I have a question for you and I would be very glad if anyone could help me. I have a 5-year-old groenendael male, who due to this year's crappy winter, pardon my French, is looking like a Belgian crested dog . I'm exageratting a bit, of course, but still, compared to previous years, when he made lots and lots of coat, this year he isn't quite the puff-dog I'm used to have during winter. No cold, no snow --> no coat, unfortunately. So, partly because of the upcoming shows, and mostly because of myself, I was wondering if anyone could give me a tip about how to take care of this 'problem' - special nutrition, grooming, grooming device, anything. Sadly the freezer is a bit too small for him, otherwise moving there would probably be his first choice anyway...
Thank you in advance, Ursa
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''If sometimes you feel a little useless, offended and depressed, always remember that you were once the fastest and victorious sperm in your group.''
Well, I have the same problem right now! People told me to give him B+E vitamines for 2 months, 3 tablettes in the food every day when he did lost his coat.
One breeder aslow told me to give him garlic tablettes ans D vitamines, I asked her, because all her dogs has just sooo much coat.
Otherwise I dont know eather...would like to know.. The problem is alsow that he is still young and I would allready like to have a dog like he is 6 years or something.
Here is a pic, how he looks today, not that good and Im going to a show in march...so any facts are welcome!
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The truth is out there, but so are the lies. - Dana Scully
The first thing is not to comb the dog too much anymore once he has lost his hair. I comb Yentos only when every 3 weeks (unless I have show). The more you comb the more hair the dog loose.
To avoid clitting I run my fingers through his hair on the chest, behind the ears, tail and his back legs just to check there are not clits.
When you want to show and the dog has less hair I would either spray with a plant spray simple water on his coat and then let him shake. The coat will open. Just spray him 15 to 20 min in advance so the dog is dry to the touch. An other option is to comb him just before the show but comb him in the opposite direction to the hair implant (but only do this for a show) and then let him shake. If you are still not satisfied, combine both: comb, spray and then shake.
This worked so well Yentos.
Saskia
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He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
Hunden, thanks for the tips, I will consider them, talk about them with other owners of long haired dogs and probably try them. Currently I haven't changed Sambo's regular diet, I just started adding more oil than usual - I have a combination of olive, ricinus, sezame and perhaps another oil; it gives the coat a nice shine and luckily I can afford it, as Sambo has lost quite some weight lately - again :-/, so I'm never worried about him being overweight.
Saskia, thank you also, I agree with your advice, the problem is I'm already doing that. When it's shedding time - usually from the beginnig of June till mid-July, I comb Sambo regularily, probably 3 or 4 times a week. When the coat is flying off, the best thing is to comb it out as soon as possible - this way the dog doesn't suffer so much from the heat, the coat is better 'ventilated' and the new coat can grow without impediments. At least that is the way I see it. Otherwise, during the rest of the year, I don't comb Sambo at all, almost. Certainly less than once every two months. And he has a fine texture of coat, good density - this year not as much as I would like - and the coat never gets tangled, not even the feathery hair behing the ears and on the back legs.
I usually don't spray the dog before the show, but I do comb him in the opposite direction and tell him to shake just before we enter the ring. It really works! These are very good tips for shows, but still, they are trick, so to say, and as I said in my first post, this question concerns especially me, not so much the shows - although I'm thinking of going to Tulln in June and I'll be glad of any tip, trick or anything you could give me.
If you think of anything else, I would be more than glad to hear - well, read it.
Thank you, greetings from Ljubljana
Bambi
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''If sometimes you feel a little useless, offended and depressed, always remember that you were once the fastest and victorious sperm in your group.''
I think that then the only thing you can do. It sometimes took Yentos 7 to 8 months to get his coat back but then again, he normally sheds his coat only every 2 years although last year he shed from end August until end December (and the last he shed was around 2002) and he is almost back in coat right now.
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He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
Saskia do you have any full body pictures you can post? I think you have a really nice looking dog and pictures on your web page do not show that much. And Hunden nice pic
Fish body oils like samon oil can really boost coat conditions. Sometimes adding kelp helps. In my experiance as dog groomer you need to experiment to find the right combination fitting your dog. And last but not least you need mother nature on your hand Good luck
Jeanette, thx for the tips! Yes, the oil I forgot to write was precisely fish oil, thank you for reminding me .
One question, however - what exactly is kelp? I looked it up in the dictionary, I understand it's some kind of sea alge? In what form does it come, powder, pills...?
At least mother nature, Odin and Thor heard my prayers - weeeeeeeeeeeeee, we have snow, we have snooooow!!! I'm loosing my mind, sorry, but I'm so happy, me and my dogs love snow. Now I can just hope it stays cold and that the snow doesn't melt... Ah, dreams, dreams...
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''If sometimes you feel a little useless, offended and depressed, always remember that you were once the fastest and victorious sperm in your group.''
I have given seaweed in liquid form but this has only limited storage and now I give it in powder and Yentos loves it.
Saskia
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He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
Biotine is something that I have found good with my dogs after they have lost their coat. Especially in Finland they sell one product in pharmacy that is something xtraordinary...caller "Biorion"... it consists of metionine 40mg and biotine 5mg. It is a special product for animals skin/coat and nailcare. Very good one.
For example bitches that have had puppies often get short of biotine. When mine totally lost her coat after whelping I gave her these tablets and she got her coat back very fast. Also my male when he had a big coatloss about once a year, I gave this product and his coat grew back faster than usual. I recommend...
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. I'm exageratting a bit, of course, but still, compared to previous years, when he made lots and lots of coat, this year he isn't quite the puff-dog I'm used to have during winter. No cold, no snow --> no coat, unfortunately. So, partly because of the upcoming shows, and mostly because of myself, I was wondering if anyone could give me a tip about how to take care of this 'problem' - special nutrition, grooming, grooming device, anything. Sadly the freezer is a bit too small for him, otherwise moving there would probably be his first choice anyway... 
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