Bathing for Hand-Stripped Coats

The Schnauzer Grooming Club Newsletter

BATHING. IS. CONTROVERSIAL, and that's ok. The passion behind people’s vehemence about what is right/wrong to do regarding bathing a hand-stripped coat is a sign that it matters to them, and that’s a good thing. Other people WILL disagree with me, some of you may disagree, and that’s ok too.

That said, I only give recommendations or suggestions that have worked for me, or that I at least have first hand experience with. Having worked with SS from so many different lines throughout my professional career, I have definitely seen that some “absolute” rules about coat care (maintenance, bathing, etc) apply very consistently through some bloodlines but don’t give the same results in other bloodlines. I’m fortunate to have gotten to work with such a wide range of bloodlines because it gives me a broad perspective.

When, where, how, how often, for what reason… There is no one answer that fits all of these conditions all of the time so the answer is always, “it depends.” There are many quality shampoos, and brands, and I’d love to hear what you like and use.

Puppies: when they’re dirty and, for socialization and working through trust and avoidant behavior reasons, I believe you should regularly bathe your puppy. Maybe you don’t do a full body bath every time, but normalize going to the tub to get feet and legs and face washed. Hard-coated puppy coats won’t be negatively impacted by bathing and even if they were, the socialization is much more important when they are babies. I like to wrap them in towels and hold them on my lap for awhile so they can settle down (with me) and see that I wasn’t mad or punishing them. They may not particularly like being bathed, but let’s make it harder for them to invent reasons to be scared of it or what they make up that it means. Tearless, sensitive skin shampoos are good choices for puppies.

Adult pets and retirees: Very similar to puppies, though I bathe less often, generally, and don’t wrap them up in towels, lol. The socialization piece is still relevant though because older dogs can lose mental flexibility and react from a more instinctive and/or compulsive place and they will do that more to what they encounter less. Keeping up the socialization around all kinds of touching, gentle limb manipulation and head handling will make it SO much easier for your oldster to get through necessary indignities like going to the vet and it very literally keeps their brains more active and can help slow dementia, in my experience. NOTE: Brush out legs and faces BEFORE you bathe! The wet/dry cycle tightens mats and draws more hair into them so you’ll do yourself and your dog a big favor if you get mats and tangles out first. This is part of why long coats and furnishings mat up so quickly in wet weather.

Stripped coats: This is where people draw some battle lines, lol. I’m going to tell you straight up that people will disagree with me on this so don’t be surprised if you get a reaction or pushback when you talk to others about it. In the nicest possible way, ask yourself how much experience the person pushing back has, and across how many lines of dogs, and are their goals the same as yours.

Ok. Circumstance is EVERYthing.

1. Dirty dogs are way easier to strip. If you’re planning a bath, plan to also do some jacket work first. This is especially true if you’re stripping a large area, like a section. Try to avoid bathing the jacket less than two weeks before you want to do any major coat work, it will really save you a lot of effort.
2. Dirty leg, chest and face hair breaks and grows slowly. Dirt and clay dry the heck out of hair and make the ends really brittle and make it easier for the environment to pull whole strands out so that your furnishings become sparse or stay short in specific areas that you might care about if you’re showing. Consider weekly to bi-weekly conditioning leg baths (with or without blow drying), especially if you have a hard coated dog.
3. Shampoo can change the texture of the coat (temporarily!). People say it softens the coat, but I think it’s more descriptive to say that it “smoothens” the coat. This may or may not matter. It really only does if you’ll be showing within 2-3 weeks and you want the judge to feel the true character of the hair. In my experience, almost no product you can use will make a hard coat soft (less stiff). Ideally, you’ll want a “crisp” coat or degreasing formulation, and/or one with no conditioners in it. Back in the day, the secret weapon for bathing jackets, especially if you HAD to do it before a show, was diluted Dawn dishsoap. It cut through any built up oils/dirt and left zero residue.
4. ** IMPORTANT ** After stripping a big area, or stripping after a long break between baths, I deliberately bathe in an antiseptic shampoo (tea-tree based, chlorhexidine variations, etc) because stripping opens a lot of follicles in the skin which can, rarely but seriously, become infected. It’s never happened to me in 25 years but I have read about dogs who got severe skin infections so I’m careful. KEEP SHAMPOO FRESH if you pre-dilute and store it, it can “go-off,” and be a vector for bacteria.
5. Bathing can be a stripping tool. Yes. I do it a lot, actually, to help me separate layers in a rotating coat so I can more easily see what I want to be pulling. The harder the coat is, the more effective this tool is.

What did I miss that you still have questions about? What questions came up for you reading this? Please email me at StrawHatStandards@gmail.com to start a conversation.

In other news...

I'm hosting a webinar this Sunday Dec 3 at 4pm EST! Recently I've received lots of questions about keeping dogs calm on the grooming table (or in the tub!), so I've put together an hour-long live instruction session with demonstrations, exercises, mindset tips, and space for open discussion, all for the goal of helping you Cultivate Cooperation with your Schnauzer. To see more info and grab your ticket, click the button below and you'll be directed to our page.

Thank you so much for reading!

Give your dog a hug for me,

Leslie Shriner

367 West Shirley Ave, Warrenton, VA 20187
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