To bathe or not to bathe?

[Guest girliejr]

I have heard that it isn't good to bathe a Cairn too often. I have also read several posts from all of you about not bathing your Cairn. I need some advice! Jack gets really stinky sometimes, not to mention dirty! All it takes is one rain and Jack has mud and dirt on his little belly (I'm sure it is hiding in his brown fur too!). Should I not bathe him?!? I have seen a few of you talk about baby wipes. What type? Regular Wet Wipes for a babies bottom? How often can you use the wipes?

My second question is about strippping. I really WANT to strip Jack, but I don't know how/where to start. He had been cut/trimmed so many times, I don't know if I can get to the overcoat without also pulling out the undercoat (it is all the same length right now). I have seen the Mars Coat King (looks like a torture device to me! I saw a picture of, but I wouldn't have the slightest clue what to do with it!), but I am a bit intimidated to even order it, much less use it! Also, I saw on an earlier post that someone used a Dr. Scholls item. What was the item? What do you do with it?

Please help! Jack is 3 1/2 and he has never been stripped and he is bathed about one or two times a month (is that too many?!?). He has skin allergies and I am wondering if stripping him would alleviate some of that. Any suggestions would GREATLY be appreciated.

[Teri9672]

I have the girls groomed every 8 weeks. The woman I take them to has cairn's so she knows all about the coat. Neither of my girls are showdogs, so I do not strip and in return they both have soft coats. It really doesn't bother me though.

I have been bathing Teona at least every week to 2 weeks just to get her comfortable with a bath. (a request from the groomer)

I recently went to a dog show and saw a few cairns at meet the breed. They all had gorgeous coats, but I noticed they all stunk!

I don't think I was much help to your questions, so I hope someone else comes along to help you more

[savannahsmom35]

girliejr - I have the same problem with Savannah. She is so short that when she runs in the mud, she slings it underneath her onto her belly. I usually use a baby wipe on her face (I am hesitant to pour water on near her nose) but I will stick her in the bathtub and she gets a "water bath", no shampoo. I pour warm water over her as I lightly rub her fur until it (finally) runs clean. This alone gets out the mud and seems to make any smell go away. Alot of times you can get the smell out with brushing alone.

I Talked to my vet about bathing and he said some people cause this breed MORE skin problems by bathing them too much. He told me that if you want to bathe them, get a shampoo that doesn't have a lot of alcohol in it as this is what drys out their skin. He also said that some moisterizers help dry skin although it will make their coat softer (depends on if you are looking for that "show" coat). I saw some shampoos that fit exactly what he described and they all seemed to be the oatmeal shampoos for sensitive skin. I only bathe her with shampoo if she gets into something really gross or if she starts to smell and the water alone doesn't do the trick. Savannah is 7 months old and I think she has only had 4 soap baths. Most would say that is too many...

The MKC is great and not hard to use at all. You use it exactly like a brush. Brush through the coat and hair comes out like you wouldn't believe. MUCH easier and faster than hand stripping!!!! I did a total handstrip on Savannah when she was about 5 months old and it took me about 2 weeks totaling at least 7 hours to complete. I use the MKC every few weeks and it takes less than 5 minutes. Only problem is that it doesn't do the tail or face well. Good luck!!

[Guest girliejr]

Thanks for the advice! I have a medicated shampoo that I use on Jack (prescribed by his vet for his skin allergies) when I do bathe him. When he goes to the groomer, I always ask for an Oatmeal shampoo. I guess when it comes to soap baths, we have been doing the right thing, only maybe we've been doing it too often .

I will try a MCK. As long as I can "brush" like any other brush with it, then I guess I can try it! It litterally intimidates me just looking at it!

Jack has no idea what he is in for !! Keep the advice coming if anyone has anything else they do to their Cairns!

[suedelu29]

It took me over a year and tons of conversations before I had the guts to buy the Mars coat king. I just "did it" because I knew I was never going to hand strip them and I couldn't afford to go to the groomers. It turned out to be the best investment I ever made. It is just like a comb and trims great. Now lots of people have said this will deal with that undercoat (to a point). And I know that the dead undercoat has to come out so I sure hope it is getting it out. Try it

[suedelu29]

Only me again. About the dirty tummy. A cairn breeder told me to try bio-groom waterless bath, no rinse shampoo. It does work pretty good. I got it through the carealotpet website.

[Brigette]

Yoda's not a show dog either, but I have to have his coat stripped because of his itchy skin. I've found that when I had him shaved instead his fur grew back in softer and that led to itching. I have a stripping blade and its really not that bad to touch him up myself, then I get him professionally done once a year. There is a really good guide Brad posted on here somewhere to stripping. If you can find it, it really breaks it down into simple directions.

[wellygoggles]

Jumping in here on the stripping thread (the dogs, not us) - why do Cairns need their coats stripping? Can't I just brush my dog as his hair doesn't look long to me?

[Eliz222]

I think frequent bathing will cause more problems with your dogs skin than if you didn't bathe them. I know that Cairns can get stinky, and Finch, who is 16 months old, gets "oily". We have, in the past, used baby wipes to wipe them down. I bought the wipes at Petsmart, but I bet your could use plain ole baby wipes too.

I heard, on another Cairn site, that you can wipe your dogs down with Listerine...the gold stuff. I never tried it....until the other day. Finch was getting especially stinkly and I caught Scout rolling in a dead mouse (yuck!). So......I put some Lysterine on a paper towel and wiped the outside of their coat with the paper towel. I didn't go underneath their coat, because that would really dry out their skin. I wiped their back, belly, and around their face. They didn't seem to mind, and about 10 min they were the best smelling dogs!!!!!!!!!! They still smell great (no smell of Lysterine), in fact, they smell like I just gave them a bath! I don't know how long it will last, but I found it easy to use and now my dogs don't smell like dead animals!

[Guest webstar]

Is there something wrong with Molly she never had anything besides a puppy oder when we first got her. Of course she never had the pleasure of rolling on a dead mouse. She does not have the thick coat of the show cairns, so she is a lot easier to care for. If her belly gets dirty I wash it with a soaped up face cloth and rinse it the same way. She just recently overcame her fear of jumping in the lake and after being wet w/ lake water and she still has no doggy oder.. She does have bad breath in the morning.

[Brody'sMom]

We put a 1/2 water 1/2 Listerine mixture in a spray bottle and give our dogs spray baths now and again. We also have Biogroom shampoo for wiry coats for those times when we do give them a real bath.

[jansop]

What kind of listerine are ya'll using? I have the blue kind. Is there a particular one that needs to be used?.......jan

[AFireInsideOfMe]

Hmm....this reminds me, earlier today my mom asked if cairns fur just keeps growing like a cocker spaniel or if it gets to a certain leangth and then stops growing like a a collie? Cause I have a corgi mix and he's a real pain to groom cause his fur jsut keeps coming! any help? ;/

[Eliz222]

Jansop, I use the gold Listerine...that is what I was told to use. I pour some on a paper towel and wipe their coat down starting at the neck and working my way down. I also wiped their face, under their belly, and their neck. I can't believe how much better they smell!

[Chocklit]

Jumping in here on the stripping thread (the dogs, not us) - why do Cairns need their coats stripping?  Can't I just brush my dog as his hair doesn't look long to me?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is a really good explanation of the Cairn's unique coat and grooming requirements at the Col. Potter's Cairn Rescue site:

Grooming your Cairn