Care and Maintainence of the Bichon Frisé

BATHING AND TRIMMING
Tools of the trade.

You will need a soft Slicker brush. Some people find it easier to use two sizes. A medium size for most of the dog, and a small size for between the legs, under the ‘arm pits’ etc.

A long tooth metal comb with teeth closer together one half and slightly further apart the other half. The close together side is used for the head and ears, and the slightly further apart for the body of the dog.

Nail clippers of your choice

Blunt ended sharp scissors about 2 inches in length.(The type sold to trim babies nails)

Good quality trimming scissors. The type is your choice, but remember when it comes to scissors you get what you pay for. They should feel balanced in your hand, and a long blade is easier to get a smooth finish with than a short blade. They should be kept sharp and dry, and should never be used for anything other than cutting the dogs hair. Do not lend your scissors to others, and never ever drop them.

Choose a soft coat dog shampoo and if you bath frequently, or have a slightly harsher coat an appropriate conditioner. If your dog suffers skin problems you may find a tea tree oil range helpful.

Plucking powder, and or blunt ended tweezers.

A good quality hair drier, professional grade hand held because it will have to run for a much longer time than a normal domestic one. Or a forced air drier.

A none slip table top of a height comfortable for you to work at for two to three hours, and big enough for the dog to stand on, but not so large that you have to stretch to control the dog

Somewhere to bath the dog. I have had a square kitchen sink with a single drainer fitted in my garage with a hand held flow through shower unit. The dog stands with its back feet in the sink, and its front feet on the drainer. That gives me good control, and the shampoo and water runs away from the head to the tail and back legs.

A soft nail brush

A large dog towel or two

A piece of bedding fleece.

A tooth brush

Dog tooth paste

Preparation

Because the coat of a Bichon is naturally curly it is very important to make sure that the coat is knot free before getting it wet. Like a perm, the curl will tighten when wet, so a knot becomes a felt mess.
For this reason always groom the dog thoroughly before bathing.

Slicker brushes are very sharp and if raked across the dogs skin at an angle will scratch or cut the skin. I have seen a Bichon bleeding after being brushed incorrectly. The brush head must be kept parallel to the part of the dog being groomed.
Work through the coat in sections starting either from the head and work back or from the back and work forward, which ever way you are most comfortable with.
Some people prefer to train their dog to lie down whilst being groomed. I prefer to have mine standing because it has to stand when being trimmed and it gets the dog use to co-operating.
Remember coat will tangle where it rubs so pay particular attention behind the ears, between the legs, around the dogs testicles.
Hold the coat back with one hand, and brush through with the other. If you are doing it correctly you should be able to see the skin, and this will be a good opportunity to look for ‘hot spots’ cuts, ticks, flea dirty etc.
Having brushed the dog all over take the comb and with a flicking action work through the entire coat. If there is a knot the come will pull or ‘ting’. Part the coat and find the knot, and if you can hold the knot between the knot and the skin, this will enable you to tease the knot out with out hurting the dog.
If the knot is particularly difficult rubbing with corn flour can help, as can such products as Cowboy Magic.
A revolving tooth comb can also be useful since it works the knot out with out too much pain for the dog.

Ears
Pluck any hair in side the dogs ear.
This can be done with fore finger and thumb having dipped them in the plucking powder.
Or use the blunt end tweezers. Do not poke the tweezers inside the ear channel, and do not take too much hair at a time, since this gives the dog pain.
The hair should be clean and sweet smelling. Brown hair and an unpleasant smell indicates problems which need treating.

Nails
Tuck the body of the dog under your arm and hold it against your side. Taking each paw in turn hold the paw in one hand and the clippers in the other. Pull back the hair on the toes with your thumb and examine the nails. If they are white the quick is easy to see. It is the pink part in the middle of the nail. Do not cut into the quick, this will hurt the dog, and will cause the nail to bleed. Take a small slice at a time. The more frequently you trim the nail, the shorter the quick will become.
If the nail is black, take a very small slice at a time and look up the end of the nail. You will see a light circle start to appear in the middle of the nail, a bit like the circle you would find in a slice of wood. The larger the circle becomes the nearer you are to the quick.
Check to see if you dog still has the dew claws, and make sure that you remember to clip them
If you really find that you cannot cope with the clipping you can file the nails using a manual metal nail file, or a battery one.

Anal glands

Place the dog in the bath with the rear turned toward you hold the tail firmly erect and with the other hand place you fore finger and thumb at about twenty past twenty two taking the anus as the centre of a clock face. You will feel two small swellings, pea size or smaller. These are the anal glands. Empty them by squeezing up and out.
A smelly coloured discharge will come out of the anus.
Each dog produces a different colour and consistency, some is very liquid and may shoot out under some force. Some is very stiff and oozes out like tooth paste. Wash it away.

Bathing

Wet the coat thoroughly. Having spent time preparing the coat to be tangle free, do not make the mistake of now knotting the wet coat. Some books will advise using cotton wool to keep water from entering the dog’s ears. I have never found it to stay in place, but provided the dog is dried properly it will not be a problem.
Another point to remember is that a dog’s shake starts from the head. So if you keep the dog’s head still it cannot shake.
Remember that if the dog shampoo is concentrated you must dilute as instructed.
I like to start from the head and work my way down the body finishing with the tail.
The soft nail brush is used to get the shampoo into the staining on the face and around the eyes. DO NOT SCRUB.
Take care not to rub the coat into tangles as you work the shampoo into the coat. The amount of bubbles is not indicator of the shampoo’s cleaning power, and indeed dog shampoo’s do tend to be low foam.
Rinse well. If there is soap in the dogs eyes simply run the water across the eyes and that will clear it.
When the water is running clear, condition if required using the same techniques. Be sure to rinse until all trace of shampoo and conditioner is removed.
Rub your hands down the dog’s head, body, legs and tail to remove the excess water and wrap in a towel.
remove from the bathing area and move to your grooming area on which you have placed the piece of bedding fleece.

Drying
If you are using a force air drier, the trick is not to creat turbulence and re tangle to coat. Therefore move the noozle from side to side or up and down, not around and around.
If the dog is not use to the forced air drier, cover the animals ears whilst you are drying it. Be careful not to blow directly into any orific.

John and Maureen Reynolds Worcestershire
UK

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