by Faye Bevis
Lets suppose you have done all the training etc from a puppy to show. Your first show has arrived and as know presentation is very important.
The day before the show is when you should bath your akita.
First give your dog a good brush with quality slicker brush. Always brushing the dog the opposite way the coat lies.
Now for the bath, make sure you have a non-slip mat down to steady your dog. We use a shower head to completely wet the dogs coat. Next use a good quality dog shampoo, start on the body and work up a good lather. Then continue this all over, legs, tail, rear, head etc. When doing the head make sure you cover the eyes with a flannel or something to stop the shampoo getting into the eyes.
You can use a blue whitening shampoo on the white coat, this brings the coat really sparkling white. Use the shower head to rinse all the shampoo out of the coat. This may take a while to make sure u`ve got all the shampoo out.
Towel dry the dog while still in the bath as best you can then use a wet flannel to clean your dogs muzzle and around the eyes.
Help your dog out of the bath, making sure he doesn't slip. Once outside he will shake a few times to get the excess water off.
We train our dogs from a very early age to stand on a grooming table, usually with a grooming arm & a noose to steady the dog.
Once your akita is on the grooming table you can start the drying. We use a blaster called a gizmo.
Using a rake to separate the coat start blasting the body coat the wrong way to help the coat stand-off. Work your way all around the dog, if you only have a blaster, this won't thoroughly dry the coat so you can go over the coat with a normal hair dryer. Use a slicker brush on the legs, once again brushing the coat the wrong way. Watch when your drying around the head & ears as most akitas don't really like it.
When your akita is thoroughly dry you can stand back and admire your finished dog. The nails don't usually need doing if walked regularly on concrete. If you do need to do your dogs nails make sure you don't take them back too much, after all you don't want your dog to go lame! We use a dremel, which files the nails gently but again make sure you have gotten your akita used to this from a puppy as it can be a frightening experience.
If your not sure about doing the nails then leave them alone, you can always ask an experienced person to show you how to do it.
Always make sure the ears are clean, just gently clean them with cotton buds.
Next the whiskers, do you leave them on or take them off. Some judges prefer a clean face but its your preference what you do. We personally take them off as we think it gives a better look.
Now your dog is ready for the ring so all as you have to do now is keep him clean from now until tomorrow's show.
We bring our dogs in and cage them in the large collapsible cages which are very useful for a lot of situations.
The day of the show, just before you leave use a spray bottle with water in to wet the coat and just give a quick blast as the dogs coat can go a bit flat by laying on it overnight.
Now your ready to show your akita off.
Good Luck..............................................
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We use a
lot of grooming products from Plush Puppy who have a website at
www.plushpuppy.co.uk
They also have a lot of advice on their website.
