# Poodle Hair and Sand - beach question



## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Poodle Kid is so adorable. I love the idea of calling your dog "poodle kid" because frankly that's what my dog is, one of my kids. Lucky Poodle Kid going on a fun vacation.

My dog has only been into wet sand once. In retrospect I think I did the wrong thing. I immediately gave her a bath. It was so hard to wash out the sand and it made a real mess of my shower. My dog has a very thick wiry (but feels soft) adult poodle coat.

I would have been better just letting her dry, then the sand would naturally fall out and away from her fur. Followed by brushing/combing to remove the rest. You can then assess if you need to wash and dry your dog.

We do have several members who take their poodles to the beach often to romp around. Hopefully they will respond as they have much more experience.

Should you take your grooming supplies? That depends. I always use the high velocity dryer after a bath - if I had room in my car and plans for a fun but messy vacation I would take everything. Especially if you think you might have to wash your dog in the evening before bed and want to sleep with a dry dog. OTOH if your dog's fur is short, there's nothing wrong with allowing it to air dry after a bath. Bring gentle dog shampoo so you can wash Poodle Kid as often as needed.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

It does make sense that letting the sand and coat dry would help the sand fall out. Short of taking all your grooming stuff maybe you can find a do it yourself dog wash near where you are staying. This chain usually has a bathing station including HV dryers. http://us.petvalu.com/


I would also suggest taking a sheet to put over the hotel bedding. My mom and I went to Cape Cod a few years ago with Lily and her mpoo. The bed and breakfast owner gave us extra sheets to put over the top of the regular linens.


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## doditwo (Nov 7, 2017)

I live next to the ocean so my poodle does go to the beach. I found that most of the sand just falls off after she’s dry for awhile, so I just let her run around the yard and the house then sweep it up off of my wood floors. I also comb her hair to remove whatever is left. I never have felt beach trips needed any special grooming or even a bath. In fact beaches are a piece of cake compared 
to grassy wooded where pine tree resin & ticks can be a problem.
However she sleeps in her exipen so I’m not concerned about getting a little sand on bedsheets, but that’s still better than a tick.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

I take my poodle kids to the beach often. They like to splash on the shore and get wet/sandy. I let them air dry and the sand just falls out. No need to bathe. Easy, peasy  Have FUN!


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## Muggles (Mar 14, 2015)

I do the same - towel dry roughly to get the bulk of the sand out (my boy has short hair but plays like a sea monster!) and then air dry and brush. You end up with plenty of sand on the floors and on the bed (I also put another cover of some sort over the doona) but it all comes out pretty easily.


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## JenandSage (Mar 9, 2018)

Sand is a part of my life! Ocean sand and river silt and it’s wet most of the year here
I’m with everyone on the wiping the legs as best as possible and then letting it dry. When he gets up off the floor there is often a sandy poodle outline left
I sweep a lot and use my cordless hand vac. It seems to come out of the fur fine. 
Special bed cover is a good idea -just shake it off outside.
Jen and sandy Sage


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## Moni (May 8, 2018)

Thanks everyone! So many great suggestions - definitely will bring extra sheets and towels and the usual brushing gear plus his dryer. It should be a lot of fun! Thanks for the reassurance!


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

Last time mine got beachy, I blew him out with the high velocity dryer before I washed him. Most of the sand blew off. I will warn you that the texture of the sand makes a huge difference, so advice given based on sand from different areas should take that into account. We have rather gritty sand with an underlying silt; power blowing outside works great.


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## SSCarr (Dec 11, 2013)

*No need to bathe*

I let Gunnar play in water and sand, beach, sand dunes, lakes and rivers... He has a very thick coat that I keep pretty short in the summer so once it's dry the sand just falls out all over the wood floors. He loves it so not a problem.


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

Wow, I wish I could be as positive as others have been. My spoos coat is really thick. Most groomers can't even use their normal tools on him. When he gets wet it takes about 5 hours to dry, even though I keep his hair at a 7, or at most a 5.

He absolutely hates it when I squirt him with the hose to get the sand out. When I keep him outside to dry it still takes about 3 days for all of the sand to fall out, even with brushing. 

I suppose it could be the texture of the sand, but with all of my friends dogs it just falls out within half an hour.

I am no longer eager to take him to the beach, even though I live less than a mile from Lake Superior. 

I sure hope you have better luck! Have a great time!


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

Jeepers, I didn't want to stop this thread! Does anyone else have this problem with sand?


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## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

Ahh I’ve lived in Boston for four years and lament the fact that I’ve never made it to cape cod. I do have a lot of experience about dogs and beaches because I live in Florida. Sand is tough because it gets trapped in curly coat and will get everywhere in your car if you don’t live close by. I would just anticipate cleaning your car after a beach visit because it is inevitable. 

Oh and whatever you do, don’t ever bring a dslr to the beach because that is the worst thing you can do to the lens. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## doditwo (Nov 7, 2017)

Snowman, 
I use a Kurgo dog booster seat in the car. An extra benefit is that anything a dog ran around in will come off inside the booster instead of the car interior.
There’s sand in my car, but it all fell off of me. If only the made a booster for the driver lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## JenandSage (Mar 9, 2018)

I really like my vacuum and my little cordless hand vacuum! 
I do a lot of laundry...
I love a clean house and then I got a poodle... There is sand on most of our walks so i just end up dealing with it. I do a really good towel dry of his feet at the front door and then I just hope for the best. Sometimes I dip his feet into this large cup of water before going in the house and dry them with the towel. 
How was the experience at the beach?


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

Poppy loves to get dirty and muddy, the dirtier the better for her. Since I got my HV dryer it has been so much less of a problem to deal witha wet gritty poodle. I blow it out of her coat before going in the house and bathing. Sure saves getting sand all over the house and it is easier to bathe her and get the trapped sand out of her coat. Before I got the dryer it was a real chore to deal with this.


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## Moni (May 8, 2018)

I love how my original post is only one month old and yet so much has changed. Poodle kid is now in full blown coat change and it is driving me up the wall. Mats, mats and more mats. I line comb him out - and hours later - new ones...sigh. I wonder if I will have to just shave him short before we go to the Cape - even though I love his pants and hippie head....


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

Moni said:


> I love how my original post is only one month old and yet so much has changed. Poodle kid is now in full blown coat change and it is driving me up the wall. Mats, mats and more mats. I line comb him out - and hours later - new ones...sigh. I wonder if I will have to just shave him short before we go to the Cape - even though I love his pants and hippie head....
> 
> Comfort before beauty is my motto. At coat change I had Poppy shaved to 1/2" on her body with a fluffy head, tail and ears. Even with that the ears were a vonstant source of mats, but manageable.
> 
> ...


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## JenandSage (Mar 9, 2018)

Viking Queen said:


> Poppy loves to get dirty and muddy, the dirtier the better for her. Since I got my HV dryer it has been so much less of a problem to deal witha wet gritty poodle. I blow it out of her coat before going in the house and bathing. Sure saves getting sand all over the house and it is easier to bathe her and get the trapped sand out of her coat. Before I got the dryer it was a real chore to deal with this.


Oh I just tried this today!! I got my dryer about 2 weeks ago and it’s way better than I thought. I bathed him last week and today the rains started..
I have it set up in the garage so after our sandy rainy walk today I did about 5 minutes of blow drying the legs especially and it really helped! He even seemed to be more relaxed than usual (he doesn’t love the dryer.)
I think the dryer will change my life this fall/winter


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## 2BoyzNow (Apr 27, 2020)

Moni said:


> 466280[/ATTACH]114754"]
> Poodle Kid is going on his first vacation with us to Cape Cod. The place is a dream for dogs and we have taken our past dogs there before. I am pretty new to grooming and have never had to keep him clean with wet sand around. I like to keep him very clean - since he sleeps in bed with me. Any advice regarding wet sand and grooming? Do I have to schlepp the entire grooming arsenal with me? Will he need a bath every day - or just combing the sand out works? I keep his hair fairly short on his body - but very long on his legs and he still has puppy hair - although a beautiful texture that rarely mats.


I’m quite late to this discussion. By like 2 years! Lol. 
I have a 6 year old minipoo with very thick hair. I just added a minipoo/bichon puppy to the pack. His hair is much thinner & wavy. I converted an unused 16’ x 20’ garden box into a mega sandbox for them. They love love love it and roar in & out of it during their high speed chases. And there’s the digging of course. And...there’s the sand in the hair too. 

With the pup I can easily brush him off but my minipoo is more of a concern. I thought I’d been getting his coat cleared too but I was petting/scratching him the other evening on the couch & noticed his skin was really rough. As I gently scratched at it I realized it was sand that had dried on his skin. I was able to gently coax it off but there was plenty more. Even a few places with a cluster of sand grains that were stuck on pretty hard. Basically most of his back had this residual sand in his skin.

I’ve been rubbing him off much more vigorously and using his metal comb to gently loosen it. And I still “pick” at it if I find a few rough spots when we’re relaxing on the couch. I’m not familiar with using a high velocity dryer but I’m wondering if this would work better & faster. They play in the sand every day so I would be doing it frequently. His groomer would be happy to show me how to safely use the dryer.

Anyone have similar experience and/or suggestions? Thank you!!


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

I no longer take my Spoo to the beach and avoid all sand. I cannot get it out of his fur!


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## EVpoodle (Sep 25, 2018)

I would say high velocity dryer is the way personally, I have gotten it out of poodle fur before, and it can be tough when the sand is wet, it can yes also build up on their skin just wash them and high velocity dry them.


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