How to wash golden retriever - golden retrievers kennel Ambergold GK

mix » Washing

To wash or not to wash – that is the question

For a long period of time there was a notion ( at least in Russia) that a dog should not be washed.

With emergence of qualitative dogs’ cosmetics there appeared another point of view – to wash often, approximately once in a fortnight. Besides they recommend different masks and oils for coat. Some of them are water repellent and constantly defend and nurture hair. I am not a professional groomer that’s why I can tell only about the most necessary things from my point of view.

I think that a dog should be washed when it looks dirty.

I think that a dog should be washed before show.
I think that a good cosmetics line should be used. Perhaps your dog will need something else but as concerning me I for a long period of time used BIO-GROOM cosmetics, and nowadays use "Crown Royal ", "Isle of Dogs" and "Les Poochs" according to the instruction.
It’s important to wash the paws as we live in megalopolis and there could be found anything in the streets. As a rule the dogs walk bare foot and their paws suffer greatly. It’s especially dangerous in winter when even inanimate shoes are destroyed by salt. There are always microchaps on the pads and it’s very dangerous for paws when black oil salts with different reagents penetrate into them.

According to my experience salt and black oil are perfectly washed off with ordinary soap which is available in every household.
The technology is the following – the paws are accurately soaped (one after another) and left in a soap foam for 3-5 minutes (don’t forget to soap between fingers) and then washed through. That is to say when you’ve finished to soap the last paw you can begin to wash the first one. It’s better to use warm water.
"Super-Cleaning" shampoo of "ALL SYSTEM" line also can excellently clean the paws.
Besides I wasn’t too lazy to calculate: if you buy it in large quantities (1 gallon is a little bit less than 4 liters) the price of the solution ready for use will be 10 rubles per liter. It’s much more cheaper than the worst shampoo produced in Russia.

If there is no dirt and black oil the paws can be washed with warm water.

Overalls do help!

A dog must be washed if it managed to wallow in some odorous matter.

Goldens being hunters by nature always try to mask their odour.
They are eager to wallow in the mud if there a perished bird or a rotten fish lies down. (You should not be angry and punish them as it is the hunter’s nature. It will be much more better to learn some stopping command – “back” or “stop”. In other case you should blame and punish yourself).
Even from a considerable distance you can define if a dog wallows in the grass (sand, snow) out of general delight or it has sensed “season’s top-perfume”.

Having found something delicious-smelling a dog arches the neck and falls onto the place. First of all it tries to “perfume” it’s neck and then to wallow.

There was a case when Katya has found a pack of foul fish in Primorsk park and returned absolutely happy. At first we washed her in the pond so that we might put her in the car. Then we washed her with ordinary soap, coal-tar soap and shampoo.

Golden Ike with whom we have some acquaintance once returned after the swimming in Neva near Troitsky bridge with a large black oil spot on his side. His owner Olya told that she washed him with all available detergents with the exception of a solvent. And only a washing powder densely rubbed into his coat did help.
Obviously with exception of such force-major cases the dogs should be washed only with special shampoos.
You may courageously soap the whole muzzle as dogs’ shampoos are tearless.

While washing off the soap I protect the ear with a palm so that the water would not penetrate into it. If it anyhow penetrated into it dry the ear with cotton wool or gauze wad, but do not penetrate too deep.

The ears also should be washed. Nowadays there is a great number of medicines for ears’ cleaning. You can also clean the ears with the help of a wad soaked with peroxide. But you feel a smell (not very pleasant) from the ear and it excretes brown-red “ear-wax” you should know that it’s a vulgar ear tick and you should heal it.

A bitch should be washed immediately after terminating of the heat – it will be easier for both of you during walks.

Teeth

зубы

Even an absolutely healthy dog can acquire yellow teeth with age. Besides odontolith can appear.

Best of all is to train the puppy to brush it’s teeth regularly. And it does not matter that they are still snow-white milk-teeth. Just clean them once a week with a damp tooth-brush.

Believe me – it’s not easy to brush the teeth of a grown-up dog who is not accustomed to this procedure.

How should you do it? Best of all with the help of a special paste which you can find in a store, but tooth powder and soda with lemon juice will also go. I clean the teeth with paste and brush, but with the help of wad it might be more convenient.

If odontolith is already present it should be removed. Visit a doctor as without a special skill you would not manage yourself.
And finally nowadays it’s regarded fashionable to whiten dog’s teeth before the show.

Goldens should be washed before show. Even the most excellent Golden can receive “very good” with a commentary “isn’t ready for show”. I’ve seen it myself.

Each Golden has different hair with different hardness and density, wavy or straight with locks or curves. Besides their color is different. That‘s why the shampoo for a show should be chosen individually. Some Goldens do need conditioner after shampoo, others do not need it.

Gerda has bright-golden hair and white belly, tail and trousers. And she becomes very beautiful if I wash her with "Ultrawhite" for white dogs. As concerning light-cream Katya she must be washed with "Bronze-lustrе" which adds golden sparkles to her coat.
I have an acquaintance dog in Finland – a very complicated person. He consists of a great amount of locks which spread in different directions. I asked his owner how she prepares him for a show and understood that I’m very lucky.
I wish you the same luck.
Three days before show she insulates the dog’s hair with mink oil, then washes it with shampoo, applies conditioner and combs for several hours. The parts which are not combed immediately are covered with a thick terry towel. This procedure is repeated up to the moment when the dog is dry.
And then you can go to the show.

The scheme of washing in my house looks like as follows:
At first I wash the floor in the large room.
Then I prepare a shampoo and conditioner solution (in "All System" there’s also a stabilizer).
On the floor of the large room I spread a large flannel sheet and on the bathroom floor – a large terry towel.

I have a special shower with low skirting for dogs. But they can be washed in a bath or under any shower.

Besides I keep at hand a big sheet, a pair of towels, Magic wiper and a piece of suede (is sold for cars’ polishing). Personally I wash a dog sitting on a low bench, but it’s a matter of taste.

Dog’s coat is thoroughly soaked with warm (not hot!) water. Then you apply a shampoo solution. It’s very convenient to soak the coat with a large sponge (similar to that which is used for the washing of the car), then working solutions are prepared in large bowls. It’s convenient to pour water from a plastic bottle with holes made with an incandescent nail in the lid.

After two-three minutes exposition shampoo is carefully washed off with warm water. If a dog is very dirty you can wash it for a second time. As concerning me I always wash Gerda’s skirt, tail and tows for the second time with whitening shampoo. Then I soak the coat with conditioner solution (exposition) and wash it off with warm water. Then I very persuasively ask the dog to shake. Gerda does it several times very thoroughly. Katya never does it.
Then with Magic wiper I dry the dog removing water with soft movements downwards.

Magic wiper is inside the container

It is really a wonderful thing. You can dry a whole pack of dogs simply pressing the dryer. It resembles a sponge and has a form of a large napkin. It should be kept damp in a special container and easily is washed in a washing-machine.

One side of the napkin is smooth and the other one is covered with pimples. In the instruction it is said that one side is for drying and the other one is for cooling of a dog if it is hot. It dries excellently substituting a whole pack of rags and towels. I keep it in the shower-room and dry with it all my seven dogs (and it is 28 paws!) having forgotten about all towels. I don’t know how it works as a refrigerator. It was given to me by my friends a year ago (and I am very grateful to them!), but the summer was cool and I had no opportunity to test it.

Then I ask a dog to shake once more, cover it with a sheet, remove the shower curtain and the dog shakes standing on a towel.

Then a dog covered with the sheet goes to the large room and stands or runs there shaking under the same sheet. A sheet defends the environment from spray and drops of water which fly in all directions. Then you remove the sheet.
Then all my dogs behave themselves alike: they roll on the sheet spread on the floor drying themselves.

Some of them like Fred do it stately with dignity, others like Yolk twist and wrap themselves in the sheet like in cocoon. It may last five or fifteen minutes – different dogs have different tempers. If the sheet is not spread than they will wipe themselves with the sofa sides or if they are lucky and the door into my mother’s room is not locked – with mother’s bed covers. I don’t know if all dogs behave themselves in such a way – I have only seven of them and perhaps all of them have acquired this manner from Gerda. Gerda has very pronounced natural stereotypes of behavior: after bathing she always accurately wipes herself with grass, before delivery she diligently digs a hole and always belches the most tasty bits for her puppies.
When a dog stops wiping then the procedure of washing is over. An hour later I comb the dog and then – once more.
As a rule I wash my dogs at night. All of them live with me in the house, it is warm there and during night the dog dries.
If we are going to a show then after the dog has wiped itself I wipe it with suede smoothing and polishing the coat. The coat really becomes brighter. All the rest depends upon the dog.

Basya – is the happiness of my show life. She always looks wonderful. She can be washed with any shampoo and just left to dry even without combing. And she looks like a dame which just recently has left super-salon.

I can bathe her in a lake (in summer). On the way home she dries and looks even better. She has rather coarse and straight hair of middle size and very thick undercoat. It’s a marvel but having such a thick undercoat she dries very quickly. Thistles never catch her and plicae never form. It seems that she wears an overall which tightly overlaps her body.

Her brother Kasper from the same litter has the same coat structure and nobody has ever dried it with hairdryer. He simply does not need it. When his owner Irina is asked with what agents she washes Kasper she just mysteriously smiles. I’ll reveal her secret – she uses what has left. I do the same with Basya.. I have seven dogs. And all of them more often or more seldom participate in shows. I’ve always tried and continue to try different dogs’ shampoos and conditioners. And there always remains something at the bottom. I pour it in one flask and wash Basya, and she looks wonderful. Nowadays Basya is my best bitch, she wins a lot, and do not doubt I don’t try to save money at her expense.

There’s simply no difference.
With Gerda it’s a little bit more difficult. She has a beautiful and bright coat but her hair are too light and silky. It seems that our judges do not know it, but the majority of foreign experts knows that the hair should not be soft and silky. If your show is on Sunday you should wash the dog on Wednesday, then the back and flanks will lie beautifully, and before the show wash the belly, tail and paws with whitening shampoo. You can do it with "Biogroom" or "All System", I do not see significant difference.
Orinoco has absolutely right coarse coat with thick undercoat. It can be washed with any shampoo, then you swill it out with conditioner and leave to dry. But you should comb it several times. With age Orinoco’s coat has become more wavy and during sleep she can crease it in an ugly way.

Yolk is a rare dog in many respects and she has such an amount of hair that there will be enough for three dogs. She likes to sleep in the snow even when it is very cold, and it’s a problem to push her in the house for night. We have a large glass door and she sleeps beside it putting her paws on the glass so that it will be cooler.

She has very beautiful bright and a little bit wavy coat and such an amount of undercoat that it must be thinned with thinning scissors, and then she should be dried in tights. Otherwise her undercoat stands vertically and Yolk resembles a golden bear. I wash her several days in advance of the show with any good shampoo with conditioner and then comb her several times. The main goal is to remove the hairs’ volume.

It’s well known that Katya is a beauty. She has a very beautiful coat of a rare platinum with gold shadow. Her hair are very long and silky which is not correct for Golden but is very beautiful.

Katya is my only dog who must be combed perpetually otherwise plicae will form in her coat.

Katya is my only dog who collects thistles and seeds of all field and wood plants in her coat. She is the only one who looks dirty in a week after washing and in an hour after bathing in the lake. Her coat is not very dense but she dries twice longer than other dogs. Katya is my only dog who smells like a dog and the only one who must be dried in summer otherwise her hair begin to rot.

Katya must be washed rather often with a great quantity of conditioner. Besides masks are recommended to avoid plicae.

Mikimoto is alike her mother Basya. You can wash her with any agents and go to read.

Fred is the grief of my show life. He has absolutely right Golden’s coat but it’s too plentiful and wavy for Russia. Nowhere Goldens’ hair is not straightened in such a way as in Russia. Sometimes it seems to me that our experts have not managed to read the breed Standard up to the end. It is clearly written there “the hair is straight or wavy”. Fred has very long, coarse, elastic and voluminous hairs. There’s no need to wash him at all – he always looks clean. He catches nothing in his coat whatever bushes he crushes through. He has a thick water resilient undercoat. And it doesn’t matter with what agents you’ll wash him and how you’ll dry and groom him. He’ll shake, roll on his back and everything will return to it’s former state. For his sake I’ve bought eight brushes of different models beginning from those which were made of natural bristle and up to steel ones. For his sake I’ve bought a very powerful hairdryer "Metro" (4 horsepowers). It’s a very good hairdryer – it blows off water and straightens the hair. But in a half of hour hairdryer’s effect vanishes absolutely. I’ve tried different shampoos, different conditioners and different agents for grooming. A great number of agents. The results differed, I mean that for the first half an hour Fred’s coat looked different, but then, as my own hair, his hair acquired a natural appearance.
Risking to destroy my reputation totally nevertheless I’ll say that dogs’ cosmetics production first of all is a serious business.

In other words if a dog from nature has a rich coat, it is healthy and well kept, if it is walked out and loved by it’s owner it will always have an excellent coat. Surely with exception of natural shedding of hair. You’ll admire your dog if you choose a correct shampoo and conditioner, wash it when it’s necessary and comb it every two days. Obviously, if it’s warm in your apartment a dog will shed it’s undercoat for a whole cold season. If the dog is not healthy the coat becomes dull, does not “lie down” and there appear superfluous greasiness or dryness and/or dandruff. The coat is the first to react to stress. The same is with humans. If you have good hair from nature, you are healthy and cheerful then they will need the most simple care: regular washing with good shampoo and conditioner and regular combing with good brush.

The so called “show cosmetics” and the art of grooming is another theme. A professional groomer can make miracles out of nothing giving the volume and brightness to your dog’s coat. With the help of cosmetics and good clipping a gifted groomer can underline the dog’s merits and mask it’s faults making it unrecognizable. The same as with humans. The most rich braid can remain unnoticed in comparison with mediocre but successfully dyed and clipped hair becoming to the face.

But it’s another item of Goldens’ preparing for a show.

Summer washing for lazy ones

I would like to share my experience: during bathing season best of all my Goldens are washed clean on the beaches of Finnish Gulf. The method is quite simple and pleasant for all participants:

- at first the dog swims as long as it wishes,
- then I densely soap it with shampoo and conditioner,
- exposition for 5 minutes,
- and then you swim together.

Or if it’s already October and not July your dog swims alone while you are sitting on the beach, drinking coffee from thermos or romantically strolling (according to your wish).
Then your Golden rushes about and rolls in a fine white sand (it’s more convenient if there are two Goldens – then they roll each other with real enthusiasm).
When the sand dries and crumbles you with minimal labor receive clean and damp Goldens. Best of all to take them home immediately knowing that you’ll receive several dust-pans of sand. You can use it for pans’ and kettles’ cleaning. I’ve done it many times.

Soaping with shampoo

Washed and sanded Katya

Once I’ve made a mistake and haven’t taken Katya and Gerda to home at once.

Half an hour later they found a drain ditch near the sanatorium “Sun”.

Up till now I do remember a happy cry of a child when he saw them crawling out of there: "Look, mummy, two-colored dogs!!!"
From the breast downwards they were greasy-black, and their backs were still golden.

Coffee was out and a romantic disposition has vanished.
Do not repeat my mistakes golden owners of Goldens!