# How do you care for a Long Coat?



## Haven (Sep 22, 2005)

<span style="color:#3366FF">I've seen such beautiful maltese here







and have often wondered how do you care for their coat, especially when it grazes the floor? More importantly, how do they sleep and how do you keep it so clean? Is there a special technique to combing/brushing?

About how long does it take before the hair grazes the floor?</span>


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## lonestar (Dec 21, 2004)

Rudy is 18 months now and has hair to the floor.Let me tell you what it takes.It takes daily grooming sessions (brushing,combing and of course a new top-knot bow) I also brush his teeth daily.This takes about 15 minutes or so.Then once a week he gets a bath unless he gets into something (mud,dirt,leaves or how knows what. Then he might get an extra bath in the week sometime.I first brush and comb always brushing from the skin out to the ends in small sections. I use a good shampoo that's for white coats ( I like pearlyx) ,after I shampoo and rinse, I use conditioner ( I like pet silk or #1 All Systems) Before I apply the conditioner I do wring out the excess water in the coat.I try to leave the conditioner on for 5 minutes before I rinse.Towel dry by squeezing and not rubbing the coat to much for this will cause tangles.I let Rudy run and play for a while.He always is so happy his bath.Then we start with the blow drying.I brush and dry at the same time.This will make the hair smooth and straight.After he's all dry I shave the hair between his pads and on his tummy.I scissor cut the hair around his feet so that the hair is short and round.This looks nice and keeps him from walking on hair.I also clip the hair from around his bottom so that he stays clean in that area.I clip his nails pull the hair from his ears but a latex band in his top-knot and a bow.I then brush his teeth and spray a little static guard on the hair brush and brush it down with the part.I give him a shot of colonge and a cookie.All done.Takes me 1 1/2 hours start to finish







. And he looks BEAUTIFUL! A long coat takes a lot of dedication of our part and a lot of patiences on the dogs part.I love Rudy in full coat and i do enjoy grooming him but it hinders him from doing many things.Even a walk in the park can be a problem.I have been thinking about giving him a puppy cut this summer.I know he would enjoy the freedom.I just dont know if I'm ready to do it or not.........Good luck


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## ConnieVa (May 9, 2005)

> Rudy is 18 months now and has hair to the floor.Let me tell you what it takes.It takes daily grooming sessions (brushing,combing and of course a new top-knot bow) I also brush his teeth daily.This takes about 15 minutes or so.Then once a week he gets a bath unless he gets into something (mud,dirt,leaves or how knows what. Then he might get an extra bath in the week sometime.I first brush and comb always brushing from the skin out to the ends in small sections. I use a good shampoo that's for white coats ( I like pearlyx) ,after I shampoo and rinse, I use conditioner ( I like pet silk or #1 All Systems) Before I apply the conditioner I do wring out the excess water in the coat.I try to leave the conditioner on for 5 minutes before I rinse.Towel dry by squeezing and not rubbing the coat to much for this will cause tangles.I let Rudy run and play for a while.He always is so happy his bath.Then we start with the blow drying.I brush and dry at the same time.This will make the hair smooth and straight.After he's all dry I shave the hair between his pads and on his tummy.I scissor cut the hair around his feet so that the hair is short and round.This looks nice and keeps him from walking on hair.I also clip the hair from around his bottom so that he stays clean in that area.I clip his nails pull the hair from his ears but a latex band in his top-knot and a bow.I then brush his teeth and spray a little static guard on the hair brush and brush it down with the part.I give him a shot of colonge and a cookie.All done.Takes me 1 1/2 hours start to finish
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Tucker is 9 months old and his hair is a little over 6 inches long. He is starting to matt more. We brush him daily and have the right brushes and combs. We use ice on ice but we are still having trouble with matts at his ears and under his front legs. I can get all the matts out one day and the next day there back. Do you think it's the new hair coming in? This has just started happening the past couple of weeks.


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## Haven (Sep 22, 2005)

> Rudy is 18 months now and has hair to the floor.Let me tell you what it takes.It takes daily grooming sessions (brushing,combing and of course a new top-knot bow) I also brush his teeth daily.This takes about 15 minutes or so.Then once a week he gets a bath unless he gets into something (mud,dirt,leaves or how knows what. Then he might get an extra bath in the week sometime.I first brush and comb always brushing from the skin out to the ends in small sections. I use a good shampoo that's for white coats ( I like pearlyx) ,after I shampoo and rinse, I use conditioner ( I like pet silk or #1 All Systems) Before I apply the conditioner I do wring out the excess water in the coat.I try to leave the conditioner on for 5 minutes before I rinse.Towel dry by squeezing and not rubbing the coat to much for this will cause tangles.I let Rudy run and play for a while.He always is so happy his bath.Then we start with the blow drying.I brush and dry at the same time.This will make the hair smooth and straight.After he's all dry I shave the hair between his pads and on his tummy.I scissor cut the hair around his feet so that the hair is short and round.This looks nice and keeps him from walking on hair.I also clip the hair from around his bottom so that he stays clean in that area.I clip his nails pull the hair from his ears but a latex band in his top-knot and a bow.I then brush his teeth and spray a little static guard on the hair brush and brush it down with the part.I give him a shot of colonge and a cookie.All done.Takes me 1 1/2 hours start to finish
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Thanks for this. It does seem like quite a chore but the good news is that we have a while before figuring out what we want to do with their coat. Is it out all of the time?


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## tag (Aug 26, 2004)

Hey Connie, I would say Tuckers coat is changing and that is why he is matting. Vinny has very slow growing hair, I had a few inches cut off last July because of the constant matting and it's only about 5 inches long now. He was just over a year when his adult coat finally came in and he does not matt at all, I can go a couple of days without combing him ( I usually don't brush him) and the comb slides right through. He starts to looks pretty scruffy when he needs a combing. Here are a couple of pictures of him taken this month, I am not even sure what type his coat is, sometimes it looks so silky and shiny, other times I can part his hair and it looks cottony underneath, that is usually when he needs to be combed.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

If you let the dog run wild like I did with mine in coat, it is best to keep it trimmed right off the ground. Mikey did agility in full coat and it really does destroy the ends. Once a month I'd trim up the bottom of his coat. His coat never hindered him from doing anything...he even swam in the pool. You definitely have to put in the time grooming.

Clean hair tends not to mat. When my dogs went through coat change, I'd bathe them every 3-4 days instead of once a week. It made their coats much easier to care for.


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## Haven (Sep 22, 2005)

> If you let the dog run wild like I did with mine in coat, it is best to keep it trimmed right off the ground. Mikey did agility in full coat and it really does destroy the ends. Once a month I'd trim up the bottom of his coat. His coat never hindered him from doing anything...he even swam in the pool. You definitely have to put in the time grooming.
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> *Clean hair tends not to mat.* When my dogs went through coat change, I'd bathe them every 3-4 days instead of once a week. It made their coats much easier to care for.[/B]


Makes sense. Thanks. But is the coat always out? Say when the dog is asleep (at night)?


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## sassy's mommy (Aug 29, 2005)

Anyone who has a doggie in full coat knows it takes a real dedication and lots of time to keep it looking good. Once a month I trim Sassy feet, her pads, and pluck her ears. Once a week I shampoo and condition her coat which takes me 2 hrs. from start to finish. Going through all the steps in the shampoo process probably takes me 30 minutes and then I wrap her in a towel for a few minutes to absorb some of the excess water. Then the blow dry itself takes me anywhere from 1 hr--1.5 hrs. I groom her once a day and that takes about 45 minutes. 

As JMM mentioned a long coat dragging the floor can be very damaging to the ends. I normally trim Sassy's bottom skirt about once a month. If I don't get to it it will actually turn up on the floor and she walks on it. I let her go recently for 2 months and when I did trim her I cut 3" off the bottom and that made it even with the floor. I don't always trim the end length of her tail, so it trails her about 3 inches even with it in full curl position.

I sometimes entertain the thought of a springtime modified puppy cut, but when I really look at her in a full freshly bathed coat, I have not been able to bring myself to cut her down.

~Pat and the personality personified dust mop ~Sassy


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

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What do you mean is the coat always out? Are you asking if it is kept in wrappers? If you wrap the coat, you take them down and change them once a day. If you band any parts of the coat, you do the same.


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## Haven (Sep 22, 2005)

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<span style="color:#3366FF">You answered the question although how do you "wrap" or "band" the coat? (I don't know what that is)</span>


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

> <span style="color:#3366FF">You answered the question although how do you "wrap" or "band" the coat? (I don't know what that is)</span>[/B]


I won't go into step-by-step instructions, but here's a partially wrapped dog(he's in paper wraps - you can also purchase plastic ones):










Here is a banded top knot/facial furnishings










Close up with the face


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## ConnieVa (May 9, 2005)

All this is good information. How long does it take for the new coat to come in? I hear you say you bathe every 3 to 4o days bur for how long?

I put barrettes in Tuckers hair yesterday. There were NO matts when I put the barrettes in his topknot. When I took them out to brush him last night he had 3 matts. Hubby and I spent over an hour combing and brushing him. Only matts were under his front legs, ears and if I put his hair up in a band or barrettes.

He got his bath on Wednesday and all matts were combed out. Combed and brushed every day and suddenly there are matts. Example: he can have no matts at his ear on Monday and Monday night can have one the size of a dime. We are at our witts end and don't know where to do.

We use combs and brushes and shampoos recommended on this site. Tucker is a house dog and isn't out a lot durning the winter. He goes for rides and shopping with us. He has peepads inside. In the summer he is out more but last summer he had short hair.

I can't tell what kind of coat he has. I would say cotton but others that have seen him say silky. It's shinny but oh so soft. It hangs in a part down his back.


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## Haven (Sep 22, 2005)

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Perfect.
Thanks Jackie


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## Gemma (Jan 19, 2006)

> I sometimes entertain the thought of a springtime modified puppy cut, but when I really look at her in a full freshly bathed coat, I have not been able to bring myself to cut her down.
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> ~Pat and the personality personified dust mop ~Sassy[/B]


Nooooo, Please don't give Sassy a puppy cut. Her coat is so nice. I enjoy looking at her pictures. I have nothing against puppy cut and Sparkey is always short hair but looks like you have the hair under control and know exactley how to handle it. I am dying to know what products everyone use, I will start a topic if I don't find one posted before.

Connie , I am in the same boat as you are. I brush Sparkey and be so proud what a good job I did and then I go to work and come back and he has 5 matts different places. under his ears, arms, back and tail. so when you fix your problem let me know so I do the same thing.







I don't use good products that's for sure. I didn't even know about detanglers sprays and shampoos. I have to read more before I ask again.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

> All this is good information. How long does it take for the new coat to come in? I hear you say you bathe every 3 to 4o days bur for how long?
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> I put barrettes in Tuckers hair yesterday. There were NO matts when I put the barrettes in his topknot. When I took them out to brush him last night he had 3 matts. Hubby and I spent over an hour combing and brushing him. Only matts were under his front legs, ears and if I put his hair up in a band or barrettes.
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Well, I'm very anal about not pulling coat out when I brush, and I noticed a lot of coat coming out that was unusual. I bathed more frequently until it stopped...if I recall it was probably about 3 or so weeks. 

I'd run a little Cowboy Magic on my hands and through the coat before blow drying, too...


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## ConnieVa (May 9, 2005)

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Actually I try very hard not to pull Tucker's hair. I hold it tight between my fingers and spray it with Ice on Ice. That seems to help so much. I have heard of Cowboy Magic but will look into it. Exactly what is it? I don't ever like to cut mats but have had to cut one of two in the past. He no longer matts where they were cut.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Cowboy Magic is a horse product. It is sort of the consistency of Pet Silk's liquid silk, but it actually sort of coats the hair and repells dirt. I always got it at the feed store.


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