# I've got a fluffy pup! Help..



## LittleOlivia (Jan 8, 2017)

Olivia is a Morkie, but she really favours her Malt side in every way, other than her tall ears. She's now over a year old, so her adult coat is very fluffy and cotton like. As a pup her hair was so straight and beautiful. Although she is still suuuper cute and soft, I want to try and help her hair get back to being flat.

Anyone ever have products that flattened out a fluffy pup? Shampoos, conditioners, brushes etc? 
Right now I'm using Lavish Spa Whitening Shampoo and their Nourish conditioner. I also brush her with a pin brush with balls at the tip and one of those typical metal combs that have two teeth sizes on it.


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## Bonnie's Mommie (Mar 2, 2006)

Hi - once your puppy blows their coat and their adult coat comes in, it may change it's texture, so it may not lay flat anymore. Do you groom her yourself? I would ask a groomer (not Petsmart, a real groomer) their opinion. Good luck!


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## Dream Brandy (Aug 20, 2017)

LittleOlivia said:


> Olivia is a Morkie, but she really favours her Malt side in every way, other than her tall ears. She's now over a year old, so her adult coat is very fluffy and cotton like. As a pup her hair was so straight and beautiful. Although she is still suuuper cute and soft, I want to try and help her hair get back to being flat.
> 
> Anyone ever have products that flattened out a fluffy pup? Shampoos, conditioners, brushes etc?
> Right now I'm using Lavish Spa Whitening Shampoo and their Nourish conditioner. I also brush her with a pin brush with balls at the tip and one of those typical metal combs that have two teeth sizes on it.


 how are you drying her that sometimes can make all the difference I love my HV dryer it saves me time because it dries so fast and straightens the hair at the same time cutting my brushing and combing time to easily 4 or 5 minutes at max. Also have you tried a slicker brush my cousin's yorkie had this somewhat thick wavy type of hair at times and if we brushed him with a slicker it would easily go straight and look silky


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## LittleOlivia (Jan 8, 2017)

Dream Brandy said:


> how are you drying her that sometimes can make all the difference I love my HV dryer it saves me time because it dries so fast and straightens the hair at the same time cutting my brushing and combing time to easily 4 or 5 minutes at max. Also have you tried a slicker brush my cousin's yorkie had this somewhat thick wavy type of hair at times and if we brushed him with a slicker it would easily go straight and look silky


It's like she has the hair of a Coton De Tulear lol.. HV Dryers are what they use at PetSmart, that's when she's at her fluffiest! When I bath her at home I usually let her air dry and that helps with her fluff, more. I do have a slicker brush somewhere, bought it a while ago for my cats. I'll try and give that a shot, thanks!


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## Dove's Mommy (Aug 10, 2017)

I remember reading a slicker brush was too harsh for the Maltese skin - not sure how accurate that is though. I personally use a Wetbrush and a Buttercomb for Dove. The humans use the Webrush too and it's pretty amazing! I usually dry with a regular blow dryer on cool/ warm settings and am careful not to ever let it get too warm. When I shampoo her next, I am going to stack some towels up to hold my dryer so I am "hands free", and will brush her with the Wetbrush while I dry her.


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## LittleOlivia (Jan 8, 2017)

Has anyone truly seen a difference when brushing a Malt dry vs brushing damp? even with a spray bottle for a little dampness? I always dry brush, other than when she comes out of the bath, of course.


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## Dream Brandy (Aug 20, 2017)

Dove's Mommy said:


> I remember reading a slicker brush was too harsh for the Maltese skin - not sure how accurate that is though. I personally use a Wetbrush and a Buttercomb for Dove. The humans use the Webrush too and it's pretty amazing! I usually dry with a regular blow dryer on cool/ warm settings and am careful not to ever let it get too warm. When I shampoo her next, I am going to stack some towels up to hold my dryer so I am "hands free", and will brush her with the Wetbrush while I dry her.


 Some on this believe this but for the hair type the OP is saying her Morkie has a slicker might be best. There is a huge difference in hand dryers and HV dryers once I bought my HV dryer I haven't looked back it cuts grooming time down drastically I never really have to brush/comb while drying the dryer does all the work and after drying I'll comb/brush just to make sure there's no tangles anywhere


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## Dream Brandy (Aug 20, 2017)

LittleOlivia said:


> Has anyone truly seen a difference when brushing a Malt dry vs brushing damp? even with a spray bottle for a little dampness? I always dry brush, other than when she comes out of the bath, of course.


 I wouldn't suggest wet brushing especially for the type of hair it sounds like she has the only time I might brush or comb damp hair is if there's a large tangle then I'll use some detangle spray directly on the tangle and slowly work the tangle out.


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

If the dog is single coated, the stiff wire bristles of a slicker brush can easily scratch and irritate the skin. I have owned Maltese for over 25 years and would never use a slicker on a single coated dog of any breed. A gentle pin brush and good comb are much better. Many on here have had good luck with a wet brush. And for the very fluffy, you may find that a leave-in conditioner helps tame the coat a bit.


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## Dream Brandy (Aug 20, 2017)

maggieh said:


> If the dog is single coated, the stiff wire bristles of a slicker brush can easily scratch and irritate the skin. I have owned Maltese for over 25 years and would never use a slicker on a single coated dog of any breed. A gentle pin brush and good comb are much better. Many on here have had good luck with a wet brush. And for the very fluffy, you may find that a leave-in conditioner helps tame the coat a bit.


 there are plenty of single coated breeds that a slicker brush is preferred and recommended ex. Yorkies, and poodles doesn't bother their skin one bit I've been using a slicker on echo and he loves it, the trick is not press too hard while brushing and to be light handed line brushing is usually best you get down to the roots but also can make sure you're not scratching the skin


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

I have three malts, all with different coats. Personally, a slicker is too harsh on their coats and can cause breakage which will make a fluffy coat look bigger from the breakage. For my wavy, frizzy girl and my heavy, thick fluffy coat girl, I find using my blowdryer on low or with a diffuser working with a brush keeps them straight and flat vs. my metro vac like the groomers use. The MV makes frizzy, fluffy coats even bigger from the air being too cool, IMHO. Same as curly, frizzy hair for humans, cool air makes the hair frizzier...so same for our dogs who have hair.
For brushes, I use the CC wooden brush, a madden pin brush and my denman brush to dry them .
I love the Les pooch line for products. Their leave in conditioner is excellent for fluffy coats.


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## Dream Brandy (Aug 20, 2017)

maddysmom said:


> I have three malts, all with different coats. Personally, a slicker is too harsh on their coats and can cause breakage which will make a fluffy coat look bigger from the breakage. For my wavy, frizzy girl and my heavy, thick fluffy coat girl, I find using my blowdryer on low or with a diffuser working with a brush keeps them straight and flat vs. my metro vac like the groomers use. The MV makes frizzy, fluffy coats even bigger from the air being too cool, IMHO. Same as curly, frizzy hair for humans, cool air makes the hair frizzier...so same for our dogs who have hair.
> For brushes, I use the CC wooden brush, a madden pin brush and my denman brush to dry them .
> I love the Les pooch line for products. Their leave in conditioner is excellent for fluffy coats.


 sounds like the dryer might be your problem. Have you looked into Flying pig, CC dryers, and there's other I just can't think of the names for them at the moment they all have adjustable heat settings on their HV dryers. I personally own a flying pig HV dryer and it's amazing it has 3 heat settings no heat, low heat, and medium heat, you can also adjust the air flow it's amazing I never have to brush while drying it straightens the hair all by itself the only time I will brush while drying is if I'm fluff drying my poodles and need their hair super fluffy.


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

Dream Brandy said:


> sounds like the dryer might be your problem. Have you looked into Flying pig, CC dryers, and there's other I just can't think of the names for them at the moment they all have adjustable heat settings on their HV dryers. I personally own a flying pig HV dryer and it's amazing it has 3 heat settings no heat, low heat, and medium heat, you can also adjust the air flow it's amazing I never have to brush while drying it straightens the hair all by itself the only time I will brush while drying is if I'm fluff drying my poodles and need their hair super fluffy.


My MV runs similar to the CC dryer. It's the temp that's not right, not warm enough to control fizzy, fluffy hair. Airflow I can control on the MV as well. It's fine for finer coats, just not good big big, thick coats if I want them to lay flat with movement.


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## Autumn Jem (Aug 26, 2017)

Awwww I like the frizzy hair!


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

LittleOlivia said:


> Olivia is a Morkie, but she really favours her Malt side in every way, other than her tall ears. She's now over a year old, so her adult coat is very fluffy and cotton like. As a pup her hair was so straight and beautiful. Although she is still suuuper cute and soft, I want to try and help her hair get back to being flat.
> 
> Anyone ever have products that flattened out a fluffy pup? Shampoos, conditioners, brushes etc?
> Right now I'm using Lavish Spa Whitening Shampoo and their Nourish conditioner. I also brush her with a pin brush with balls at the tip and one of those typical metal combs that have two teeth sizes on it.


When I had my Maltese for the first few years I tried so many different shampoos & conditioners before I found a combo that worked. Even the expensive ones didn't work. Then I found 'Petology Keratin Enriched Shampoo' and 'Petology Keratin Enriched Conditioner'. I have been using them for several years now on my Maltese & not only do they work great, but they are also inexpensive compared to others I have tried. I buy them at Cherrybrook.com, Perhaps give them a try they might work for you too. Good luck! I'll try to post again when I look at my brushes & let you know what I use. I was told the ones with the balls on the ends are no good for Malt coats. I use a pin brush but no balls on ends.


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## LittleOlivia (Jan 8, 2017)

Thanks so much for all of the tips, everyone! I'll have to try them out and see how it goes.

I can't imagine no dry brushing.. she needs to be brushed daily or she gets mats.. but I can't bathe her everyday, either lol.


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