Toni - RE: Mars Coat King

Toni,
In a post about the problems I have had about brushing out my Aussie, you wrote

"I would get myself a tool called a Mars Coat King- it is a fairly new tool that pulls out undercoat by the buttload. It is pricey ($30ish) but will last forever and do nine tenths of the work for you. You have to be really careful as it takes out so much coat so fast. For an Aussie coat I would suggest a 6-blade "coarse" model......"

Well, I sent for this tool. Since I did not have a $50 order, it was a bit over $40 with tax and shipping. By the time it arrived, I had half of Pebbles brushed out "the old fashioned way".... with the help of this new tool, I was able to do her other half in two sessions. That's a LOT less time. Pebbles was NOT thrilled with it. I think it must have hurt a bit more than the way I was doing it with the comb. But she put up with it. I went to the Mars site to see how to use it. I just very lightly combed down through the coat with the way it grows. I only used it on the "fleshy" areas. I used the comb on her legs. I did end up using the comb on her body after the Coat King, but it was a LOT easier. We almost took a picture of the pile of hair that came out of her. Amazing!!! How can it be that there is that much hair that comes off them when you brush, and when you vacuum, yet they are still so furry???

So - now she is brushed out. Next step, a bath. And, I am convinced not to clip her. The lady I talked to where I ordered the Coat King (the site you gave me) said I should consider using a coat dressing before brushing her out? She said to ask you about that.

I usually use Fresh-n-clean for the first shampoo, then Snowy coat on the white parts and Perfect Coat's Black Pearl on the gray/black areas for the second shampoo - followed by a Neutrogena people product for dry scalp/hair that is a light conditioner that is easy to rinse out. I found it easier to rinse out than any dog conditioners I have tried. My cousin (who was a groomer, but lives out of state) told me over the phone to not "scrub" her coat when I bath, just work my fingers through going with the hair to avoid tangling it. I have not tried bathing her since he gave me that advice.

So, is there any product I can use to make combing her out after the bath easier? She has no coat issues like dry skin, oily or smelly or anything like that. Just that darn undercoat. After I bathe her, she tolerates me using the dryer on her ok, but usually I don't. I can't tolerate the hair flying around! I just let her air dry, then brush her out when she is dry. Her hair sort of cords in little 1/8 inch ringlets.

Anything you can tell me that I am doing wrong I'd love to correct.

The Coat King was certainly worth the $$ and I am so glad you told me about it. Thanks so much for that!!

Jules