How long do you spend brushing everyday?

[fasteddie]

With such long, beautiful coats, it seems like a lot of upkeep to keep them clean with a shiny coat. Do you guys brush your Malts a lot everyday? Like an hour or so? Just curious... ;)

[Sassy's Mommy]

Sassy is in full show coat and yes I do brush her every day. It takes me anywhere from 45 minutes to a full hour just to completely brush her out. I also clean her eye area with baby wipes (alcohol and fragrance free). I acquired her as a small pup and immediately started letting her coat grow. She has been in full coat since just before turning 1 year old. Because I groom her daily she is an absolue angel during our mommy/Sassy grooming time. I begin by turning her onto her back on my lap and I completely brush her underneath (tummy, neck, arms and underarms, legs, peepee area, everything underneath.) Then I turn her to one side and completely brush that side. Then the other side gets the same. After she is all brushed and combed I lay her on her tummy in my lap and clean her eyes. Take out her top knot and comb it. Then I redo the top knot. After all of this I stand her and brush/comb her part straight back to make sure there are no tangles in the part. Then I tell her to "shakey shakey" and her part fall into place almost perfect. For around the house I sometimes let it go But most often I straighten the part if necessary. When we are done I tell her "mommy's pretty girl, let's get Sassy a treat." Then we go into the kitchen & I put away the grooming supplies, wash my hands and get the baby gir-r-r a treat. When she sees the treat her little fluffy butt hits the floor. I trained her to "sit pretty" for her treat.

[Chloeandj]

After that last post I'm embarassed to say, I try to brush Chloe everyday, it takes about 10-15 minutes to brush through her coat. Takes about 30 minutes on a bad day. Bath day is the day I do nails & ears and that takes about an hour. She lets me do anything I want to her. Chloe is very white natually, I have never had to put anything special on her to keep her white. If she plays in the mud, I let it dry and shake her out! Just kidding! :p I love to do my dog's hair.

[Sassy's Mommy]

After that last post I'm embarassed to say, I try to brush Chloe everyday, it takes about 10-15 minutes to brush through her coat. Takes about 30 minutes on a bad day. Bath day is the day I do nails & ears and that takes about an hour. She lets me do anything I want to her. Chloe is very white natually, I have never had to put anything special on her to keep her white. If she plays in the mud, I let it dry and shake her out! Just kidding! :p I love to do my dog's hair.

Jodi, please do not ever be embarrassed to post behind me. When I seen little Maltese furbabies in the puppy cuts I turn green with envy. I would love to give Sassy a "summer do" but I can't for the life of me find a groomer who I could trust not to scalp her. There is a man who is a judge for the toy group at West Minister who owns a grooming shop in my city. I have been in twice and talked to the groomer there and each time I have been told I should keep her in her full coat because she is so pretty. Even my vet glows with pride when I have to take Sassy in. These guys do not realize the work that goes into her coat. Maybe one day I will muster up the courage to clip her myself. Your babies are both darling beautiful babies.

[Mystify79]

When Tuffy was in full coat I spent at least 30 minutes brushing him out everyday or he would mat like you have no idea. Now that he's in his super short puppy cut he gets brushed maybe 1 minute once a week and that's usually spent on his ears and tail. :o He loves it, he hated when I groomed him before. Now he makes fun of Pixie because she's the one sitting to be groomed and not him. He can be rude sometime.s :p

[Chloeandj]

Yes you have to be very careful with the groomer you choose. I have yet to have a positive experience. I kept my last maltese (she passed away 2 years ago) in her full coat up until she was about 8 years old when I had my first child. I just couldn't work full time with a new baby and still keep her coat up. So I started having her puppy cut. I tried 5 different groomers before I just gave up and started cutting her myself. I would cry almost every time I picked her up from the groomer. I had one groomer shave her down the middle of her nose! Can you imagine!?! Another one cut her so short that I had to worry about her getting a sunburn. I was very detailed with each groomer with exactly what I wanted done, they never listened. Chloe went to the groomer once last summer, I wanted her shelled out. I felt very good about her. The owner of the place came out and sat down with me for like 20 minutes talking with me about what I wanted done. Well when I picked her up, the only thing they had done was trim the hair on her belly with scissors. I could also tell they had not blown dried her. She looked like she had been bathed and then left to dry in the cage (shivering I'm sure), then brushed out and belly hair trimmed. She was also NOT herself when I picked her up, like she had been mistreated or something. She wasn't even excited to see me. I was very upset. So I have learned how to shell her out myself, I also do my mom's dogs. But a few weeks ago, Chloe got a foxtail in her eye. She always picks up a bunch of stickers and such from her long hair sweeping the ground. So I decided for her sake, I need to cut some of it off. I didn't do a puppy cut, I just cut about 4 inches off the bottom length and trimmed her legs and chest. I figured it would grow out faster if I did it that way. I regretted it as soon as I did it, but she sure likes it. She just doesn't look the same. Her hair grows out quite fast though, so I'm sure it won't take long before she looks back to her old self.

[sassy14830]

I keep Prissy in a long coat. As soon as she gets done nursing I plan to trim about 2 inches off and work on a show coat. I'm learning how to grow her hair. The only thing I'm having problems with is carpet. Sassys mom is your girl on carpet? The handler I work for is very protective of her malts in coat. Our house is 1/2 carpet and i dont want to keep her crated up. I would have to do wraps to grow it out and I have to perfect my wrapping skills. I just wanted to see how you keep her coat. Its different growing a coat on a pet than a show dog. Pets have more freedom to do as they please and that breaks the coat. Sassys mom maybe you could share your secrets with me :D

[fasteddie]

Wow, that is some REAL dedication. Anything beautiful takes work to maintain and upkeep, the Maltese coats are indeed so shiny and perfect when I've seen the show-quality ones in person!

[Sassy's Mommy]

I keep Prissy in a long coat. As soon as she gets done nursing I plan to trim about 2 inches off and work on a show coat. I'm learning how to grow her hair. The only thing I'm having problems with is carpet. Sassys mom is your girl on carpet? The handler I work for is very protective of her malts in coat. Our house is 1/2 carpet and i dont want to keep her crated up. I would have to do wraps to grow it out and I have to perfect my wrapping skills. I just wanted to see how you keep her coat. Its different growing a coat on a pet than a show dog. Pets have more freedom to do as they please and that breaks the coat. Sassys mom maybe you could share your secrets with me :D

Our home is both carpet and tile and Sassy has full run of the house. I do not wrap her hair and therefore she does get a little breakage. Mostly on the very front (where her chest hairs drag) and her ears. I tease her that she is like a little hunting dog dragging her ears around while she sniffs everything. I guess Sassy is blessed with a great coat. As long as I keep it groomed we don't have any problems. I have actually let her go a couple of days before without any real snarles. Her hair also grows pretty fast. In fact, I just 2 weeks ago trimmed 3 inches off of her bottom length and she is still touching the floor. It can get out of hand quick. I think the secret to a good coat is finding products that work for your baby. Also, I have found with Sassy that completely rinsing the final conditioner out is very important. If I leave any residue of conditioner in Sassy's hair gets grabby. I'm talking about the heavy conditioner that you use during the bath not the leave in daily spray. Anyhoo, Sassy is mommy's baby girl and I want her to be able to enjoy herself and be happy. I'll attach a picture of her so maybe you can see her hair type. I've got one where I had her top in a pony tail instead of a top knot and when she got into her bed I doubled the band back over her hair. The knot looks like a handle or something weird but you can see her coat. Oh yes, I will attach one picture that you would swear that it is the head of a child her hair is so pretty.

As for show coats in the ring they are not always what you think you are seeing. Those coats are sometimes whitened with corn starch, and ironed which makes them even more silkier.

[clmaltese]

I have to admit I don't spend as much as time as Pat, But all of mine are in a short hair cut. Most just came back from the groomer last week and another 5 will go next week. Anyone want my grooming bill? ha...
they are so pretty with they come back..
I do love the long coats and if I had just one or even two I would probably have it just that way too.
I am glad that Pat touched on the life of a show dog. I know their owner are dedicated, but I choose not to. I like enjoying mine. If no one but me sees them thats ok.
Cathy

[Chloeandj]

Boy this week has been a handful for me with grooming not only my dogs but my mom's two as well that are staying with me for a few more days. I have spent so much time brushing dogs every night, three of which have rather long coats. Fortunately only my Chloe really mats, but she and the rest of them have enjoyed the beautiful weather outside and have gotton full of stickers every time they go out. I'm so glad they all cooperate for their grooming. Especially the little boy, he's so arnerie all the time so I didn't think he would be as good as he is, but thankfully when I start to brush him he stretches flat out like he enjoys it so much, it must be relaxing. I usually enjoy that time every day brushing them, but I'm a little burnt out on it this week...

[Sassy's Mommy]

Jodi,
What kind of stickers do you have where you live that the doggies get into. I know different parts of the country have different problem weeds. We live in Florida and in our yard leaves are more of a problem that stickers. The trees drop a few leaves here and there and Sassy's coat picks up everything. She doesn't get down much outside for this reason.

[chelsey]

I don't spend time brushing chelsey at all only once a week when she get her bath. She has a cotton coat and it will get matted if we only use normal shampoo, but we use BTB and it really makes our lives a lot easier. It does not work for everyone but it works great for us. Right now chelsey is in a puppy cut and it is so easy to handel. I only brus her when she is going out or getting her bath :) She gets to spend her time playing with chester

[Sassy's Mommy]

Chelsey, What is BTB?

[Chloeandj]

Bless the Beast hair products.

Chelsey, what do you think of the products? I am debating which one to try next, I feel like I have a cupboard full of products that I either don't like the smell or they don't work very well, etc. Don't really want to add another one I don't care for.

[chelsey]

Well I find it a life saver. I use it on both chester our yorkie who i got it for originally . I alway say chester was like the donkey that turned in to a hourse in srek. lol He smelt great for the whole week after a bath in it and his coat was nice and shiny without the oil. I also then tired it on chelsey and never turned back. The first time I got it was at a dog store in our area but they stoped selling as they don't distribute to canada anymore. So now I order it on line.
QVC sells the detangeling package you get three items for the price that I payed for my first online order directly with the vendor. the Prominade is really good and keeps the coat from tangeling between baths. The shampoo smells great and works wonders on matts. I also heard chriastens sells a product called ICE but I have not tried it yet. Anyway if chelsey even shows a sign of a matt durring the week I don't really worry about it because I know it will dissapair with her bath on friday. When you do use it you have to rince it our really well and you only need a little to lather it up . I would say it is deffinelty somthing to try. And if you don't like it you can alway send it my way. :) Are we allowed t o post website here . I was not sure

[chelsey]

I don't spend time brushing chelsey at all only once a week when she get her bath. She has a cotton coat and it will get matted if we only use normal shampoo, but we use BTB and it really makes our lives a lot easier. It does not work for everyone but it works great for us. Right now chelsey is in a puppy cut and it is so easy to handel. I only brus her when she is going out or getting her bath :) She gets to spend her time playing with chester

How do you keep her clean when you take her outside.

Just last week I gave chelsey a bath and did her top knot and got her all done up for my mother in law as she was coming over. I don't know why , why i let her out to go potty with chester. Normally she will just go on the wee wee pad inside and chester will go outside. Well I let her out and away she went three homes away.. i nearly lost my mind when i noticed she was not in the backyard anymore. She ran under the fence even thow we had put up a barrier. When I got chelsey she was playing in the mud... it was a horible site. I was so upset and now no one could play with her :(.. chelsey loves to roll in the grass , water and snow she is like the post man. The weather will not stop her from having her fun

[lnovack]

Sampson is 9 months old and his hair is about three inches long and very human hair like. It takes about two minutes to brush his hair. He does not mat at all. Lucky me. On the other hand, I have a Yorkie named Gracie and she has a cottony coat and matts like crazy if I don't brush her every single day and it takes about 30 minutes. Thank goodness, she is pretty good about letting me brush her.

[Sassy's Mommy]

I just recently bought the entire of Chris Christensen products. I have to say that they are absolutely wonderful. I was using Pet Silk, but I have decided to just eat the costs of them and I am using exclusively CC from now on. The After Bath takes any shampoo/conditioner residue out of the coat and makes it feel wonderful.