Author: Connie Limon
The Shih Tzu's coat for the show rings requires extra care.
Some show people actually keep their Shih Tzu confined and
caged to preserve the coat, or they wrap the coat or oil it.
Those who do keep their show Shih Tzu confined and caged pay a
price in loss of muscle tone in their dogs. Not all show people
practice these methods for preserving their Shih Tzu's long show
dog coats. It is also a myth that all show people do not allow
their show Shih Tzu to go for long walks, to play and just in
general to lead a normal life. For those who do allow their
show Shih Tzu do lead a normal life keeping the coat glamorous
requires a lot of extra effort, and much more grooming than for
the pet Shih Tzu.
Coconut oil is considered helpful as a means of preserving the
coat of a show dog Shih Tzu. If you do oil the show dog Shih
Tzu coat you must remove the oil completely before each show.
If you do not remove all the oil the coat appear limp and feel
wrong. It can also be uncomfortable to be around a Shih Tzu
that has been oiled. There are good oils on the market,
however, that do not have this effect on the coat and it may be
worth trying them if the Shih Tzu's coat seems to need it.
Wrapping the coat in tissue paper protects the Shih Tzu's coat,
but you lose some of the pleasure of seeing your dog in full
coat with his hair flowing as he moves. I do think this is a
beautiful, beautiful sight of the show dog Shih Tzu. The tissue
wrapping sort of reminds me of the days when women ran around
the house for house with their hair in curlers.
Probably the best thing to do if you are just starting out
taking care of your Shih Tzu show dog's coat is to experiment
with different methods of preserving the coat until you find
what works best for your dog. Much the same type of procedures
a pet owner must go through, although a lot more intense and
time consuming as the Shih Tzu show do requires so much more in
the way of grooming.
One thing is for certain if you start out with "bad hair" it is
virtually impossible to make it good enough for the show ring.
When purchasing your show potential Shih Tzu it is wise to
study the lines to find out which have good hair in their
genes. This way you can just continue to keep it looking good.
The topknot and whiskers also need very special attention on
the show dog Shih Tzu. The white whiskers on a parti-coloured
Shih Tzu must be really, really white to look good. It seems
this is especially true for the black and white Shih Tzu.
Some older methods of keeping the whiskers white was to wash
them at least once a day with a solution of boracic powder, a
teaspoon to a pint of water. This mixture is wiped into the
whiskers, being careful to get none in the eyes and then rinsed
away. One of the keys to keeping whiskers white is above all to
dry them immediately and keep them dry. An older method of
drying them was to work in some fuller's earth or talcum
powder, brushing this out and repeating until the hair was
absolutely dry. If you allow the Shih Tzu to dry his own
whiskers he will rub and rub until dry doing nothing but harm
to the length of the coat. Another problem you run into with
all this washing is that the hair becomes dry and brittle. You
will need to dress the whiskers with a little coat conditioner
from time to time.
A method of preserving the hair of the topknot is to use
several bands along the length of the hair to hold it to the
back of the head. You can also plait the hair to achieve the
same purpose. Use neither of these methods just before a show
as both methods will cause kinks in the coat of which you do
not want.
It is always wise to review the rules of the American Kennel
Club about the use of oils and conditioners on the coat of a
show dog. Any substance used to alter the natural color,
texture or body of the coat is usually prohibited.
About The Author: Author: Connie Limon. I raise Shih Tzu
Puppies for Sale. Visit us at http://www.stainglassshihtzus.com
and sign up for our newsletters. We have the Shih Tzu in a
variety of colors, the small AKC standards, imperials and
teacups at reasonable prices.
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