GLORY RIDGE SHIH-TZU
SHIH-TZU HAIR
 Maintenance Between Grooming

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Donated By Groomer Beth Haire
19 Years of professional all breed award winning pet styling experience!   Serving The Woodlands, Magnolia, Tomball, and Spring  Texas areas!
Please call 281 639-9956 or email txgroomer@houston.rr.com for more information or to make an appointment.
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    So you’ve got your new bouncing bundle of fur- now what?  Be prepared!   Shih Tzu’s require regular grooming, and if you don’t keep up at home in between grooming with a professional pet stylist, it can get quite costly and actually down right painful for your puppy - not to mention the extreme emotions towards your groomer when she hands you back a stripped down dog because it was all he/she could do.  I can’t begin to tell you the nightmares I’ve seen in my 20 years of grooming and just how easy it all could have been prevented if the owner’s had just been educated. They honestly didn’t know! 

      The routine is very simple and actually can become a great relaxing, bonding experience between you and your Shih Tzu.   The trick is to start right away.  Even though may you think your puppy may not have that much hair or may not even require grooming the best thing is to start them early as possible. Trust me it will make a world of difference when you take your puppy to the grooming salon for the first time and save you money in your checkbook the first time and in the future!  You will need a slicker brush or pin brush and a greyhound comb or a comb similar to it.   Start by brushing your puppy with the brush with the lay of the coat, and with medium to light pressure (try the brush on yourself; you’ll get the idea of how much pressure to use where it’s not painful).  Not too hard and not repeatedly in the same spot as it could result in brush burn and a puppy that won’t like brushing later!  You can do this in your lap but if puppy gets wiggly or starts to get nippy,   give a firm “NO” or “NO BITE!”   Keep brushing until the pup relaxes, this means you won. If you give up, the pup realizes if he puts up a fight or bites -- the person brushing will quit and this is not fun for a groomer because one way or the other your pet is going to have to be groomed and you don’t want to end up having a dog that becomes a serious biter when getting groomed or you end up having to take your pet to the vet to be sedated for grooming-- which can double the cost of grooming!  If it helps put your pup on a counter top or table, anything elevated where the pup has little room to move around.  Once his foot slides off and realizes there’s nothing there he’ll stand still and let you do what you need to do.   The first time might not be easy but with persistence it will pay off in the long run and you’ll have a dog that loves grooming.

    Next is the comb.  Brushing really only gets the surface and doesn’t get close to the skin, where the matting can get really bad.  If you don’t comb from the surface of the skin upward you may quite possibly end up with a bald pup because the mats are just too close to the skin to work with and the only option is to shave them down – close to the skin and if you like that fluffy look you don’t want it to get to that point! I’ve had many people bring me their Shih Tzus matted and say they brushed, and they did -- but they didn’t use the comb to get down close to the skin.  The brush alone just brushed over the mats and that was it.   The greyhound comb is a comb with 2 different ends.  Half to a quarter of one end of the comb the teeth are spaced differently than the other side. Usually you have Course/Medium or Medium/Fine.  I prefer the Medium/Fine.  After brushing you will want to go completely over your dog with the comb with BOTH sides.  Pay special attention to areas that mat up the easiest and the most -- Ears, behind the ears, arm pits, lower hind legs and around the face; chin and moustache area. 

    If you prefer to bathe your dog between regular grooms use a mild shampoo.  I highly recommend NOT using people shampoo. The Ph is completely different in human shampoos vs dog shampoos and can dry your dog’s skin out and possibly cause a whole mess of other problems.  Make sure you can run your comb completely through your dogs coat without snagging BEFORE you get them wet.  Using conditioner on dogs is not like it is on us.  A wet mat only gets bigger and tighter as it gets wet and dries, so if your dog is matted putting on conditioner and then drying to brush them out afterwards is only going to be harder.  If by chance you do miss a mat use a conditioner and comb the mat out very carefully as the coat is still wet WITH the conditioner still in the coat.  I don’t recommend just letting them air dry as it can cause the coat to mat up so if you can at all possible use a blow dryer and it’s even better if you can brush your dog while you blow dry.  Bathing your pet is okay, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it more than once a week since it can dry out the skin and the coat.

      I also do not recommend chemical dips!  After working for a vet for years and using this horrid stuff I saw what it did to me and my skin I wouldn’t dream of using it on animal again for fleas and ticks.  If your dog has fleas there are organic shampoos out there for fleas and flea treatments (NO BIOSPOT!)  The trick is to put the shampoo straight on the dog – NO pre-wetting. Start at the nose and get the head quickly and in and around the ears. If you have to, put mineral drops in their eyes prior to bathing so you can get close around the eyes because if you are dealing with A LOT of fleas they crawl in the nose, eyes, mouth and ears until it’s safe to come back out.   Shampoo under the tail around the anus, the tail and in between the hind legs and pads of feet and then the rest of the dog and rinse immediately   Using shampoo straight on the dog without pre-wetting prevents the flea from developing a protective “bubble” that the shampoo cannot penetrate. Shampoo your dog well and immediately rinse and repeat it again. 

     I get a lot of questions from Shih Tzu owners what to do about that hair that grows over the nose and into the eyes.  If you want that hair  to grow and lay down it takes a lot of patience and just putting up with not seeing those eyes for a bit.  You can use a gel to train it to go down, but it’s still going to keep poking up until it gets at that certain length  to fall.  Most of my clients prefer to just keep it clipped, since their Shih Tzus are not show dogs.  Since Shih Tzu’s noses are pushed in and there is little space between nose and eyes I use a small thinning scissor in this area.  They have rounded ends which won’t poke your dog’s eyes (but still use caution!) and they are small enough to handle and give a natural look rather than a choppy look.  If you want to control that hair between grooms you can get a pair of thinning scissors and use them. They won’t cut hair like scissors so you’ll have to keep going over it a bit because thinning scissors have teeth to “thin” the hair and that’s what you’re doing—thinning the hair over the bridge of the nose.

     Tear stains and eye boogers.  I’ve heard countless ways of controlling tear stains and have not found that one works better over the other.  I’ve heard it’s the diet, not to let your dog drink out of a stainless steel bowl, only give them distilled bottled water and yet they still have tear stains. I have found that using saline solution for contacts on a cotton ball and wiping the area once or twice a day will cut this back and also a VERY thin swipe of vasoline over the area so the tears will just run over the coat instead of just soaking in to it.  Also buy you a flea comb to comb out the eye boogers.  I’ve had dogs that go 6 – 8 between grooming and the come in with this gooped up mess under the eyes and after combing it out, the skin is all raw under it..not to mention just gross! 

     Ears.  Shih Tzu’s are prone to ear problems.  Ear mites, yeast infections they get it.  You can get a commercial ear cleaner called R7 ear cleaner from almost any major pet chain.  Clean your pet’s ears out 1 – 2 times a week.  This will help cut down the chances of any ear problems.  They also make an ear powder you can put in the ears.  This will help dry them up a bit and will also help you keep the ears plucked and free of hair.  Hair in the ears will trap moisture and can cause infections or a great environment for ear mites.  Some dogs will tolerate having the ear hair pulled, others do not and believe me, as a groomer we don’t like having to pull the hair out anymore than you do once you hear them yelp, unfortunately one way or the other it has to be done.

   I get asked about teeth brushing often.  Your groomer can do it (and will charge you for it), but it is as useful as you not brushing your teeth between dental appointments and only brushing your teeth once every 4 to 6 weeks.  It will only alleviate bad breath for a few hours and won’t take care of a heavy build up of tartar. I don’t recommend the Greenies or rawhides because they can get lodged in the esophagus or digestive tract.  I have a Shih Tzu that is approximately 4-5 years old and I give her those butcher bones from the grocery store.  I never have to brush her teeth, and she’s never been required to have a dental and the only time her breath stinks is immediately after chewing on one of those bones. Other than that it satisfies her natural instinct to gnaw on stuff and exercises and cleans her teeth and gums.   These are BEEF bones not pork or chicken etc.  Pork and chicken can splinter and can result in bad digestive problems, even fatal.

Grooming your dog can be fun if you work at it and make it a part of the routine between regular trips to the grooming salon.  Just remember when considering a breed for a pet like Shih Tzus they are a breed that DOES require frequent grooming every 4 to 8 weeks and depending on the condition of your dog’s coat, and how much your dog likes grooming and what style you’re wanting – it can be costly and should be considered before purchasing this breed of dog.  Grooming is just as important as regular vet visits!  Be prepared to spend $35 to $45 and upwards every 4 to 8 weeks to keep these dogs maintained.  So make sure before bringing a forever friend like a Shih Tzu into your home that you are willing to care for your furry friend at home and that you can afford the maintenance this breed requires.

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