Introduction: Vic & Alias
 

:littleang:yorkiej::yorkieg::yorkieg::yorkiej::yor kiej:

Hi Forums/ Communities. My name is Vic. My Yorkshire Terrier is 1 1/2 yr. old. Male,, intact and my love. :aimeeyork. Not sure what else I'm supposed to put in the intro. I'll tell you a bit about Alias's hair issue. First his moustache is always crinkly and glued together. I wash it 2 x daily with a warm facecloth. When it drys it's back to being crinkly even though I comb in through many times as it's drying. So that's one issue. The next one is: He has long hair and it always looks sort of greasy and stringy from the rib area down to the ends. I bathe him about every 2 weeks with good shampoo and I mix coconut oil liquified with coconut milk conditioner together and slather it on him. Leave it for a minute, then rinse. He's in the kitchen sink so he goes right under the tap. I make sure I rinse well.

Then I combination air dry/ brush...air dry/ brush. Looks handsome and shiny at that moment. Now the next morning he looks stringy and greasy, like he never had a bath. So it begins again with his moustache and the warm cloth. On and on this goes.....and he never looks good. Just stringy like he never bathed. Very frustrating because I know he could have a beautiful coat if I wasn't doing something wrong. I've been try to figure out the answer for over a year. He eats Hill's Ideal Balance- Grain Free, which he hates, so I now mix in some wet Merrick's canned food. I haven't yet switched to filtered water but at this point I don't even know if that's going to matter.....Anyway that's me and that's Alias....Hope you guys can advise......Tx Vic

Welcome to YT. I look forward to seeing pics of Alias. My Barney also struggled with the "dirty coat" look. I finally cut his hair into a puppy cut. It was a great solution for us. He always looks fresh and groomed.

It sounds as if you are dedicated to a longer coat for Alias, so hopefully someone else with a pup in a long coat will offer some advice.

Welcome to YorkieTalk!

Welcome to YT and Merry Christmas to you and your family.

My Abby has a fine, thin , silky coat. I keep it midlength and luckily we live in a moist warm climate so I don't need much conditioner. If I do use a heavy conditioner (in our 6 week winter to fight the static) she doesn't make it thru the week without looking greasy. Also if my sons girlfriend comes over she gets greasy quickly- took a while to figure out she uses a lot of sun lotion and handcream and transfers that by petting Abby!

You may try making a "homemade/food grade" dry shampoo? A little sprinkle on them and brushing them out may get that greasy look. Or he may have a major case of "bedhead". I know that when you strip the oils from the skin (on humans) too much that the oil glands will over activate to compensate the lack of moisture/oil.
Perhaps not adding the extra oil into the conditioner. Use the coconut oil as needed by a few drops (a little goes along way) when applying. Or even better, just feed coconut oil as a supplement. My girl is cotton coat but has very soft shiny hair. She'll look "dirty" around one and a half to two weeks when it's time to wash her. She gets a professional grooming once a month and I do in between maintenance in between (once a month also).

Alias's Greasy Hair
 

Thank you guys for your answers. Maybe I am using too much gunk/coconut oil thinking it will be soft and shiny but it ends up greasy. So I'll try using a bit less....like just the one conditioner.

Any ideas for maintaining his moustache. Like I said, I use a warm facecloth 2 x a day and it's still yukky...??
Thanks again for your answers.......Vic

:canada3: :confused:

Hi and welcome to YT :)!

I agree on the dry shampoo thing...you could buy a dry shampoo for either humans or dogs and try it on your kiddo. May add some volume too...?

On the mustache...is he drooling or anything..is that why it's getting funky?

My female has an especially stinky, gunky beard. When she is out in the yard she rubs her face on the grass. I have seen her rub her face on worms and other places I could not see what it was, maybe bird droppings or squirrel droppings. She really stinks!

Hi and welcome It would be helpful to see a pic of his mustache to see just what your dealing with. I think less conditioner or just try a new product line of shampoo and conditioner for dogs.

Hmm, maybe it's something like the tear staining issues many have (if there's staining too). Or like others say, if he drools alot that could do it, too. This can be if he's an excessive chewer, gets hot/pants easily, or just plain old lots of drooling. Does he salivate alot when he's about to eat or sees treats?
My girl actually... for some reason, mouths her new toys almost all over it when she gets it and it cause the toys to be fairly damp before she actually plays with it. I think this is kind of her way of "marking" or claiming it's hers or she just loves to mouth/touch it all over ^^;;

I agree with Lunar Berry, cut the coconut and olive oil out of the conditioner. Add it instead to their food and it can work from the inside out, which is more effective and healthy. One thing my groomer does is first she bathes them with Dawn to get all the oil and grease off their coat, then she bathes them with their shampoo and conditioner. It keeps them looking beautiful for quite a bit longer than not using the dawn.
as far as the beard issue, let me know if you come up with a solution because Toby is always crunchy too.

Hi! I use coconut oil on my own hair to seal in moisture, occasionally. It also makes my hair crinkly and crunchy, so I can't wear it in straight styles when I do this. I'm assuming this is the same for your baby. Cut out the coconut oil and see what happens.