07/30/2018
Here is a scenario you may face at some point and I thought it might be useful to pass along what I did. I have a client who has had me show groom her Golden Retrievers. These dogs are a combination of working and show lines so do not have the massive coats that most show Goldens do. So what do you do when the dog is blowing coat and doesn't have much to work with anyway?? Wow Styling Foam to the rescue!! Ruthi will tell you I constantly rave about this product and for good reason. Here were the steps I followed:
Bath the dog as usual using Show Salon & Spa or Essentials.
Blast off most of the water in the tub
While still very damp apply Wow Styling Foam against the grain of the coat where you need to create volume and keeping it on the half of the hair that is closest to the skin.
When it comes to drying keep in mind what you want to achieve, more volume. That means that you start from the side of the dog at or near the top of the back and blow the coat upwards, everything is dried up so the hair is going in the opposite direction of its natural growth. You want each hair to have lift and support from the Wow Styling Foam so be sure to dry completely before moving on to another section. If it helps to envision what I mean .. think of how the dog would look hanging upside down .. all the hair would fall towards the floor. You want to create that look in the areas that need volume and lift.
The back can be blow dried starting behind the ears and working your way towards the tail. You can even do the tail that way if you need volume there.
The top of head is the only area that is dried as you normally would if it is meant to lay flat. Cheeks can be dried as normal unless you need volume there.
Do not be afraid, the coat will come down but will appear to have twice the volume it had.
Texture Magic can be added just before going in the ring to create additional volume if you need it. This works with sparse coat as well or dogs that are lean and trim but the judges want to see more weight.
** FYI .. you will not feel this in the coat at all. Additionally Wow Styling Foam can be applied to wet or dry coat. So if you need more in an area you can apply a small amount to the target area and either hand dry or brush dry. A tiny bit is all you need so you may want to experiment on how much to apply if you're not sure. I've also used it on pet dogs that come through my salon. You can see the difference it makes and there is no additional matting even after 6 weeks!!
Thank you so much Nadine Pickard for sharing this!
