I did have one groomer where I boarded my dog, trimed the hair around the private part and also around the anus. As you said, my dog was not comfortable for a few days as I can tell she kept trying to scratch but she got used to it after a few days. I actually prefer that as it is cleaner and easier to manage (like wiping the butt! )


RB

I agree with the cleanliness part of trimming. But how do i cut it ?? Do i just cut it super short using scissors (specailised for cutting hair one) OR do i use human shaver to shave it off ??

I did not do it but I can tell you my observation. I believe the groomer used a pair of scissors to trim it really short around the private part (I have a female dog) and shaved off the area around the anus as it was completely bare like getting a botak hair cut.


RB

wud about bathing ?? Can i bath my shih tzu few times a week BUT only ONCE WITH SHAMPOO ??

Why would you do that? I only bath when dirty and not more than once a week with dog shampoo. Too many bath will not be good for the hair and skin of your dog.


RB

He's smelly. I use baby wipe to clean his face and i clean his ears with solution everyday. But i jz dunno whr does the smell comes from. I bath him about twice a week. Once with shampoo and once with plain water only.

my little shih tzu alreay smelly at the ear side. thus i bath him once or twice a week depending on the cleanliness.

I just brought my dog for vaccination yesterday. His ears were dirty, smelly and itchy last month when we brought him to the vet to check. Apparently, we were told that he had this fungus growth in his ear canals and need to apply medication onto it.

I am not speculating that smelly ears are always fungus growth but as a word of caution, please check with your vet once in a while.

smelly ears is almost always some ear infection...happened to my Westie once too. it was noticed by my dog's groomer as well. so make sure when you bathe the dog yourself to prevent water from going in to the ears.

Yep. Do dry the outer parts of your dog's ear when you bathe your dog... The vet advised us not to clean too deep.

Anyway, there was one time our dog had a lot of wax build-up in the ear and we kept cleaning it. Went to check with the vet and turned out to be some infection.

There is a droplet out there to clean the dogs ears but I wouldn't recommend using it too often too. We only use it once a week when we bathe Snoopy.

Oh, do not use human shaver.... well, I trimmed using scissors last time. Safer coz a shaver can cut too close and coz itching.

Have you tried smelling the mouth and ears? If you smell his body... around the spine there and it is smelly, means your dog got body odour problem. It could be due to the food.

What do you feed your pup?

His mouth and body do not have any odor. The ears got a bit of smell but not so strong. I dunno whr is smelly but it comes from the face. After I bathed him, about 30 or 1 hour later, the smell returns but jz on the face side. I clean his ears everyday with the ear solution thingy. I put one or two drops on cotton bud and clean it. Then i use a dry cotton bud to make sure the ears are dry and not wet. I feed him with "nutro lamb".

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Added on February 9, 2007, 11:10 pmHis mouth and body do not have any odor. The ears got a bit of smell but not so strong. I dunno whr is smelly but it comes from the face. After I bathed him, about 30 or 1 hour later, the smell returns but jz on the face side. I clean his ears everyday with the ear solution thingy. I put one or two drops on cotton bud and clean it. Then i use a dry cotton bud to make sure the ears are dry and not wet. I feed him with "nutro lamb". Last nite my fren brought her maltese to my house and she told me that smell is "typical dog" smell. Might be from the saliva.

Btwn, why my Lucky's moustache kenot grow one?? THe forehead there got grow longer already but i didn't see any growth at the moustache. And how to make its coat shiny without giving him any supplement?? His coat is normal now - not dry or flake looking but not shiny either. Wud food brand do u guys recommend for a shih tzu ??

This post has been edited by Syrian: Feb 10 2007, 12:01 AM

Syrian,

The reason why you should not wash your puppy too frequently is so that his body has the time to build up what I would call puppy oil, sort of like baby oil, to protect their skin. The oil is good for their fur and skin so it's best that you only shower your dog NO MORE than twice a week.

If you are going to wash your puppy, make sure its luke warm water in the evening. If it's in the afternoon, cold water is fine. Advise is that do not let water get into their ears, will be extremely troublesome and smelly later on. Try to avoid the nose too. Many people say can shower the face but my gf and I, our dogs, we just wipe with wet clothes or tissue instead of splashing or showering their face.

I am guessing, maybe your dog smell come from the face, or rather more accurately the mouth? Does he have bad breath? He is not a Pug but a Shih-Tzu so you dont usually have to wipe his face everyday. Does he dive his face into his food? For example, I feed Casper his three meals with Nutri Sauce lamb based along with some milk powder for calcium. I will add plain water into it turning his dog biscuit soggy and the powder diluted in the water. He eat in his bowl and then his janggut all got the powder, so sometimes when dry up, you can still smell the powder smell - so just wipe it clean with wet clothe will solve the problem.

As for ear cleaning, use a cottonbud to clean it just like that. Do not clean too deep, only the parts where your eyes can see and then stop. You can push it in but sendiri agak-agak la - not until your dog become deaf. There is a blue solution where you just pour it into your dog's ear without having to apply it on cotton bud. Just a few drops and then your dog will hate it, shake it and you will see tiny dust and flakes come out. I do that for my puppy whenever I shower him.

As for why your Lucky's moustouch cannot grow is because it's not the time yet. Dog's look will take transformation when they are one year old. Be patient. That's also when their weight stabilise. My Westie dont look like a Westie at all.

As for the fur, my friend say got a solution to rub on him. My girlfriend feed her Spitz, Evening Primrose Oil and wipe his lotion that smells like coconut. It helps and the dog's fur is really outstanding. Then cut short, now the dog look like a lamb. Kekekeke...


I am waiting for his fur to be long and I will give him the Lion's Cut! When I got him about 5 weeks ago, he was 2.3kg, now he is 3.5kg. I am kind of worried about his weight so I am taking him out for walk tomorrow and Sunday. Then I can shower him on Sunday cause he had his last vaccination last Sunday.

This post has been edited by Pennywise: Feb 10 2007, 12:21 AM

Pennywise already gave a good explanation. Shih Tzu's coat is a bit different, to shine, you gotta use a chamois cloth(something like leather) to wipe.... but that is for show dogs actually. What you can do is LIMIT the baths! Hahaha... you bath your pup too much lah. Only bath the most is once a week. Last time I bath my shih tzu once every 2 weeks.

Your shih tzu is young lah. It takes 1 year to see difference. About supplement, do get hold of omega 3 oils... I would recommand you to add half a teaspoon off Vitamin E oil and 1 capsule of Cod Liver fish oil. For me, I get this organic Omega oil from an Organic shop, got everything inside.

If you do not want to supplement such things, i suggest you go into Holistic dog food. NutriEdge, California Natural, Eagle Pack Gold and Canidae are a few brands you can try.

The smell, if from face... I can tell you, it is from the mouth and eyes... the tears from the eyes got a slight smell. it is very very natural. Your friend already said is typical doggy smell mah hahahah. Dogs are dogs, they will always have a slight doggy smell. Please do not clean your dog's ears everyday.... not a very good feeling at all! Just clean it once or twice a week coz if you wipe everyday, too much friction and can cause ear infection later on.

Another thing for coat, I would say shampoo. Do get a good brand... Biogroom is good... it sounds expensive, Rm30 something for 1 bottle but can last you 1 year plus or 2 since you gotta dilute 1 part with 16 parts of water. For the best coat effects, get a good brand of shampoo and a conditioner. Shih tzu fur is different from other dogs. Their fur is similar to maltese, which is more like hair. So harsh shampoo can damage the shih tzu's fur a lot. So you take care of the fur like you take care of your hair. Brush everyday with a soft brush and comb with a metal comb to get rid of tangles.

Show you a pic of my late shih tzu.


my old dog when he was 3 years old with the typical long shih tzu fur


A picture a month before his death, he had a close lamb cut. A bit funny looking since I cut it myself using scissors ahahah.

If i jz give him a splash of cold water during afternoon without applying shampoo - can or not ?? Coz weather's very hot lately - i've also fallen sick . And then, i give him Nutro Choice - is that holistic?? It's written "Formulated to Improve Skin and Coat Quality" on the paper bag.

And then why some people tell me I must clean the ears everyday?? It's like contradiction to what crazymouse is saying . So, should I clean or not clean everyday ler ?? I forgotten who told me already - "If you don't clean ur dog's ears daily with ear solution, there'll be build-up wax which can cause fleas and ticks." Is this true?? I use cotton bud and I apply around one drop of the solution on the cotton bud to clean his ears. After that, I use a new cotton bud again to wipe again to ensure that the ears are totally dry inside.

As for shampoo, I bought Bark which costs me RM 27. Just a small bottle. It's for puppies - is it a good brand? I didn't use any conditioner. I only use that "bark" brand shampoo wor. He doesn't like me to brush him but I forced him to sit and stay on my laps everyday when I brush him . Last time whenever he sees the brush, he'll bark very very loud and wanna attack the brush. Then I scream at him "NO". After that, he does not dare to attack the brush anymore . When I say "lucky, noooooo. Sit!!! Stay!!!", he'll listen to me .

I plan to keep his front hair and moustache long. The front hair, I think it's better to tie up in a knot rather than letting it fall off his face - Looks cleaner and tidier and won't poke his eyes so much. But at the moment, the hair around his nose ar .. da previous time he went for basic grooming, the groomer cut it extremely short and now it's long already and stared to poke poke his eyes wor. How to solve this problem?? I don't want to cut it short anymore coz I wanna keep that part of the hair LONG so that I can sambung it to the forehead and tie into a knot at the forehead. My plan is like this - I wanna keep his front head and moustache long, and then bring him to groomer to have his body hair groomed short short. I only want to keep the front head and moustache long.

Crazymouse,
The lamb cut was very nice . I prefer short hair than long hair .. hehe. It's good that you know how to cut the hair urself. I don't know how to cut

Any of you guys tried "Acana" dog food? I was told the ingredients are very good, plan to give it a try on my doggies.

Now I have a serious house breaking problem of my own.

Today, I let my Casper out to play. So my sister sit with him. To my sister's right is the newspaper where he's supposed to potty. To my sister's left is a floor mat, for us humans to wipe our legs when we step in the living room.

Casper poo on the floor mat instead of the newspaper. So I caught him, roll up a newspaper and push him down to smell it. I smack the newspaper on the floor and kept telling him NO! He was afraid and struggled for his life. I didnt let go, I hit two more times, telling him NO! NO!

Then, I carried him to the newspaper and tell him, here "good boy, clever Casper, good paper"... Then he run off... climb up the stair case until one step, he stop. He pee on the step and lay down on his pee so scared, got all so dirty!!

Then, I have to make him smell, hit the floor again and say NO! NO! again. Brought him to the newspaper again and tell him good boy, good paper, clever Casper. Since he laid on the pee, I had to shower him. That's in the evening around 4pm.

Then, I went to supper... When I come back, I see him quietly laying down on the newspaper that I placed at his playpen... I see him so good boy. Sekali I pick him up, he was actually laying down on his shit... All the shit stick to the stomach and I had to shower him a SECOND time for the day.

WTF?! I think maybe I hit the floor too ganas or my dog is a scaredy cat, so I will have to switch to positive training methods to teach him liao. I cant believe he lay on his own pee and poo! It's worse than before!!!

How many of you train your dog to do his business on newspaper? Recently, I read an article saying not all dogs know how to different floor and newspaper, so if you encourage him to do business indoor on the newspapers, it will makes it too easy for the dog to feel as if it can go elsewhere in the house. For some dogs it may work, but others will have trouble distinguishing the difference.

How many on toilet? Majority let your dog do their business outside? The reason why I dont want my doggy to go outside is I dont want him to get dirty on the mud at the garden or attract any ticks / fleas problem.

Any advise?

This post has been edited by Pennywise: Feb 11 2007, 03:10 AM

opss...i shower my pup more than twice a week with dog shampoo, usually on, tuesday, thursday and saturday.

Well,for the case of poo poo and pee pee, i think its depends on the mood, sometimes, my pup will eventually (thank god) go back into the cage to poo poo, or he go nearby the toilet door and poo poo outside the door. For pee pee problem, he just like urs, run away if he pee pee on the floor or on the floor mat, he like those buglar that runaway after did something wrong and dont wan any1 to spot he did it.... doink dog, whose else will pee pee on da floor beside him... haihz...
sometimes i scold him, BAD BOY while pressing his head near the pee pee and say NO, or i just shout BAD BOY and let him go. usually if i put the newspaper on the floor, i need to actually let him on top the newspaper and let him know the newspaper is tere for him to pee/poo, its only work sometimes...... haihz...

I wonder who told you everyday....

Ears

* Gently wipe the inside of the ear once a week, using a separate piece of damp cotton wool for each ear.
* Do not insert cotton buds into your dog's ear - the ear is easily damaged and a cotton bud could also push wax further inside the ear.
* Take extra care if your dog has long ears, as a build-up of oil, dirt and bacteria can easily cause problems.
* Any excess earwax, discharge, head shaking, ear scratching or other abnormalities should be reported to your vet.

http://www.nfumutual.co.uk/lifestyle/relat...health-care.htm

Now you believe me? Heheheh Wah... you all clean the ears differently? I use Oxyfresh ear cleaner, each ear I drip 10 drops into the ear and massage the base of the ear using my fingers. After that I let my dog shake her head a few times, then I use cotton balls to wipe the insides of the ears dry. Later only I use cotton bud to get into small areas in the ear. Of course, follow directions on the bottle lah coz each brand is different but placing 1 drop on a cotton bud? Never heard before.

Nutro Source is not holistic... my dog is allergic to Nutro, drop fur a lot. This is why I trust holistic better.

Shower him with water only is ok but it will still strip off some of the natural oils.. But your dog doesn't really need to shower to cool off. He needs to be indoors to pant out his heat. Dogs cannot sweat, so they hang out their tongue to cool off. If you dog is short hair like chihuahua then ok but long haired dog, you can actually give him a cold since long hair can keep dampness longer causing the body to catch cold. Then if you shower and blow dry him, there is just no effect coz blow dryer also heat, will cause him to feel like before showering.

You shouldn't have brought him to groomers. They never follow the proper grooming for shih tzus. Now you must be careful about the eyes coz the groomer cut wrongly for you. There is nothing to solve it but let it grow by itself. Do not cut it anymore, will make it worse only.

Actually, is very easy to groom your dog yourself... LOL.... you know how old I groom my dog? I was only 9 years old.... I groom his hair from 9 years till I was 20 years old... all DIY... coz I learn from each session and each mistake. If you groom your dog, you can bond with your dog better.

I heard it is not bad, should give it a try.

Hun,

What do you use to groom your dog? Scissors or electric-charged shavers? Mind telling me and share where you buy and price?