Malshi Grooming
If you do own a Malshi Dog then grooming will become a weekly routine. Be sure to start grooming your Malshi Dog at an early age. Grooming your Malshi puppy or even just play grooming will teach the dog at an early age to settle down and accept the grooming process. Once the dog has fully grown the grooming process will be much easier.
Keep grooming session short. Having a short relaxing routine will help calm your dog for grooming.
Following the same short grooming routine over a number of months will yield great results. We normally have a wash day followed by a haircut day and then over the next week, we tidy up the hairstyle until it looks a bit nicer.
And the golden rule for dog grooming, make sure the dog has fun and give the dog treats to reward the dog.
How often should a Malshi get a haircut?
Give your Malshi Dog a haircut every four weeks while the coat is being kept shorter during the hot summer periods. Lengthen out the period between haircuts to once every six weeks during colder months while the coat is being maintained at a longer length.
If you like the shaved look then a haircut once every 4 weeks will keep the coat looking neater throughout the year.
A Malshi’s coat does drop some hair, but to put it in perspective it’s probably less hair than what we humans drop. There is no significant change in the single layer coat between winter and summer time, unlike other dog breeds that have a dense secondary undercoat. Our Malshi does tend to get matted hair towards the end of winter but that’s because we let her hair grow out over the colder months.
With only a single layer coat the Malshi Dog can get cold, especially if you keep the hair length short. If you have watched some of our videos you might have noticed our Malshi Dog wearing sweaters. Our dog enjoys the attention and it does keep her warm during walks and at night.
Can you shave a Malshi?
Yes, you can shave a Malshi Dogs coat. We shaved our Malshi Dog once every 4 weeks when she was young and continued to shave our Malshi up until she was three years old. We personally prefer the appearance of her coat when it is allowed to fully grow out. The decision on whether to shave a Malshi Dogs’ coat can depend on how active the dog is and also how much time the owner has available to groom the dog. If the dog is an indoor lap dog then shaving the coat can make grooming and maintaining a knot-free coat much easier.
Our Malshi Dog is extremely active and spends a large amount of time outside in the weather. I have chosen to not shave the dogs’ coat to give her more protection from the sun and from the cold. Malshi Dogs do tend to be affected by cold temperatures and a thicker unshaved coat will help. I have noticed our Malshi Dog shivering after having her coat shaved.
How often should you bathe a Malshi?
Bathe your Malshi once every four weeks. If the Malshi has a short, shaved coat once every four weeks is how often you should bathe the dog. A Malshi Dog with a long unshaved coat will need to be bathed frequently, depending on how active the dog is during the day. To make the grooming routine easier we bathe our Malshi every two weeks.
Removing eye gunk or eye boogers from a Malshi Dogs face is easier while you are washing the dog. Wetting the eye gunk with a dog shampoo helps soften a break the adhesion to the facial hair. After a minute the gunk can be easily removed with your fingernails.
Always bathe your dog before cutting their coat, grooming will be easier. WookiDog had a shower yesterday and was blown dry with a hairdryer. Brushing the hair while blowing it dry will make the coat super fluffy, as you can see at the start of the video.
After blowdrying the hair, cutting the dog’s hair with clippers is easier, you will do the job quicker, and also the end result will be more uniform than if the dog wasn’t washed.
I’ve made the mistake of clipping WookiDogs hair when it hadn’t been washed and it takes so much longer. The dog won’t enjoy it either because the clipper is more likely to get stuck and not travel smoothly through the coat.
Our Malshi Dogs’ hair tends to curl and clump, this also makes it much harder to trim. When you first fluff up the hair it straightens out and separates making it easier to cut.
Dog Whitening Shampoo
Our cute little Malshi Dog was starting to get a yellow and grey stain on her coat. We do all our Dog Grooming at home, so I figured we’d try using some Dog Whitening Shampoo during the weekly grooming routine. As you can see in the video below, the whitening results are really good for our Malshi Dogs first wash. The whitening shampoo I used has a blue appearance, it whitens our Malshis coat, reduced the dirty stains caused from tears, urine and all that licking that dogs love to do.
Some Whitening Shampoos will leave a blue/grey residue and some can irritate the dog’s skin.
What is the best Dog Shampoo?
When looking for a Dog Shampoo always read the reviews and the manufacturer’s description of the product.
Now the hard part of selecting a shampoo is the unknown, determining if a shampoo is the best or will it irritate your dog. Will the dog like the smell? Will it make your pooch itchy?
Its commonly believed that a dog’s skin will be irritated due to the pH balance of the shampoo, but what isn’t common knowledge is that the pH of a dog’s skin varies by breed and gender, so there’s no one correct shampoo pH value. And so, you will see some owners leaving 5-star reviews against shampoo products and then others warning buyers that the shampoo made their dog itch like crazy.
A rough guide is that Alkaline shampoos can be harsher on the hair than acidic products.
A slightly acidic shampoo will leave the small cracks in the hairs surface tightly closed, resulting in a smooth, shiny finish. A more Alkaline shampoo will lift and loosen the small cracks resulting in a deep clean or color deposit.
Can you use Soap on a Dog?
Soap could potentially irritate the dog’s skin because it’s made to strip grease and oils. So, the healthy oils on your dog’s coat could be washed away if you use soap.
How do I calm my dog for grooming?
1. Exercise with your dog prior to grooming. A tired dog will be less agitated and will stay calmer for longer periods of grooming.
2. Use treats as a reward during and after grooming. The dog will learn to expect treats and will be more likely to ignore the grooming while begging for more treats.
3. Use pats, cuddles, and scratches to calm the dog and break up the grooming routine.
4. When applying shampoo to the dog’s coat scratch it in, the dog will enjoy the scratch and stay calmer.
5. Use a brush while applying shampoo. Some dogs enjoy being brushed and it will free up knots making cutting the hair at a later stage easier for the dog.
6. When grooming the dog allow it to stand or sit in a position that is comfortable for the dog. Be prepared to change what area of the dog your grooming as it moves around. It will then relax more and if your gentle then it might just ignore you.
7. Take breaks and have a play with the dog to make the experience a fun enjoyable time.
8. Keep in mind that you can go slow. A relaxing slow pace will keep the dog calm.
9. It sounds weird but let the dog inspect all the tools and shampoo that you are using.
10. Consider purchasing some silent clippers, there is a number of dog-specific clippers available that are very quiet.
11. Keep an eye on the dog’s body language, you will eventually notice a change in their positioning and stance that can indicate that they have had enough. Stop grooming straight away, this will gain the dog’s trust and it will have only had a great relaxing grooming experience.
12. Break up the grooming over a number of days, there’s no deadline when grooming at home. Unlike a professional groomer, you can break up the routine over a week if needed.
13. Frequently grooming the dog will keep its coat knot-free or at least not heavily matted. A well-maintained coat will be easier to groom, this will help keep your dog calm during grooming sessions.
14. If you have a long-haired breed buy a de-matting comb. Dematting combs break up knots and matted hair without causing the dog stress. Running this comb through the dog’s coat prior to clipping will speed up the clipping process.
15. If the dog has large knots consider cutting them out to reduce the stress on the dog. Working on knots for an extended period of time will upset the dog.
16. If you wash the dog in a bathroom try allowing the dog into the bathroom while you’re using it. Our Wookidog will walk in and lay down for a short nap, behaviour like this will help the dog settle down and be calmer on grooming days.
Where you choose to wash your Malshi Dog can have an impact on how easy it is and also how stressful it is for your dog. I’ve found one of the easiest places to wash my Malshi is in the laundry tub. The tub sits at an ideal height, if I have to bend over to wash Wookidog I will end up straining my back by the time I’ve finished.
I wouldn’t use a bath, over time your Malshi Dog will leave scratches in the finish of the bathtub.
A shower is also an option, but you will have to get down at the dog’s level and also probably get wet. Modern open shower designs aren’t the best, if the dog can see a way out of the area then it can become a bit stressed trying to take its chance to run.
I have tried giving my Malshi a bath before, at the start she was very uncomfortable and wanted to get out. After a while, I think she settled down and started to relax.
Face Grooming
This is how I groom my dog’s face, WookiDog is a cute little Malshi [Maltese Shih Tzu] and I groom my dog at home.
Maybe not the best result but I’ll neaten it up a bit over the next few weeks with some thinning scissor sessions.
Wookie wasn’t too happy about having the face trim and our neighbor’s noisy renovations seemed too much of a distraction for her.
Still, a good way to save some money, grooming your dog at home.
Before giving her face a trim I washed her. During the wash and then while blow drying I use a comb to make her hair fluffy. Combing the hair while blow-drying it also seems to speed up the process.
Hopefully, the weather clears up a bit soon and we will go out for a walk.
Face Grooming Eye Boogers Trim
It’s normal for your dog to get gunk around the eyes. Trimming the hair short under the eyes will help prevent the build-up. Hair along the nasal bridge can tend to curl inward towards the dogs eyes. Cutting this hair short while dog grooming helps prevent the hair from touching the eyes and irritating them. Cutting this hair can help reduce tears and staining. And I’m sure the dog is more comfortable not having hair touching its eyes.
How to fluffy grooming dog
Fluffy drying your Malshi Dog can transform the look of your Malshi. To get that fluffy teddy bear look the dog’s hair is blow-dried while using a fine comb to untangle the hair. The use of heat isn’t necessary, groomers use high volume blowers which basically blows the water off the coat.
It will take at least 25 minutes for you to groom your dog at home. That is if you want the extra fluffy teddy bear look. The next video shows how long it takes to wash your dog at home and then also includes how to achieve the fluffy teddy bear look.
