LEARNING TO GROOM YOUR LHASA ... or (how not to pull your own hair out trying!)

      Grooming your Lhasa properly saves a lot of time, and keeps your dog healthier. You CANNOT have fleas AND hair, so decide once and for all to rid yourself of these pests. Since I don’t know what products you’re currently using, it's difficult to tell you to throw them all away, and start over. There are certain products we use, and are happy with, but some work better than others - the trick is how you use them.
       There are some products that you should NOT use, such as those with silicone in them, heavy thick oils that clog up the skin and hair, hair-spray with lacquer in it that dries the hair and makes it break. Too much bathing with harsh shampoos will dry the coat and make it brittle and easy to mat. We like the "enzyme" products which are safe and non-toxic, not a soap with sulpher in it, but completely natural and protective of the hair and skin.
       A clean coat and skin that isn’t gummed up with a lot of conditioners, oils, etc. should be easy to care for. I think sometimes people try to put too much "stuff" on the coat, trying to find a magic way to groom, and this only makes it harder. There are NO magic formulas, if there were, I would have found them by now, believe me! So I will go through the routine that we use.
       Our dogs are bathed once a week to ten days ... we don't do any brushing on the coat, other than to redo banding on head and ears. This avoids unnecessary wear and tear on the side coats, and prevents split ends. If you have a male that gets a lot of urine on his side coat and is smelly, we use the Absolutely Natural Groomaid which cleans with enzymes, but the less you have to work with the coat, the better. The side coat is usually "tipped" once a month or so ... this means to scissor the rough edges of the coat about 1/8th to 1/4th inch to help prevent broken ends. Ironing - never use a very hot iron, and it helps if the dog is freshly bathed and dry ... there is enough moisture retention in the hair to prevent the hair from being damaged. Some sprays used to help the coat lay flat can be very damaging if ironed in ... remember, the ideal is a clean, healthy coat and skin with bounce and elasticity.

      1. Never, never brush or comb a dirty or matted coat dry. What I mean by "dry" is without using a spray while brushing. The Absolutely Natural Groomaid is great for brushing out small mats before a bath.*
      If the dog is lying on its side, with the rear to your left, you can use your left arm to hold the dog down, and grasp a handful of hair with your left hand while you brush the hair away from under your left hand (all this is if you are right handed like me) towards your right with a long sweeping motion. You never flip the brush up at the end of the stroke, but keep it straight - this way you don’t damage the ends of the coat and break them off. Never brush the "mat" out of the hair, but brush the hair out of the mat!
      3. If you come to a badly matted place, just mist it again with the Groomaid spray, let it dry, and begin to pull the mat apart gently with your fingers before starting to brush again.
     4. After the brush out, the dog will be fairly clean; as the Groomaid is brushed out, it takes with it oil, dirt, stool, etc. I like to bath the dog after this, but it’s not absolutely necessary. If you don’t bath now, the tendency is for the coat to get dirty faster than if you bath immediately. Also great for mishaps before bath time.
     5. For bathing, I use the Absolutely Natural grooming products - Shampoo and Conditioner, Groomaid & Glossifier.
        a. The Conditioner may be left in the coat to tame it down a little, but both are very gentle and leave the coat and skin clean, and not clogged up with waxy or oily deposits like some conditioners. The other "people" conditioners make the coat look nice right after a bath, but then as it dries on the shaft of the hair, it causes matting and breaking … that’s why I like a clean coat. (http://www.AbsolutelyNatural.com/)
     6. Bathing the dog: It’s very important to get ALL the hair wet before you apply shampoo - sometimes the coat resists water, and you find dry patches when you put the shampoo on. Use warm water (not hot or cool), and when the dog is completely wet, work the Shampoo in gently, moving your hands down from the top, never rubbing in circles or an up and down motion. Get those oily areas in particular, around the ears and muzzle, the feet between the toes. The Absolutely Natural Shampoo is not a heavy lathering shampoo, so you won’t get a lot of suds; this is OK, because harsh detergent shampoos make lots of suds, and strip out all the good coat oils, leaving a harsh and brittle coat. Squeeze the coat gently to work the lather through, and then rinse. Unless the dog is very dirty and oily, a second shampooing is not necessary. RINSING is very important - This is an enzyme product, and you must rinse out the dirt lifted by the Shampoo.
     7. Using the conditioner. If you are using the Absolutely Natural conditioner, it should be used sparingly, about a tablespoon of conditioner to a quart of warm water, and mixed thoroughly. While you have the dog in the tub, completely free of shampoo and still wet, you pour the diluted conditioner over the dog, gently squeezing it through the coat. This makes enough to saturate the coat thoroughly. Because these materials get expensive after a while, you might only mix two cups water to 1 teaspoon conditioner.
     8. To get the dog ready for drying, I have a clean dry towel on the grooming table, ready for the dog when he comes out of the tub. I do NOT towel dry the dog or rub him with a towel! Just carry him in a towel to the grooming table, and stand him on the clean towel. Then I take a large pin brush, and begin to brush downward through the coat - this helps cover each hair with conditioner. I’m not trying to really "brush" the coat, as much as I’m spreading the conditioner through it When you feel the conditioner is spread over all the coat, then you can squeeze and pat the hair damp-dry with a couple of towels. Now you are ready for drying.
     9. DRYING: You should have a good stand dryer, that blows warm, not hot air. Too high a velocity of air (blowing TOO hard), is not good, because that tends to split the ends of the coat. I feel it’s best to start with the left, or judges side, first. Lay the dog on it’s side with the head to your right, and you want the warm air blowing over the dog and toward the tail - while you brush the same direction. Hold up the front leg and dry that area first, then the stomach, and then the rear quarters. Roll the dog on its stomach, and begin drying the upper shoulder, sides and rear. Then I do the tail, turn the dog around, and start the other side in the same manner. Then I do the head, taking special care not to blow air in the ears or eyes, covering them first.
     10. After the dog is thoroughly dry (if you leave damp areas, these will crinkle up and mat), stand him up and take a medium comb through, checking for any tangles. If you come to a knot, DON’T drag the comb through it, but stop and gently tease it out. Then you do the part **(making sure the dog is standing "foursquare"), band the hair away from the eyes, and you’re ready to scissors around feet and between the toes. You should have a beautiful dog now!
     11. You should be able to get by at least a week (or more on a young dog) before another bath. The longer you can go without big mats, the better off the coat will be. NEVER BRUSH OR COMB THE DOG DRY, this will wreck the coat.

**Tips for a straight part: First, stand the dog facing away from you. Check to make sure every foot is placed in a "neat" rectangle, no curving body, no spraddled legs. Holding the chin gently in one hand, use the other with a comb or knitting needle to follow the vertebrae of the backbone exactly. If the part goes off, do it again - until the line is exactly straight. The trick is getting the dog to stand four-square, with feet in line! Do the neck with the dog facing you.

*If you don't use the Absolutely Natural products, follow below:
     We mix a spoon full of conditioner to a 16 oz. Bottle of plain water, teach the dog to lie quietly on his side, and mist the conditioned water over the area where you are going to start brushing (don’t make it wet, just slightly damp). I never use oily detanglers, this just seems to set mats in tighter when I tried them.
     Next, purchase some plain "cornstarch" or "corn flour", (as it's called in Europe), and put it in a "shaker", like you use to shake flour over food when preparing to cook. We then shake the cornstarch into the previously dampened area of the coat, and begin brushing with a large "pin brush". (follow "brushing" instructions above)