Preparing for the big show  by Michael Tolstrup

Let me take the liberty to introduce myself:

My name is Michael Tolstrup I am 32 years old and is born in Denmark. Since 2002 I have been the lucky owner of the Kennel Brand “La Chighana” – as you can see the Chihuahua world is rather new for me.

Before I was training horses for competition and also private in general as my hobby. But no matter what I did I was always surrounded by one or several dogs.

Years ago I had the Afghan Hound and after a short while I found the interest and work so exiting that I simply had to participate in exhibitions and shows etc. with these wonderful dogs.

During my Afghan period I obtained a large knowledge within the daily grooming and also all the preparations before shows. Especially the grooming for the Afghan Hound can be extremely tuff – compared to the Chihuahua – but the principals are more or less the same.

More than thousand different grooming products on the market makes it difficult to choose the right one – which is not for me to decide – everyone have of course there favourites – but the most important thing is to choose a product with a PH-value as close to the dogs PH-value as possible. The PH-value for the human being is approx. 4,5 – 5,5. The PH-value for dogs vary a lot – but as a starting point – one can say an average on approx. 7,5.

I use a product from the world famous Lotte Jørgensen - the owner of Kennel Boxadan - from whom I also had my Afghan Hounds. The product is very suitable when you need extensive grooming on the dogs - once or twice a week – which I did. The coat is very sensitive on dogs -  and you indeed have to wash the whole body and not only the hair - as for human beings.

It is a hard procedure for the dog – although the hardest part is the warm air blow and the brush which makes the coat straight and shinny. Never ever use the blow or the brush in a dry coat. Well I could probably continue for a long time – instead I will start explaining how I keep my Chihuahua in general and before the big show.

In general – daily care:

-  Once a week manicure if needed

-  Check the ears for hair

-  Cleaning of the teeth

Every two weeks:

      -   Washing time for all the dogs

Short coat dog

Wash in lukewarm water – wash with Boxadan Green Shampoo        

Massage with Boxadan Balsam – let stay for 5-10 min.

Wash in lukewarm water but be sure there is some balsam left to keep the skin moisture.  Towelling the dog lightly and blow. As mentioned before I never wash all the balsam out the coat – as it keeps the body moistening exactly as moistening crème and also it keep the coat flat to the body. By this method you never have problems as dry skin and the coat seems to be more elastic and flexible too.

The day before the show I wash again and this time I wash the dog two times in Boxadan Green Shampoo to make sure the dogs are totally clean. After that I ad the Boxadan Balsam make sure to wash all the balsam out again this time. After towelling the dog lightly I spray the coat with Shinny Coat and then dry blow. When the dog is completely dry I spray Shinny Coat one more time. The morning for the show I do spray lightly Shinny Coat again and if needed once again before ring side.

Long coat:

Same procedure to be used on the long coat Chihuahua – with that exception that I spray with Shinny Coat and blow.  

It happens that I have to do more styling as trimming, grooming, cutting and much more on the long coat Chihuahua – but all this I’ll be more than welcome to tell all about another time.