Being new to the breed and anticipating a lot of water play in our future...was wondering what you do about bathing afterwards? I usually wash(ed) my bichon anywhere from weekly..to maybe 3 weeks at the most. I always have used a mild/gentle shampoo so haven't had any problems. So do you usually just hose them off or do a full shampoo after playing in the ocean or lake water? Louis currently has his puppy coat, but will be a curly coat as an adult. I've given him two baths (actually I brought him in the shower with me!) so far and he's done okay. Doesn't seem to like it as much as tolerates it. We are trying to encourage him to play in the water at the beaches and he is starting to come around! Here is his first romp in the water at the ocean beach. It's hard to get a pic of his face because he won't sit still Car ride home after an exhausting day at the beach.
I'm not sure what PWD owners would recommend, but I would probably not shampoo too often - as it will strip away the natural protective oils in the hair. So I'd hose down most of the time.
Thanks Azz. I had bathed both of our dogs on Saturday and we ended up at the beach on Sunday...so we did end up hosing them down instead of bathing again. Seemed to work just fine. Though I was sad to lose that "just bathed" deliciousness so quickly.
For now I would use the puppy shampoo, but later on you want a good shampoo for textured coats..........no conditioner as the coat is supposed to have texture to it. Have you access to a shower or hosepipe, when he has been in sea water you need to rinse it off........... daily if he goes in, fresh water not so much of a problem, as for actually shampooing I would probably only do that when its needed, (mostly sea water) when you shampoo , I tend to only shampoo the ends of his coat mostly on occasion (when needed ) I will massage down to skin, when you do wash them do it liek you would wash your own hair, a gentle massage on skin and always run your hands down the hair, never in circles or you will only make matts. But as I said in your other post, this breed needs A LOT of grooming, and coat care...(hope you are ready for this ) so the sooner he gets used to it the better.........
Thank you Malka. Thank you for the great advice, Jackie! We had our beloved bichon for 9 years that I groomed myself. It took me about an hour to comb him out and did that at least twice a week.... he passed away 2 years ago, so I am needing to gear up for a high maintenance coat again. I'm not sure what cut we will keep Louis in?.... in the USA, it seems like the curly coat is usually kept in the retriever cut. However, the breeder was showing a curly coated PWD that she had trimmed in a lion cut. These are my sweet boys....Buddy (a bichon mix) and Max. And a white bichon wasn't easy to keep clean at the beach!
Aww your pups are to cute. Well at least you are not a complete novice with grooming then In the UK, we don't seem to see many curly s in the ring, mostly wavy, and all are in the lion clip, from watching Westminster on you tube I curly`s are either in lion or retriever clip, I guess it will be down to your breeders preference, as to what suits him best.
Thank you Malka and Jackie Interesting that the curlys are not shown much in the UK. I also saw you say somewhere that the white coloring on the PWD's are more of an American thing and not usually seen in Europe either.
Louis is gorgeous . I echo what Jackie says. Wrlcome to the madcworld of the Portie! They are truly special characters (or Special Needs as my groomer put it!). Verne Foster's wordsof advice are right- Be Consistent, Persistent, Insistent. And, as a youngster, Out of sight equals In Trouble! If you wish to see our lad, Crusoe, he features in some other threads..
