# Keeping clean in winter



## Bella's Momma (Jul 26, 2009)

So, we're doing for our first storm. On bath day. Well, first of all we're skipping bath day. LOL. But lately her feet get really muddy/dirty in the AMs. I do a quick wipe with a towel so she won't get the floor filthy, but obviously she still is dirty and getting matted (I brush it out later in the day as I heard I should not brush her wet -right?).

So what do you do between bathing to keep their feet/legs clean in winter?


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## highhorse (Sep 17, 2008)

Mine are toy poodles and very near to the ground. We exercise on the local meadows - mud, cut hay, dead wild life etc - so they get quite dirty. I usually get them home and turn the shower on their legs and belly - no shampoo or anything. One thing though, always keep the hair between their toes very closely clipped as this is what brings the dirt into the house. We don't exercise on the meadows after any snow as it builds up on their legs and turns to snow balls. Within minutes it is so thick they can't walk.


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## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

Brushing when wet/damp is fine! That's half the reason behind show dogs having a grooming spray when being brushed. 

Generally I keep the feet shaved short as much as possible to minimise the mud trodden about. But Paris has several inches of hair on her legs (5 inches on the inside of her hocks!) which turns into inches of MUD over winter (thank goodness it's spring here now!!)
see:

















I'd get a bucket of warm water at the back door and dunk & swish each leg to get the mud off, rub with a towel, and come in and down-stay on a towel for 10 mins or so to stop the drips. I didn't usually bother brushing her out cos I keep her brushed out otherwise and I'd get to it when I did our normal brushing out anyway!

If she was muddy before work, I'd rinse her legs down and dry them off mostly at work (groomers).

If we've been out walking and it's all dried, I'd brush it off with a slicker.


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## Shereen (Aug 10, 2009)

OMG!! :scared: Your picture there has made me soooo glad i didnt get a white poo!!!!! Cleaning all that up would drive me bonkers!!!


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## Cdnjennga (Jul 30, 2009)

Ahhh, look at those legs! That's the reason I like dark dogs... I know the dirt is still there, but it just isn't quite as obvious.


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## Bella's Momma (Jul 26, 2009)

It's a parti poodle!


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## nab (Sep 25, 2009)

Wow! How do you get him clean....soak him in a tub of bleach??


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## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

lol, that was a day that Paris was scheduled for a bath _anyway_, as normally I avoid dog parks in winter for that very reason!!! But I figured she was having a bath anyway, so why not just let her go for it!!! heh. Luckily that dog park has a stream running through it, so after a good run I could just point her over to it and 90% of it rinsed right out in the river, and a bit of a walk on lead in the sun dried her out enough to get into the car without soaking it.
This is all she had left by the time we got back in to bath her:









and after:








(note, she was growing out for the grooming competition at the time, hence so MUCH hair!!)


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## Bella's Momma (Jul 26, 2009)

Ooh, so much wonderful fluff! What kind of dryer do you use?


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## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

I have an oooolllld one, that I can't remember what brand it is, and besides it's been re-modeled so many times it probably makes no difference (new motors etc!) but that competition she was growing out for there, we WON, and the prize was an *awesome* ezycoat dryer, so now I have two force dryers that I use at the same time on her, and the ezycoat one doubles as a stand dryer if I take the hose off.


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## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

_WHEW!! Taffy comes in like that many days. I usually put her in our walk-in cellar and let her dry. If she is really bad, I put her in the tub and use the spray hose for dogs and spray off her legs and belly and then put her in the cellar to dry. It doesn't take too long for her to dry enough to come into the house. If I let her in too soon, she will rub herself all over the furniture to dry herself...YIKES!!

I always brush after spraying their coats with water or a leave-in conditioner. That way I don't break the hair.

I just love Paris' big, fluffy coat!! What a wonderful prize you won! Congratulations!
_


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