Max and Misty and Homemade Dog Shampoo

Back in August, about the time I was asked to be a Guest Editor here at aoljournals, I had added the following picture to one of my entries that week. My dogs were in dire need of a complete grooming, which for mini-schnauzers means more than a bath and a brushing. I know several of you out there have mini-schnauzers, so you know what I mean.

                                    

Grooming my babies takes at least an hour for each dog, if I count the bath time. Each dog has their personal likes and dislikes about grooming. First, the bath. They both hate getting wet all over, but Misty dislikes it more than Max. He will at least jump into the tub on his own when I direct him to. Misty, on the other hand, will hide behind or under a piece of furniture when she knows it's bath time, and has even tried running out of the house through the doggie door, which gets her nowhere because that leads to the front deck from which there is no exit to the yard.

 Max waits for his bath.

Grooming always begins with a bath. I make my own shampoo, a recipe handed to me from a veterinarian about thirteen years ago. Just before I began writing this entry, I decided to check the internet for homemade dog shampoo recipes, and voila, I found the recipe that was given to me, so I feel comfortable passing it on to my readers who might want a less expensive dog shampoo that is effective, gentle to the skin, and eliminates the worst of odors.

Homemade Dog Shampoo:

1 part Ivory or Dove liquid (clear) dishwashing soap,

 1 part water,

 1 part vinegar,

 1 part glycerine (you can buy it at the pharmacy, and sometimes I have found it at the grocery store... in little plastic brown bottles).

Actually, I changed the recipe from the one on the internet because the one given to me was written the way I have it written here. I usually start with two  4oz. bottles of glycerin, then measure the rest accordingly (8oz Ivory, 8oz vinegar, 8oz. water), but you can start with whatever amounts you wish.

I mix all the ingredients together and pour it into an empty quart-sized container, like a plastic vinegar bottle or two emptied Ivory bottles. Whatever you like. An old milk jug will do. Just don't forget to label the bottle. I wrote the recipe on the bottle so I wouldn't forget it the next time I had to mix a new batch. I've been using this recipe since 1993.

Misty hiding from me because it's her turn to take a bath.

I like the dog shampoo recipe because all odors get eliminated. Your dog might have just rolled in something that has been dead for a week, but this shampoo removes that smell. The bonus is that the dogs do not smell like vinegar after the bath. You think they would, but they don't. Use this recipe and their coats are left shiny and soft, their skin is moisturized by the glycerine. I suppose you could even use less quantities of soap in the recipe because for the most part, a dog's coat is self cleaning.

                                    

(Photo below) Both dogs are clean, somewhat dried, and if they could they would be laying out in the sun soaking up the rays...or they would be rolling in the grass and the gravel getting dirty again, so that is why they have to air dry in the living room.

                                                   

Now, after you bathe a mini-schnauzer, there is another 30-40 minutes of work ahead which includes brushing and trimming their coat, and clipping their toenails. I can handle any of the trimming, but the clipping toenails I dread because I'm always worried I will cut them too short.

The dogs are even more worried about this. Neither cooperate very well when I attempt to do this job. The secret to clipping the toenails, I think, is to start with short clips... and clip only the dead part of the nail. It's hard to tell where the quick is in their nails because they have black nails, so I just clip a little at a time, and I don't try to do all ten nails in one sitting. I do them over a period of several sittings, perhaps over a couple of days so they won't get stressed over it.

               Misty, 11 

Misty likes the hair trim.... she likes the extra attention all that stroking and talking and petting I do while she is on the grooming table (my husband made it several years ago from an old work table with a clamp on it. It folds up for storage, and sets up quickly. Just big enough for one little dog to stand on while being groomed). She is super sensitive, though, when we get close to her ears, probably from that time my husband was giving her a trim with the electric shears and sheared a little sliver of her ear, back when she was about a year old. She didn't like that, never forgot it.

I know he didn't mean to do it, and he felt badly that he had done it, but after that I sort of took over the job. You can't see the missing piece of ear because her hair covers it up, but if she were ever lost or stolen, and we had to prove she was ours, we would be able to identify her by the shape of her ear.

Max, seven years old

Max doesn't mind the hair trim either, and doesn't mind the ear trimming. He's never had a piece of his ear trimmed away accidentally, nor have his toe nails ever been clipped too short. There is only one thing Max is sensitive about, and though he will never father any offspring, he does not like me getting anywhere near his nether parts with the clippers or scissors. He seems to have an instinct about the effects of cutting.

This week, I did groom my doggies, but only partially. I did not groom their entire coats. I thought they might need the extra covering on their bodies for the coming winter season, so I only trimmed around their faces and their hind-ends.

It's enough. As long as I can see that their eyes are clear and their tails are clean, I'm a satisfied pet owner. Come the spring, they will get the full-treatment once more.

 

 

Tags: Homemade Dog Shampoo, Grooming Schnauzers