# Dying your poodle?



## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

You are talking of getting regular dye for dogs, right I would not use human hair dye on a dog. I used to do mine for years, and it tends to sting the skin. It does not get on furniture once you do the final step of shampooing it out. But you do not want to get it in your eyes, really burns. I used black food coloring on one of my black poodles, it really did not do that much.


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## someday (May 3, 2016)

So, I'm going to start off by saying that I have never dyed a dog. Take everything I say as a vague sort of half-helpful ramble from someone who just can't help themselves when hair dye is mentioned! Lol. 

I have seen groomers discuss dyeing and it seems they mostly use either special hair chalk in what seems like a very messy and complicated application that I wouldn't bother with, or "vegan" hair dye for humans. "Vegan" in quotes because what the heck does that even have to do with anything, haha. I guess to call a dye vegan makes it sound less scary. Manic Panic is one that I have seen listed by brand name, although I won't say that you should or should not use it... because I haven't done the extensive research on its ingredients that would make me feel comfortable using it on an animal. End disclaimer.

If Manic Panic or any similar "vegetable based" dye is used, it is a semi-permanent dye which means that it will fade gradually with each wash. By gradually, I mean it could be months until it's completely gone. That depends on how porous the hair is and how often it is washed with shampoo. 
Or salt water. Go swim at the beach for 15 minutes if you want your beautiful pink hair turned into a streaky yellowy/peach mess on vacation with no dye to fix it because airports don't let you bring that kind of stuff  

Semi-permanent dye needs to really absorb into the hair, so it must be kept on for a while. On human hair it's 45 minutes so I assume a poodle would be the same. In my experience this does not run at all unless: 

A.) you used purple. Everyone says purple runs no matter what. And/or 

B.) you've just put way too much on. You may have seen this if you've had relatives who have stained the tub or ended up with a splotched an ugly towel that is relegated to be used only as 'the dye towel.' This happens when people just need to touch up their roots but use the whole bottle aaaallllllll over their hair instead of just applying where needed. The hair that's already dyed can't hold any more pigment, so it all just comes out in the water. The way to avoid that is just by stopping when the hair is all saturated. 


There are also temporary pet safe dyes that wash off immediately. Those would presumably runoff in rain or damp conditions. I don't know much about them because creative groomers have this habit of not naming the brand of dye they use, at least as far as I've seen. Maybe they don't want people trying it at home? Or maybe by sheer happenstance it just never came up on any of the pages/blogs I looked at. 

I haven't heard mention of anyone using permanent dyes on dogs. I believe the developing process probably makes them unsafe for animals. Maybe humans too tbh. 

One last thing to mention- semi-permanent dyes only need to be in for the whole 45 minutes once. The first time you dye hair a certain color, you have to wait. But from then on you can simply mix the semi-permanent dye into any white conditioner and use after every shampoo to keep the color as you like it. 3-5 minutes will do. I could explain why this won't work with your run of the mill permanent dyes like Clairol or whatever but I'm probably boring everyone to death now anyway  

Jeez. Sorry if I went on too long. I think someone else will step in and talk about the dye on their actual dog instead of the details of human dye application, lol!


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## someday (May 3, 2016)

glorybeecosta said:


> You are talking of getting regular dye for dogs, right I would not use human hair dye on a dog. I used to do mine for years, and it tends to sting the skin. It does not get on furniture once you do the final step of shampooing it out. But you do not want to get it in your eyes, really burns. I used black food coloring on one of my black poodles, it really did not do that much.



I agree, a permanent dye would definitely be unacceptably harsh on a dog's skin. Permanent dyes like the boxes people have been using forever have ammonia which is already bad enough; they also need to 'develop,' just like bleach does, and that's part of why it can sting for sensitive skin. 

Some people may also have allergic reactions to the chemicals. 

The warmth emanating from one's scalp works as a... I don't know the scientific term, but it adds heat to the developing process which is already a mildly heat-producing chemical reaction, which is why hair being bleached can get warm to the touch. No surprise that bleaching hair can sting and burn if done wrong. 


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Thanks everyone. Oops, I hadn't thought about the permanent dyes having ammonia as part of the process - so I would hope that no one uses them on dogs.

I know my dog wouldn't tolerate hanging around and extra 45 minutes just to have purple bracelets - and I wouldn't be happy if that purple got onto my clothes or couch.


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## ashcash (Aug 30, 2016)

You should try reaching out to ItzaClip. I believe she's a professional groomer and is very creative with coloring her dogs.


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## ItzaClip (Dec 1, 2010)

I belong to an organization that has strict rules about safe creative. We investigate each label. Any oxidizing dye is not safe for use on pets. Only certain brands of semi permanent or temporary. And it is based on ingredients not if it's labeled for pets or not. 
I have used manic panic, it's a nice gentle cond based color, so it won't last forever. If you want stronger use a liquid based like avatar funky fruit, kiss express, or opawz semi permanent( not their black though). 
Start with clean( no cond) dry hair. Have towels laid down. Apply product, allow to set 15-20 minutes( I plan my dye setting to overlap my working on something else so time isn't added) so if you freshly washed your pet, dry just the area you want to color, apply you blocking agent prevent bleed and your color, then finish drying rest of dog while legs are soaking. 
Rinse in cool water and if you want to get all residue out use a light moisturizing shampoo very diluted( so not a clarifying or dirty dog shampoo) here Vogue has cholesterol( blocking) on feet to protect them







so while she soaked i finished the rest of her groom








Finished product









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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

Wow that is great


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

That is a WOW! Have you tried any creative color with your silver boy? Just want to see his picture, lol!


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Wow, that is just so impressive - both the clip and color on Vogue. I'm not going to be doing this myself, it's my new groomer who suggested it to me - and I believe she is just getting into this herself. Do you mind if I show this to her?

And I want to thank ItzaClip. At the suggestion here, I emailed her last night and she replied quickly with some great information and a photo of her dog where she had carved, into Vogue's fur, her name ITZA. Each raised fur letter was a different color. Amazing work.


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## ItzaClip (Dec 1, 2010)

Tell your groomer she can contact me for help. 

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## BeckyM (Nov 22, 2013)

I've used Manic Panic with Polly with good results. It took a long time (30 minutes of keeping a dog still) and it faded pretty quickly (completely gone in a month with only 1 bath during that month) so I haven't done it again. I loved the results though, only got positive comments from the public, and Polly seemed to prance a little fancier.


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## ashcash (Aug 30, 2016)

BeckyM said:


> I've used Manic Panic with Polly with good results. It took a long time (30 minutes of keeping a dog still) and it faded pretty quickly (completely gone in a month with only 1 bath during that month) so I haven't done it again. I loved the results though, only got positive comments from the public, and Polly seemed to prance a little fancier.




Pretty!!! 


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## someday (May 3, 2016)

BeckyM said:


> I've used Manic Panic with Polly with good results. It took a long time (30 minutes of keeping a dog still) and it faded pretty quickly (completely gone in a month with only 1 bath during that month) so I haven't done it again. I loved the results though, only got positive comments from the public, and Polly seemed to prance a little fancier.




I remember this, I loved it! Interesting that it faded so easily


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

ItzaClip said:


> Tell your groomer she can contact me for help.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


I will, that's very generous of you, thanks.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

BeckyM said:


> I've used Manic Panic with Polly with good results. It took a long time (30 minutes of keeping a dog still) and it faded pretty quickly (completely gone in a month with only 1 bath during that month) so I haven't done it again. I loved the results though, only got positive comments from the public, and Polly seemed to prance a little fancier.


BeckyM, OMG that's so cute - I love the delicate pink color on Polly - sad that it faded so quickly.


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## King Louie (May 27, 2016)

Food color works amazing I dyed lyric tie-dye colors eventually it all faded and now she's pink. I dyed her months ago and she's still pink. I prefer doing what I did with Adonis which is I took food color spray used to dye cakes and just spayed the his leg Poms at different lengths away from him so it looks purple at first but once you start moving the hair it has pink highlights and some purplish blue highlights I loved it people thought it wasn't his fur at first that I put some kind fuzzy bands around his legs I got so many compliments for it. Plus it washed out after a couple baths.


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## Summerhouse (Jun 12, 2015)

Has anyone ever made and used their own natural plant based dyes ?

I know you can get full range of colours using such things as nettles, onion skins, birch bark, privet,dandelion etc They give such natural colouring and would be safe.

I've no idea about using them it was just a thought that crossed my mind and wondered if it was possible.


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## ItzaClip (Dec 1, 2010)

Summerhouse said:


> Has anyone ever made and used their own natural plant based dyes ?
> 
> I know you can get full range of colours using such things as nettles, onion skins, birch bark, privet,dandelion etc They give such natural colouring and would be safe.
> 
> I've no idea about using them it was just a thought that crossed my mind and wondered if it was possible.


Through the years I have used beet juice, koolaid, food coloring, etc. Actually food coloring is great for making pastel dye that actually lasts quite while...

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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

King Louie said:


> Food color works amazing I dyed lyric tie-dye colors eventually it all faded and now she's pink. I dyed her months ago and she's still pink. I prefer doing what I did with Adonis which is I took food color spray used to dye cakes and just spayed the his leg Poms at different lengths away from him so it looks purple at first but once you start moving the hair it has pink highlights and some purplish blue highlights I loved it people thought it wasn't his fur at first that I put some kind fuzzy bands around his legs I got so many compliments for it. Plus it washed out after a couple baths.


I love this idea - I assume since people eat this dye that it's okay for dogs. How cute that yoy got a fancy effect of pink/purple.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

ItzaClip said:


> Through the years I have used beet juice, koolaid, food coloring, etc. Actually food coloring is great for making pastel dye that actually lasts quite while...
> 
> Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


I know someone who uses koolaid in her hair and someone else who uses it to dye the wool that she spins and knits into sweaters - you can get some gorgeous effects.


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## sidewinder (Feb 3, 2016)

Summerhouse said:


> Has anyone ever made and used their own natural plant based dyes ?
> 
> I know you can get full range of colours using such things as nettles, onion skins, birch bark, privet,dandelion etc They give such natural colouring and would be safe.
> 
> I've no idea about using them it was just a thought that crossed my mind and wondered if it was possible.


Summerhouse, I do lots of natural dyeing on wool and silk in my studio. I don't see how it would work on a live animal, since it needs to be very hot, about 180 degrees, and needs a mordant (I usually use alum, but there are several metal salts that do the job) to set the dye. Maybe you could use a fruit that stains on dog hair, such as blueberry, blackberry or maybe beet juice. But any of these would probably fade to grey in the sun, and not be very bright without the heat and vinegar. Worth a try, I suppose!


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