Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Grooming is an important part of looking after your Schnauzer. Regular grooming will help keep your Schnauzer healthy and comfortable and you will spot potential problems early. Whether you decide to clip or strip your Schnauzer, help is on hand. Schnauzers are generally a non-shedding breed and will require a fair amount of grooming to get rid of dead hair.
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Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by ArchArch »

Hi everyone! This is my first post as a new member. I brought home my first mini schnauzer puppy a few weeks ago. Her name is Chaska, she is currently 12 weeks, and is a very soft and fluffy black and silver. She will be a pet and companion only. We will be moving to hot and humid San Antonio, Texas in August.

She has yet to be groomed (aside from being brushed/combed daily, of course) and I am researching the best way to groom her for my and her needs. I'm very interested in using the Coat King as my primary tool of grooming. But I'm unsure this is wise given the climate in San Antonio.

First, let me say that I'm all for the scruffy dog look. But I also love the idea of Chaska having at least some hard coat for the reasons of giving her greater sun protection and better airflow (although these benefits seem to be unconfirmed by schnauzer experts--is this true? See viewtopic.php?t=19481#p268876).

I've done a ton of reading about grooming options, including on this forum. I think I have decided to do a quasi rolling coat using a Mars "Coat King" stripping comb/rake https://www.marscoatking.com/ after reading the description of doing so on Karen Brittan's website, http://britmorschnauzers.com/rolling.html. I understand I would have to trim or clip some parts of the body (lower legs, face, etc.), but want to use the Coat King for the bulk of the body, doing a thorough raking once a week.

But my main question is: can I use the Coat King for all regular grooming of the body in a hot environment? Or will her hair be too long to keep her comfortable?

I have an appointment with a long-time mini schnauzer owner in my area in 4 days to teach me how to groom. We originally set up the appointment for her to teach me how to strip, but I now realize this is impractical for me because I travel out of the country for long stretches to do research and can't ensure someone dog sitting will be able to do it. The person who will teach me has never used a Coat King, but is willing to help me practice nonetheless. But I want to have a good, sound plan of action (raking? clipping? etc) before I visit her this week to maximize the time during our lesson. Thank you all for your time and advice!
Last edited by ArchArch on 12 Jun 2020, 18:22, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by Oscar 12345 »

Hi there Rebecca. I used a coat king on my 1st schnauzer's coat during the winter months as I wanted the warmth from a longer coat, wanted to encourage some wire and keep a smart jacket. I don't think it will be adequate to remove sufficient coat and it will get very long and will easily matt. What you could consider doing is what I did. I love the longer stripped look and before I knew how to strip I used the coat king as much as possible and then used a very long blade for clipping to leave a longer but smarter coat. I suggest this method if you can't strip. Hard/wire coat will definitely help with the weather but I'm afraid a black coat just absorbs the heat and I have found a big difference between a salt & pepper clipped coat and a black & silver stripped coat with the stripped coat and dog feeling much hotter in warm weather. The other thing to consider is getting your schnauzer used to wearing a cool coat in the hot weather. They work really well and as long as you introduce them very early in the puppy phase there is no reason why a chilled coat from the fridge can't keep your schnauzer very comfortable.
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by ArchArch »

Thank you for the quick and awesome reply, Oscar 12345! I added you as a friend earlier today precisely because I saw you posted previously about your experience with a Coat King. :) Your post helps a lot.

1) I had no idea about cool coats! I'm very pleased to know about them, especially for mid-day summer walks. Superb.

2) If you have time to offer a little more detail on your suggested technique: How often (and for how many minutes per session) should I use the Coat King and how often should I clip? I'm a total newbie here :) For example, should I rake with the Coat King for 20 minutes once a week and then clip all over once a month? Also, what clipping blade length do you suggest?

3) Finally, do you have a blade preference for a Coat King? I purchased a #8 and a #20 since I have read some successes with both. Perhaps I would get a better result starting a grooming session with the #8 and then going back through with the #20 to ensure I get out as much hair as possible?

4) I would love to see pictures of your pup to see how this method turned out! Thanks!!!

PS: I'd love to hear from anyone else who has worked with a Coat King long term :) Below is a full-size picture of my baby girl, just for fun!

Image
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by Oscar 12345 »

Oh she is super cute. Things have moved on greatly since the coat-king, of the ones you have got you should try using both sizes to see which one removes the most coat. A better tool though and very cheap is the Andis Deshedding Tool. It removes a lot of undercoat and helps to create some wire. https://www.christiesdirect.com/Models. ... a135f8bb31
I know you can get these in the US, it will make life much easier. I would start using it immediately to remove the soft puppy fluff and start to encourage a harsher coat. On an ongoing basis I would use it every few days and the idea being to run it over the body until no more undercoat is coming out, 10-20 mins sounds about right. I use one on my stripped boy, probably once a week, he doesn't have much undercoat now. As for clipping. I would recommend a #3 blade. I think I recall clipping every 4 weeks. A bit more frequent because of the length. Oscar my first schnauzer had a wavy coat and using this method I kept his jacket nice and straight. The great news is that you can play around with the blade sizes and even the Andis tool. Depending on the coat you might get a really good effect with that and where you can't get a neat finish, scissor cutting with some blenders gives a really nice finish too. I will see if I can dig out a photo of Oscar, was many years ago now.
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by Dawnspell »

I've got a coat king that I use for blending and thinning in matt prone areas. I've not used one for maintaining the whole jacket though. I do have a gadget that looks like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/slredirect/ ... ame=sp_atf
If I'm short on time or don't think I'm going to do a normal strip I run this all over his jacket and it takes out wire coat.
Our neighbours dog has black and white patches. When you touch him on a sunny day it's amazing how much hotter the black patches are to the touch than the white.

Another thing for hot weather are the cool mats to lay on
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/slredirect/ ... ame=sp_atf
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by ArchArch »

Great help Oscar 12345 and Dawnspell!

Given this new advice, I might return the two Coat Kings (#8 and #20) I ordered to instead try out the Andis Deshedder (thanks Oscar!) and Dakpets FurBlaster (thanks Dawnspell!). I can try each one out on different strips of my pup's back to see which works best, or maybe alternate their use.

For the Andis tools, I ordered both the regular and fine-toothed deshedders; if anyone has an opinion on one vs the other (or suggest using both together in a particular order) for encouraging a wire coat before I take them out of the package, I'm all ears.
Andis Regular: https://amzn.to/2UNy45Q
Andis Fine-Toothed: https://amzn.to/3fsS5qf

Oscar, your detailed instructions on raking and clipping help so so much! Thank you. I think this is a perfect and very manageable protocol for me to follow.

And Dawnspell, those cooling mats look helpful too :)

Very happy to have you all and this forum as a resource. :D :YMPARTY:
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by Oscar 12345 »

Rebecca, this is the one on the Amazon US site that I use. I am not familiar with the others so I can't advise I'm afraid. https://www.amazon.com/Andis-Pet-DeShed ... 780&sr=8-3
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by Dawnspell »

I'm not familiar with those either. Please report back on how you get on with them. Always looking for new ideas and gadgets to buy :))
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by ArchArch »

Thanks guys! I'll certainly report back on which tools worked the best on my puppy!

(PS: I think the difference in the white and green vs black "premium" Andis deshedders is the ergonomic handle.)
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by Schnauzer Sam »

I strip the jacket but use the coat king to do the chest and legs. It's very effective at taking out the soft undercoat and although there's a small risk of cutting the wire coat with the coat king, I find that the dogs both tolerate the rake more than a knife.

I use the coat king twice a week on legs, tummy and chest and tidy up every other week with scissors. It will definitely leave the hair much longer than if you strip it.
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by ArchArch »

Hi all,

I just wanted to update you. After all that discussion, guess what? I ended up clipping my puppy Chaska. I took her to a breeder who could teach me how to either strip or clip and in the end we decided clipping was the best option for me and my puppy, in part due to the fact that she was so miserably hot.

But she looks fabulous with the clip! Thanks again for all your help and guidance. I really learned a lot and appreciate your time. I'll be letting her get longer and using that Andis deshedder when the weather cools though ;)

I'm attaching a picture of her post-groom--she looks like a completely new dog (*)
Image
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by Dawnspell »

=)) Well you did your research :D So are you clipping her yourself ?

She looks gorgeous :x That first groom always makes them look so grown up.
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by Oscar 12345 »

Stunning Rebecca, such lovely markings. I think you made the right decision. Chaska's comfort comes first.
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by ArchArch »

Thanks all! Yes, grooming her myself now, although with a bad back it's REALLY quite a process and I want to cry by the end. But my Chaska is fairly well behaved through the whole thing. I hope I get better/faster at it.

She is gorgeous, I'm glad you agree!
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Re: Coat-King-only grooming regimen ok for hot summers?

Post by Dawnspell »

Have you got an adjustable height grooming table ? That would help with your back. Anymore photos :D
Our first family dog
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Motto for owners who groom their own Schnauzers -"Never mind it'll soon grow back"
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