Grooming My Border Collie

[BC Crazy]

Hi,

Was wondering if any would have any tips on trying to keep my 2.5 year old long haired Border Collie coat from getting so sun damaged.

I pride myself in keeping him is pristine condition but find, especially around his pants, top of rump & behind his ears get that reddish, burnt look

& being black & white it is not a good look. I have tried many leave in conditioners with minimal improvement. Maybe there is good one I have missed .He goes for long walks on our

local leash-free beach daily & I certainly would not want to stop him having fun. Any help or tips on grooming him, would be greatly appreciated.

[oakway]

Hi,

Was wondering if any would have any tips on trying to keep my 2.5 year old long haired Border Collie coat from getting so sun damaged.

I pride myself in keeping him is pristine condition but find, especially around his pants, top of rump & behind his ears get that reddish, burnt look

& being black & white it is not a good look. I have tried many leave in conditioners with minimal improvement. Maybe there is good one I have missed .He goes for long walks on our

local leash-free beach daily & I certainly would not want to stop him having fun. Any help or tips on grooming him, would be greatly appreciated.

Easy keep him out of the sun.

Or is this dead coat about to drop.

[sheena]

It's a bit hard if he is going to the beach a lot. Just like a human, if they are in the sun & swimming a lot in the salty water, their hair will most like become dry & bleached. You can get spray- on sun screens for dogs. I have a chocolate border collie who is forever in the sun & they are famous for bleaching. I manage to keep her coat dark by suplementing her food with Livamol & fish oil, but not sure if this only works for choclolate coloured dogs as I got the tip from a lady that has lovely chocolate kelpies. I also keep the dead hair combed out.

[BC Crazy]

Hi,

Was wondering if any would have any tips on trying to keep my 2.5 year old long haired Border Collie coat from getting so sun damaged.

I pride myself in keeping him is pristine condition but find, especially around his pants, top of rump & behind his ears get that reddish, burnt look

& being black & white it is not a good look. I have tried many leave in conditioners with minimal improvement. Maybe there is good one I have missed .He goes for long walks on our

local leash-free beach daily & I certainly would not want to stop him having fun. Any help or tips on grooming him, would be greatly appreciated.

Easy keep him out of the sun.

Or is this dead coat about to drop.

Not that easy to keep an active BC out of the sun. But I have started to use a Mars Coat King on him to try & remove some of his dead coat, maybe I need to

take more of his old coat off than I have. Didn't want to go over board as I am inexperienced at using this tool.

[BC Crazy]

It's a bit hard if he is going to the beach a lot. Just like a human, if they are in the sun & swimming a lot in the salty water, their hair will most like become dry & bleached. You can get spray- on sun screens for dogs. I have a chocolate border collie who is forever in the sun & they are famous for bleaching. I manage to keep her coat dark by suplementing her food with Livamol & fish oil, but not sure if this only works for choclolate coloured dogs as I got the tip from a lady that has lovely chocolate kelpies. I also keep the dead hair combed out.

Thank's Sheena & yes it is very difficult when he is a bit of a beach bum I do rinse him off everyday when we come home. I groom him every night for 10 mins or so to remove any dead hair & I use a Spray-on coat conditioner with U.V. daily. I also add Rufus & Coco coat supplement

to his food daily. He is bathed every 3 weeks with Chris Christensen shampoo.

[Rileys mum]

Having owned liver chestnut (rich dark brown) show horses I am anal about preventing sun bleached coats. U can use products like livamol or 'groom' but in my experience it won't stop sun bleached coats. It is great for ensuring new coat grows through nice and dark and healthy but won't protect the hair from bleach, nor change it from bleached to normal coat.

Other than keeping the dog out of the sun or using coat uv protection sprays there's prob not much u can do to stop it. We rug the horses from head to tail in cotton sheets to stop bleaching but it's not really practical with dogs

[Bracken]

It's a bit hard if he is going to the beach a lot. Just like a human, if they are in the sun & swimming a lot in the salty water, their hair will most like become dry & bleached. You can get spray- on sun screens for dogs. I have a chocolate border collie who is forever in the sun & they are famous for bleaching. I manage to keep her coat dark by suplementing her food with Livamol & fish oil, but not sure if this only works for choclolate coloured dogs as I got the tip from a lady that has lovely chocolate kelpies. I also keep the dead hair combed out.

I give my B/W Border fish oil as well, I think it does help keep the coat dark a bit. Mostly by just reducing the amount of dry hair around her tail!

I also use a sort of purple shampoo on her to whiten her whites which makes her black look darker in comparison, But you can also get a shampoo specifically to darken blacks from the same shop on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Kelco-Black-Star-Color...#ht_3407wt_1141

Edited November 1, 2010 by Bracken

[BC Crazy]

It's a bit hard if he is going to the beach a lot. Just like a human, if they are in the sun & swimming a lot in the salty water, their hair will most like become dry & bleached. You can get spray- on sun screens for dogs. I have a chocolate border collie who is forever in the sun & they are famous for bleaching. I manage to keep her coat dark by suplementing her food with Livamol & fish oil, but not sure if this only works for choclolate coloured dogs as I got the tip from a lady that has lovely chocolate kelpies. I also keep the dead hair combed out.

I give my B/W Border fish oil as well, I think it does help keep the coat dark a bit. Mostly by just reducing the amount of dry hair around her tail!

I also use a sort of purple shampoo on her to whiten her whites which makes her black look darker in comparison, But you can also get a shampoo specifically to darken blacks from the same shop on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Kelco-Black-Star-Color...#ht_3407wt_1141

Hi Bracken, your Gwyn looks like a beautiful girl. Yes I am using C.Christensen black on black & same white on white but must try to give fish oil as well. Did try to give him sardines but he turned his nose up at them ( fussy bugger) so might try fish oil capsules instead. I think I need to get a bit more heavy handed with stripping his coat but really am scared to wreck his coat, although I have noticed lots of loose hair coming out lately though.

[JulesP]

It the dog is doing to go reddish the only way is to keep him out of the sun. I've had 1 border that went reddish, the rest have just naturally had black coats.

For the hair behind the ears it is best to just use your fingers to pluck the hair out.

If your dog isn't a show dog then I would suggest just relaxing about it. I doubt anyone thinks you are a bad dog owner because your dog is a bit reddish.

[Clyde]

None of my dogs are show dogs but I am anal about their appearance. Just because you don't run around a ring on weekends it doesn't mean you don't want your dog looking their best. My three get plucked and pruned every week... much to their disgust I am sure. ;)

BC Crazy have you tried looking for a conditioning UV spray? If there isn't one then you should make one and take over the world

[BC Crazy]

Hi, totally agree with you about keeping our four legged loved ones looking their very best, just cause they are not show dogs doesn't mean they shouldn't look like they aren't, does it? Yes much to Sonny's disgust too.LOL. Although sometimes I have watched him with his eye's closed as I am brushing away so it must not be all that bad. I have tried quite a few different UV conditioning sprays, Chris Christensen spray is about the best so far & I apply it daily when he gets groomed. I am probably just too fussy but I am tired of people saying "is he a tri colour? ".Might take him & get him professionally de shed or at least see if I can find a patient pro groomer to show me how to use my Mars coat king correctly as I don't think I am taking him back as far as I should or could. Just another idea.

[JulesP]

The point is a showie would keep the dog out of the sun to prevent the bleaching. As you are not a showie I assume you don't want to go to that extreme.

[Rysup]

It's not always the sun causing reddening though. It can be diet, it can be change of coat (dead coat), it can be sun damage, it can be chemical damage.

[OSoSwift]

I have used Plush Puppy Reviva coat on a very bleached red Kelpie and it really helped. I also use PP Sunscrean that you can use over the coat and on any pink skin areas to stop sunburn

[JulesP]

Ok no worries what do I know? I've only had border collies for 20 years.

[WreckitWhippet]

I think that you are pretty much doing all that you can. The salt water and sun combination will dry and bleach the coat to some extent and really short of keeping the dog under cover and out of the salt water, it's going to continue to fade around the pants.

[BC Crazy]

Ok no worries what do I know? I've only had border collies for 20 years.

Not quite sure where that comment stemed from. :D I am open to everyones opinion. Thats the idea of DOL. I thought. After 20 years I am sure you have pretty much seen it all in the dog world : & I gathered showies kept their dogs inside or put a light day rug on them or something. Anyone that knows me knows I would never intentionally' down' anybody.

[BC Crazy]

I have used Plush Puppy Reviva coat on a very bleached red Kelpie and it really helped. I also use PP Sunscrean that you can use over the coat and on any pink skin areas to stop sunburn

Thanks for the tips. I am going to try those products next . :D

[JulesP]

Reading that it takes you 2 hours to wash your border I am wondering how you are drying him? Do you have a force dryer? That might help as it helps to blow the dead coat out.

[OSoSwift]

I have used Plush Puppy Reviva coat on a very bleached red Kelpie and it really helped. I also use PP Sunscrean that you can use over the coat and on any pink skin areas to stop sunburn

Thanks for the tips. I am going to try those products next . :D

I must admit I love PP products, although I am going to buy some White on White next, but considering how long it has taken me to use around a quarter of a bottle I think I will be getting some in around 6 or 8 years!