Well,  here is another Kent’s Kanines Model, Travis. He is a 14/15 year Shepherd mix. We are not sure of his age since he was adopted at the San Francisco SPCA. I have been grooming him since he was adopted and he is one of the sweetest, loving and easy going dogs. He is a joy to groom; he evens knows to put his front feet on the back end of the grooming table so I can prop him up.

I groom Travis every month and am still amazed at the volume of hair that is extracted each time. I start the process on the table and completely brush and comb him  prior to the bath so there  are no mats. My grooming comb goes through his thick coat without a hitch prior to the bath. Once I lather him and really get the shampoo deep in his coat, I take my grooming comb on the wide side and comb through his thick coat while the shampoo is on him. As you will see in the video below, I pull out tons of hair. I drag the comb through every square inch of him, slowly and patiently. This technique is so terrific for extracting that stubborn undercoat. Of course, I temper the pressure of the combing based on which body part I am combing. Where there is more fat and cushioning, I can apply more pressure. Areas like his tail require a lot of sensitivity due to the fact that there is very little fat and  a lot of nerve endings.

It’s all about ” elbow grease “. Actually, taking the time and patience to slowly comb through a coat as showcased in the video below is a great method to help with shedding. Of course, after his bath Travis was completely blown dry with a power  blower all the while being brushed with a slicker brush and constantly combed until he was bone dry. This final process removes the last of the dead hair.

I do not use a conditioner on Travis but, if you had a dog with longer furnishings ie: Australian Shepherd, Samoyed, Maltese, Yorkie, Coton du Tulear etc…………… you could do the combing out while the conditioner is working and slowly and meticulously comb through the length inch by inch so not to tear the coat. This will help in the drying process so the final finished look is really fluffy and lustrous!!

Here are some photos of Travis as a Kent’s Kanines Model featured on my website. He is in Gallery 2 accompanied by Rollo. Rollo, sadly, is no longer with us but, they were the best buddies!!