work for them.

Villette what more can you do to those little beauties? Everyone wishes they had Cannel and Cheri.

Kathy, that's why I started this thread. Mr. Big's coat is so scraggly. I'm thinking of taking him in and getting about an inch cut off so it doesn't look so bad. I appreciate you taking the time to tell me what you do. Thank you, Sylvia

I have heard a lot of people useing one or the other of these that you mentioned. Mane and tail shampoo for bathing and cheap old suave conditioner. I have not used the main and tail yet But have tried the suave conditioner.

Thanks for the info. :) I will definetly give the shampoo/conditioner a try

In my earlier post I forgot to mention that type of coat (texture) that your dog has will make a differance when adding bacon grease to the coats. They get 1-2 tablespoons mixed in the dryfood.

With the sauve conditioner you have to rinse really good- it takes a little more time to get it out of the hair.

My handler ran a grooming salon for many years and the Suave is what she and the other owner ( also a handler) used there. They used unscented to avoid allergies.

I noticed that Suave does take a bit longer to rinse. I was using lavender, but i guess you are rite unscented is better. What about the Mane n Tail conditioner?

I have used the Mane and Tail- I/M/O is not quite as heavy as the sauve conditioner but close. Many folks might have difficulty in finding it. I have used it on the horses,dogs,cats and myself. Rinsing the conditioner out is key.

Of the two which one is better for cottony hair? Gucci's hair looks nice 2 or 3 days after a bath, then looks wirey. cant explained it. Im even using infusioum 23 cause she is getting matted. I dont like the MAgic Coat detangler.

I use the Suave on the two I own with the cottony coat. It is the nature of the beast that they need more upkeep. Mine do not look wirey though. Are you sure that you have a soft cottony coat? Is the coat dry and brittle - are you overdrying with a blowdryer? Could the coat be dry and you need to condition from the inside /out?

I dont use a blow dryer cause she freeks out. i towel dry her. The coat after a bath feels soft but after 3 to 4 days feels a bit dry. How i condition from the inside/out?
I add Missing Link to her kibble.

You may want to play with diet. That is why I am using the bacon grease in the diet on most of the kids- but not all. You may see a differance in coat with a change of food.

You also may find that you just have to bathe every three days to keep ypur kid looking the way you want him/her to look. We have a schedule here and everyone is bathed every three to four days nonstop all year round.

Currently Im feeding her Natural Balance. She is very finicky and now she doesnt want to eat it anymore. Im thinking to switch her to Innova. What you recommend to feed her? She use to eat Eukanooba at the beginning cause that is what the breeder was feeding her. She really dint eat it. I had to mixed it with wet and even then she wouldnt eat it.

Kathy, have you noticed any ill-effects to bathing your dogs every three days? I'm a neophyte Yorkie owner, so forgive my ignorance, but I've been told that bathing dogs that often removes their "natural oils" and causes problems in the long run. Obviously, that's not the case if you bathe your pups that often.

I have not noticed any ill effects in my dogs.We do not over dry the coats with blow dryers or brush a dry coat and place a lot of attention to nutrition.

Like I said earlier this is just what I do- I used this method on the standard poodles, cockers, afghan and Schit zu's that also made their homes with us over the years.

This just works for me I am sure that it would not work for everyone. I am not suggesting that you try this method- only that this is what we have done.

We are unothodox on feeding. I may have a litter of puppies that each one likes a different food. If they don'y eat the ones I normally use- I will work until I find what they want. My local pet store is wonderful at giving me some of open bags- to try and see if this one will work. I do not care what the name brand is- as long as it is healthy and they will eat.

I am lucky that I am a good customer at the feed store- we have chickens, geese,turkeys,peacocks, horses and goats ( used to have 4-H pigs and cows also) so I have spent a lot of money there and they want to keep me as a customer.

Kathy, do you use bacon grease because it's handy? I bought some stuff called "Nutricoat Skin & Coat Food Supplement", for dogs and puppies. It has zinc and essential fatty acids. It is supposed to help prevent shedding, scratching, dull coat and flaking skin. I had to buy some more dog food so I bought a small bag of Nutro Ultra puppy food and a bag of Nutro Natural Choice small bites. I put some food down and all they did was sniff at it. I put some of the supplement on it and they were licking the supplement off the food. LOL I also bought "21st Century Pet Nutrition Healthy Skin & Coat" tablets. They love those, course they are liver flavored. They didn't like the size so I chopped them up and I think between the 5 of them they would have eaten the whole bottle if I let them.

I like Nova Pearls shampoo for bathing. Its mild so the twice a week bathing doesn't dry out the skin. I have also done a hot oil treatment once in a while.
Dirty coats can't grow and I never brush a dirty dog.

I'm about to try the Pure Paws, I'm not that impressed with the Chris C system.

I feed Natural Balance and use derm caps for the fatty acids.

Please be careful adding bacon grease or oils to the dogs food. A dog can develop pancreatitis by a sudden large dose of fat when they are not used to it. If you are going to try this, do it slowly and gradually

Lady of Yorkies- I use the bacon grease because that was what my old mentors form the 70's used and it worked for them. You have to remember that when I goy my first Yorkie back in the mid 70's a lot of the new products that are being spoken of did not exist.


As with any thing moderation is needed-In thirty five years I have never had a problem with pancreatitis with any of the dogs or a liver problem.


But I stated earlier this is just what works for us and my handler and was just sharing the information - not making a suggestions to any one. Nan, Peggy and I have had luck with this program and feel no need to change to- expensive shampoos, Conditioners, hot oil treatments etc.

I feed Princess Royal Canin puppy 30. Then I will eventually switch her to Yorkshire Terrier Royal Canin when she reaches 10 months. My breeder said that has been the best for her show dogs. For shampoo and cond. I use Chris Christenson systems. I actually heard about it from here. It has seemed to work fine so far! :D

It is all about what is working for you. If it isn't broke- why fix it.

coat
 

I have never had a show dog not in wraps...I do not think you can get to the level of a Specials without wrapping. I do think you can finish one who is left in natural coat.
I want to try Kathy's "no wrap " method, but I don't know if I can retrain my brain. LOL
I do not feed anything special in the way of diet...I think a healthy dog will grow a good coat if it is fed a quality dog food, groomed with a good product, coat is not abused with improper grooming methods, dog is free of fleas and allergies. Genes are important.

LMAO !! How did I miss those MONSTER letters ? Wow...Big compliment but the girls are FAR from Show Quality...and I am FAR from an expert !! I'm just your average mom LUCKY to be able to spend time on them - If I worked full time - I think they'd be in a short coat.

I think Pat is right as far as the genes go - I look at tons of yorkies - and wrapping is the best way to keep it looking good.....but in my case - My girls are Toad Hunting...Spying little Fence-Groupies ...I don't know how to wrap a coat - nor would I try - They would be tied in knots if I did it...not to mention I don't think they'd let me - they're too busy.

I will brag on Shampoo....I LOVE the CC systems for Chanel - The Ice on Ice has improved the quality of her coat - She has a cottony coat so I vouch for it on her for that reason - Cheri is easy - she as silky hair - the CC Ice isn't as effective on her as Chanel but she IS easy and done in minutes !

I'd LIKE to try Plush Puppy. I've heard good things about it.

On Mr. Big's coat - I sure have no advise except to say that MAYBE trimming an inch will bring back the luster - if it's dragging it's breaking off - Is he in Shows ? I love his name - always have -

I recently spoke to a handler, he suggested if you want to protect the coat without wrapping he uses neutragena body oil/cream rinse combo

he said good dog shampoo them mix 2 tsp of oil, 2 tbs of cream rinse (like suave) in a gallon of warm water mix very well and slowly pour and massage into the hair, rinse well but not too well, blow dry lightly.

He also suggested shampoo them every 5 days.

Brush boys coat less and girls coats more often.

Mr. Big is going to be a silk coat when he finishes changing. It's just two different lenghts so he looks scruffy. His coat isn't long enough to drag yet but we are going to take him in and have it trimmed a little. I just got his pedigree and there are no champions in the last 3 generations. I have been told that if there aren't any champions in the pedigree that it is hard to win. I know there have to be exceptions to the rule but he's not going to reach 4#, I don't think. So I have also been told, from more than one source, that the Judges don't like such small dogs, even tho they are within the Yorkie standard. I don't expect to win anything much but I am thinking of letting his breeder train us to show in the ring. If Kathy can let hers be pets as well as show dogs, I like that idea. I am seriously considering showing him. I have a list of questions to ask his breeder about 10-12 questions long so far.