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Grooming your Coton De Tulear Puppy
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| Grooming your Coton De Tulear puppy should be a pleasant experience for both you and your new puppy. We recommend a daily thorough brushing once your new puppy has arrived. Once your puppy reaches approximately 8 months old the coat will start to change. This is the time the adult coat starts to come in and will start to mat with the puppy coat. Once this stage begins, if you have been grooming thoroughly on a daily basis, it will be less stressful for the both of you. This stage can last a good 6 months or so depending on the coat. Some helpful hints to make this stage a little easier. A clean coat is less likely to mat as badly, a thorough brushing morning and night. There are several detangler sprays, my favorite is Coat Handler. This can be purchased at www.cherrybrook.com
Others I have tried Nature's Specialties Quicker Slicker and Vellus.
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You never want to brush a dry coat, you want to spritz lightly with distilled water or a conditioning spray. Line brushing is the best method, as the coat grows it is easier to brush thoroughly. Lay the puppy on his/her side and in layers brush downward, make sure to concentrate on the armpits and inner thighs as these areas are prone to mats as well as behind the ears. Praise constantly and when finished provide a treat. We find it easier to groom when the puppy is tired as they are less likely to put up a fight.
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Before bathing your Coton De Tulear puppy/adult you want to make sure you have brushed thoroughly removing any mats. Use lukewarm water and make sure the coat is completely wet before applying the shampoo. Part the coat along the middle of the back. (There are several excellent shampoos to use. Our favorites are listed on the links page.) Gently massage the shampoo into the coat in a downward position, we find this to be the best as you can wash in mats if you are too rough. Thoroughly rinse the coat, when you think you have all the shampoo out rinse again. Apply conditioner and rinse again. When you are all complete with the bath, squeeze excess water and wrap in a towel. You then want to pat dry, you do not want to rub dry. Blow dry on a cool setting, heat tends to damage the coat. When blow drying it is the force of air that dries the coat not the warmth of the air.
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I have listed our favorite grooming supplies and shampoos:
Grooming Tools:
Chris Christensen
#006 Buttercomb 5" FACE/FEET
#003 Buttercomb 7 1/2" SKIP TOOTH
27mm Gold Pin Brush
Chris Christensen's fusion brush
Chris Christensen's wood pin brush
these grooming tools can be purchased directly from Chris Christensen or Show Dog Store
www.chrissystems.com
www.showdogstore.com
www.lespooch.com
www.bowwowshop.com
www.vellus.com
Mason Pearson Brushes: www.tressence.com
Mason Pearson Detangler
Mason Pearson Mixed Bristle
Small pair of sheer scissors to trim pads
Small pair of nail trimmers to trim nails
For tear staining I use
Gimborn Eye Clear pads
or
Eye Envy solution
Thru the years I have tried many a shampoo and conditioner, by chance I was introduced to Eqyss after I received a sample with an order I placed at Petedge for some miscellaneous items. I must say this shampoo and conditioner is my ULTIMATE favorite. It works miracles on mats and the way the coat feels after their bath and the length of time it keeps the coat smelling and looking great to me lasts longer than the others. The other benefit is it dries the coat faster than the other products. Eqyss can be purchased at various online locations but www.petedge.com
has the best price.
These are some other shampoo choices to choose from that I have used in the past with success before I was introduced to Eqyss.
You want to stay away from any bleaching agents, silicone or lanolin.
Bark 2 Basics Shampoos and Dematting Conditioner & Coat Handler both can be found at the Bow Wow Shop www.bowwowshop.com
Les Pooch Bright Shampoo www.lespoochs.com
Vellus shampoo and conditioner www.vellus.com
Detangler sprays I like Coat Handler, it doesn't appear to have an odor or change the texture of the coat. This is also found at www.bowwowshop.com
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FOOD:
We feel that an all natural high quality dog food is the best. We alternate between several different brands to provide our Coton De Tulears a variety. Currently, we are feeding Blue Buffalo Grain Free or Orijen. This food can be purchased at Pet Supplies Plus or you can order it online at www.petfooddirect.com. You can also add yogurt/ricotta cheese/cottage cheese or fresh vegatables for some variety. For dinner we do cook for them, they eat chicken, brown rice, peas, carrots sweet potatoes, oatmeal. We also add Show Stopper supplement daily to ensure they are receiving all the vitamins and minerals they need. These are some other foods we have fed in the past and will go back to in the future. There are quite a few excellent quality foods, we feel rotation is important to give their bodies a variety of nutrients that are important.
For the puppies we currently feed Blue Buffalo Small Breed Puppy
Treats:
With so much on the market these days and with the issues with China and all the food recalls we only feed treats that are made in the USA.
For the puppies:
Old Mother Hubbard Biscuits
Wellness treats
Natural Balance biscuits
For the adults:
Plato chicken, chicken & vegetable, salmon, salmon & vegetable
any other type of treat that is all natural that is made in the USA.
We just purchased a dehydrator and will begin to make chicken strips etc for our gang which we feel will be much healthier than store bought.
Chewies:
Flossies
Bully Sticks
Our gang loves these, they are safe and natural. We purchase ours in bulk from www.bullysticksonline.com or
www.bestbullysticks.com
Both sites sell all sorts of healthy treats, chewies, etc.
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Puppy Supplies:
xpen
small crate
stainless steel bowls for food/water
toys
chew toys for teething
baby gates to block off areas to give puppy smaller area to explore and stay out of trouble
special treats for potty time and crate time
food
harness/leash
travel crate for car or car seat
the links to the grooming supplies are listed above
nail trimmers
scissors
brush
comb
shampoo/conditioner
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