# How I groom my wirecoated dog



## Selah Cowgirl (Nov 14, 2009)

I know there are many topics on here asking about grooming advice for wire coated breeds and I thought I would put up a topic on how I do it and the results I get from it. 

First off I have a 22 month old un-nutered Korthals Griffon. He has a fairly thin coat, both the outer harsh wire and the under coat. I have never done a full strip, but I do roll his coat all year long and strip between his shoulder blades where he tends to have the most undercoat and least wire coat. Griffs are not supposed to be a shaped and striped breed anyway, and Luke is just a pet who I try to keep looking as sharp as possible. 

This is my before picture, taken in April:









For day to day grooming: I use a regular stiff bristle boar brush and a fine tooth comb for his furnishings. He gets a once over every day with the boar brush and the comb.

Once every week or so I will take a stripping stone and go over him lightly, just enough to get any hairs that are ready to come out and it does a good job on the under coat as well. They are cheep and can be found at any farm and ranch type store in horse grooming isle.










I don't know what you have heard but my Griff blows his coat in the summer, not the undercoat but the wire hair gets real easy to roll and comes out in handfuls. I know there are many people who swear by the furminator, for the big blow out. I personally don't like them, I found they soften the coat with the blade. I think that properly used a stripping stone does all the work with ease and keeps the texture harsh enough for my prefrences. 

I always use the stone while Luke is dirty, it tends to have more grip then if he is freshly clean. I start behind the ears and using and edge work my way around his shoulders and down his chest. I know that with some breeds a more of plucking action, but when Luke is ready to roll no pulling is necessary. I use the edge over his entire body, with enough pressure that I can pull his undercoat out. Go easy on the sensitive inner legs and belly. 

This method might take you a few weeks to get the full result and have it looking nice, but once you get to that nice rolled look it is easy to keep it there until the next big blow out. 

As for bathing, I do it as little as possible, Luke gets to swim every few weeks and it keeps him from getting the male dog funk. When I do bath I use a textured shampoo specifically formulated for the wire coat. 

He get a good soak with the hand held shower head and then I use a dime sized amount dispersed in water and really lather him up I wait for a minute or so to let the shampoo do its magic. He gets a quick rinse then I use a bit more concentrated amount of shampoo and again lather him up good and do a complete rinse. Make sure you always get all the soap out of your dogs coat, it can cause dryness and the coat to dull. 

Here is the finsihed product, this picture was taken in June, almost two months after the first one. 










This is him now:










I hope this helps for the first time wire coated owners, and it is really is that easy to keep your dog looking sharp without using clippers and taking them to a professional groomer. Luke is much easier to groom then my Aussie Shepherd who I had to keep in full show groom when I showed.


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## Sighthounds4me (Nov 7, 2010)

Are you located in the US? If so, what shampoo do you prefer? I am hoping to get a Deerhound in the next couple years, and would like help in determining which crisp coat shampoos could work for me. I have looked into a few, and have a list of some to try, but would like real-life experience, too. In the end, the decision is mine, and will be based on trial-and-error, of course.


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## Selah Cowgirl (Nov 14, 2009)

Yes I am in the US PNW region. I have tried a few different kinds (miracle coat and bio groom) I prefer the bio groom for wire coats, but I am sure your breeder could give you their recommendations as well.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Great work! He looks very nice! As to shampoos, I prefer All Systems Crisp Coat on my wired coats.


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## Selah Cowgirl (Nov 14, 2009)

Thank you, it has been a trial and error for sure. I have been thinking about a Mars Coat King, people on the hunting dog forum I am on swear by them.


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## Sighthounds4me (Nov 7, 2010)

Graco22 said:


> Great work! He looks very nice! As to shampoos, I prefer All Systems Crisp Coat on my wired coats.


Good to know. That one is on my short list of those to try.

Of course, if I decide to do companion rather than show quality, I'm not sure I will care too much. If the dog is clean and well-groomed, who cares about the coat texture on a spayed/neutered companion!


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## Selah Cowgirl (Nov 14, 2009)

Sighthounds4me:

For me, it is a kind of pride thing, although he is poorly breed Luke is a "rare" breed and not many people get to experience them. When he meets people I want them to get the full griff experience, I want him to be the best representation of the breed that he can be.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Selah Cowgirl said:


> Thank you, it has been a trial and error for sure. I have been thinking about a Mars Coat King, people on the hunting dog forum I am on swear by them.


Nooooooooooooooo! LOL The coat kings WILL l cut the hair, (don't believe anything else about them you hear, there are BLADES on the underside of them for a reason!) and over a few months of using it, you will greatly see the loss of the harsh topcoat, and an overgrowth of the undercoat, and it won't lay nice like it does now. So many people use them, and don't "notice" the difference in the coat, but I sure can and I HATE coat kings! LOL The first time you use it, you will love it..then over time, you will see the damage to the coat..sometimes irreparable damage. Just keep doing like you have been. You are doing a great job on him.


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## Sighthounds4me (Nov 7, 2010)

Selah Cowgirl said:


> Sighthounds4me:
> 
> For me, it is a kind of pride thing, although he is poorly breed Luke is a "rare" breed and not many people get to experience them. When he meets people I want them to get the full griff experience, I want him to be the best representation of the breed that he can be.


Oh, I agree with that. It's the way I treat my Borzoi, too, even though one is not of show quality (I groom them both as though they were show quality).

But a day or two after a bath, the coat will go back to it's normal texture anyway, so it's not a big worry to me.

*If* one of the shampoos I am going to try is one I like, I will use it. It's available locally, and is inexpensive, so getting it will not require me to order it and pay shipping every time I need it. If not, I will probably just use what I always have (unless I end up with a show quality dog, in which case, I should be able to find a crisp coat shampoo from show vendors, whether #1 All Systems or Chris Christensen).

At this time, though, I am not sure if I want show quality. A lot will depend on discussions with the breeder (long story, lots of "baggage"). I have LOTS of time, though! The bitch to be bred needs one remaining point to earn her CH, so it will be a while before she is bred!


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## Selah Cowgirl (Nov 14, 2009)

Graco22 said:


> Nooooooooooooooo! LOL The coat kings WILL l cut the hair, (don't believe anything else about them you hear, there are BLADES on the underside of them for a reason!) and over a few months of using it, you will greatly see the loss of the harsh topcoat, and an overgrowth of the undercoat, and it won't lay nice like it does now. So many people use them, and don't "notice" the difference in the coat, but I sure can and I HATE coat kings! LOL The first you use it, you will love it..then over time, you will see the damage to the coat..sometitime mes irreparable damage. Just keep doing like you have been. You are doing a great job on him.


Good to know! Thanks for your insight, and saving me 40 bucks! Is there anything you can add? Like I said I am just a pet owner and have learned through trial and error and any other ideas I can try I would love to.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Selah Cowgirl said:


> Good to know! Thanks for your insight, and saving me 40 bucks! Is there anything you can add? Like I said I am just a pet owner and have learned through trial and error and any other ideas I can try I would love to.


Just keep doing what you are doing. He looks great! Not overgroomed, but groomed. The only things I can see in the photos, are the underside of his tail I would clean up a bit more, so nothing is hanging down, but I only see that in one pic. And I would probably tighten up the cheeks and top of head some, and maybe the bottom jaw line before the "beard" not short, but a bit shorter. His cheeks look longer than his body coat, as is sticks out, and that throws off the beauty of his profile and head.


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## BraveheartDogs (Jan 3, 2011)

Selah Cowgirl said:


> Yes I am in the US PNW region. I have tried a few different kinds (miracle coat and bio groom) I prefer the bio groom for wire coats, but I am sure your breeder could give you their recommendations as well.


You do a great job. He looks awesome!


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## Selah Cowgirl (Nov 14, 2009)

Thank you! And thanks for the extra grooming tips Graco22!


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## Selah Cowgirl (Nov 14, 2009)

Bump for those wanting summer grooming tips.


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