Maltese GROOMING: MATS and How we safely trim mats

January 9, 2016November 28, 2017

Maltese GROOMING: MATS and How we safely trim mats

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhVbb5p_lSg[/embedyt]

MO Fashion == clothes and headband available in OUR STORE

Lavender Jacket & PINKY PINKY Sofy Fuzzy Jacket

Madan COMB available at http://TopLinePet.com

Ice on Ice Detangling and Conditioning Spray
 
PurePaws Silk Basics Conditioning Spray or Pure Paws Reconstructing Conditioning Spray 10% Discount Code is MO10

July 10, 2014July 14, 2014

Dolce Daily Brush Out + July NEW Go To Grooming GOODIES!

Table Top Grooming Table — the colors available on Amazon vary — all MO GTGT items are sourced in the SHOP tab above!

DOLCE Flip – Top Knot FLIP Tool

PurePawsUSA.com 10% Discount Code is MO10

I believe the prices are better if you purchase direct through PurePawsUSA.com and use the 10% Discount Code MO10, but I have sourced some items through Amazon for those of you that are interested. The travel kits are NOT available on Amazon

CET Virbac Enzymatic Toothpaste VANILLA MINT

TOPLINEPET.com

Madan Steel Tail Comb

Madan Band Scissor
Chris Christensen

The wooden pin brush come in SMALL and Med ~~ I use the purple SMALL in the video. Amazon available colors vary from day to day ~~ more colors are available on the Chris Christensen Website.

Apana Hot Yoga Mat Microfiber Towels: We found them for $16.99 at TJMaxx and Marshalls stores in the Athletic Sports Section. They retails for $50

Baby Travel Pillow: Comes in a variety of colors on Amazon. We found them at TJ Maxx.

June 9, 2014July 14, 2014

Dolce’s Daily Care Routine: Maltese Brushing, Tear Stain Cleaning, Teeth Brushing and Top Knot

Dolce shares our daily morning ‘Maltese Care Routine’ in a video tutorial, which will include:

Top Knot Flip aka ‘Dolce’s Flip’ top knot
Tear stain cleaning and eye hair drying
Teeth brushing
Brush out
Dingle Berry (aka: Hitch Hiker, po0-poo, visitor, doo-doo) removal
Post brush out ZOOMIES

Dolce hanging out with Pinky after the video shoot

Products discussed: Link to our Favorites all Sourced on Amazon

Heart ponytail flip tool (available on Amazon)
Contact solution (any brand that contains Boric Acid).
Virbac C.E.T. Vanilla MINT Enzymatic Toothpaste
Virbac C.E.T. small toothpaste
Chris Christensen Ice on Ice Detangling spray
Pure Paws Classic Shine Conditioning Spray
Madan Apple Green FIRM Cushion brush
Madan steel tail comb
Chris Christensen 7.5″ #000 Coarse/Fine Buttercomb

Links and more information about combs and brushes used are in the below listed blogs/vlog

Comb Review and Blog

Madan Brushes and Chris Christensen Burshes Reviewed

Green Madan Pin Brush with FIRM Cushion is reviewed here

Dolce and Pinky wanting a Special Treat after their Video Tutorial Tapings

May 17, 2014July 11, 2014

Tweety Face/Eye Wash and Simple Top Knot Tutorial

Tweety is making her debut VLOG appearance. She was groomed into her Korean cut over a month ago, and we will VLOG her upcoming clipper Korean cut for viewers to see how we do this at home.

This technique of washing her eye area is only one of the many ways that we as maltese owners can keep the eye area as clean as we can.

One question that I am sure to get is what our thoughts are on Angel Eyes and antibiotic treatments for eye tearing. My experience working for many years in the pharmaceutical R&D as well as the sales and marketing end of antibiotics, has led me to lean against any unnecessary use of antibiotics for our family (both humans and dogs). Bacterial drug resistance has become a huge problem in the pharmaceutical R&D world and I lived too close to seeing the human struggles resulting from antibiotic super infections and resistant strains of bacteria.

Spa Lavish Blueberry Facial Cleanser by Tropiclean

Above is pictured the Blueberry facial cleanser that is used in the video.

On my other dog, I also use Contact Lens saline solution that contains Boric Acid to cleanse the eye area. The saline cleansing is followed up with applying corn starch, which helps keep the eye area dry.

There are various different ways to clean the eyes and remove tear stains. Excessive tear staining could be the result of blocked tear ducts, teeth problems and/or other health issues.

We hope you enjoy meeting Tweety!

Note: All fluffs as wells as their groomers have different tastes, needs and favorites. Not every SPAW treatment need be the same. Maltese Obsession is happy to share our PAWSITIVELY Perfect GO TO Grooming experiences.

May 17, 2014June 12, 2014

1st VIDEO BLOG with DOLCE +++ 10% Discount on Madan Brushes and Combs

Video Blog Review: Dolce will review the Madan Apple Green (FIRM Cushioned) Pin Brush

10% Discount on Madan Pin Brushes and Combs when you mention Maltese Obsession at checkout with coupon code MO10 www.toplinepet.com

10% Discount will be issued in the FORM OF A REFUND via PAYPAL after purchase is completed

Pretty Brush Bouquets

We’ve already reviewed:

Baby Bear = Orange SOFTY

Mama Bear = Baby Blue MEDIUM

we can’t leave out

Papa Bear = Apple Green FIRM

Welcome to view our FIRST VIDEO BLOG aka MO VLOG. We also show you how we do Dolce’s signature inside out ponytail flip top knot!

Dolce and the Maltese Obsession Pack hope you enjoyed our first video to greet all of our Maltese loving friends.

Please come back and see more video blogs and tutorials. We are hoping to come up with a fun idea for a brush giveaway!!!

May 15, 2014September 22, 2014

ICE ICE Baby ~~~ Mats don’t have to be a BAD word

ICE on ICE Detangler by Chris Christensen

Chris Christensen makes some awesome shears. Pawsitively awesome GO TO GROOMING brushes, Buttercombs, Kool-pup Dryers, shampoos etc. etc.

Today I’d like to share with you a reason that I am no longer afraid of MATS!

CC Ice on Ice Leave in Detangler & Finishing Spray contains sunscreen and is a conditioning spray, finishing spray and most useful to us as a DETANGLER.

Mats used to stress both our fur babies out as well as myself. I have tried MANY detangler’s including the Pure Paws line, but ICE ON ICE helps mats SLIP LOOSE with minimal work and zero stress on my fur babies.
 How to loosen a mat on your maltese dog:

Spray liberally into the mat
Pull apart by going first sideways, then up ~~ spreading apart the mat with your fingers
After most of the mat has been loosened, then GENTLY use a brush to finish loosening

ICE on ICE Trial Size

Spray LIBERALLY into the mat

Pull mat apart sideways at first

Spread fingers into the mat sideways and up&down

Still spreading the mat apart with fingers

Spray more ICE into the now opened up MAT

Mat is easily coming apart now. You can see the ICE sparkling in the sunlight!

Once the mat is mostly broken apart I brush out gently using a soft cushioned pin brush

Once the fingers have separated most of the mat, I can use a soft cushioned Madan pin brush to GENTLY brush out the hair. I am HOLDING the hair at the base near the skin to prevent any PULLING …gently…no pulling

Chris Christensen Wooden Pin Brush 7″ $25

A FANTASTIC tool to use together with ICE on ICE is the Chris Christensen Wooden Pin Brush. The wooden pin brush is likened to my fingers and the brush just GLIDES through and separates the mat that has been sprayed with ICE on ICE.

This brush comes in the 7″ body for $25 or the 8″ body for $35, with choices of some pretty colors such as blue, black, purple (shown above), pink and bright yellow!

CC Wooden Pin Brush

The wooden pins are made of hornbeam, which is apparently harder then bamboo. We use bamboo chopsticks for all types of cooking in our house, including deep frying. It is no wonder that a wood that is harder then bamboo, such as HORNBEAM would be such a fantastic wood to use to create this AMAZING wooden pin brush.

Dogs that are heavily matted or puppies that are new to brushing would benefit from this CC Wooden pin brush. Any dog that is sensitive to brushing will LOVE and ENJOY brush outs with this GENTLE and FANTASTIC GO TO Grooming tool.

After the brush, spray some more ICE if needed and then gently use a grooming comb …

Hold hair with fingers to prevent pulling ~~~ gently comb out a few hairs at a time

I am now GENTLY working the comb through the loosened mat, but going through just a SMALL section of hair at a time with a 7.5″ grooming comb. I hold the hair with my left hand to ensure NO PULLING nor TUGGING on the skin…

The loosened up mats that came out afterwards. BYE BYE MATS!!!

This mat took only a few minutes to work out of the coat. The ICEonICE really does a fine job of making the mat slippery enough to loosen out with the fingers.

You can see from above that I have a little 2 oz trial sized bottle. This little bottle is great to have at every Grooming Brush Bouquet that I have around my house. I purchase the 16oz bottle and just refill my little 2 oz trial sized sprays.

ICE on ICE has no distinguishable odor.

Here is another pesky mat that formed from Dolce’s top knot band. I either cover her eyes and spray the ICE onto the mat OR safer and better yet, I spray some ICE on my comb and then try and work out the mat.

Ice on Ice Detangler, Conditioning, Finishing spray and Stain repellent with sunscreen is available in

16 oz Ready to Use Spray $12
16 oz Concentrate (16:1 makes 2 gallons) $37
2 oz Trial size bottle available in the $10 KITS

Ice on Ice

($10 Trial size kits include ICE as well as a choice of shampoo set)

$10 Trial Sized Kits

Daily brushing your maltese will help prevent most mats. I brush my dogs out every morning and evening. There are times throughout the year where suddenly, my dog will experience a coat change and virtually MAT OVERNIGHT. When this happens I am happy to have these great items in my GO TO GROOMING kit to ZAP the MATS!!

Other Recommended Detanglers: The Stuff, Stasko, Cherrybrook, Show Sheen, Animology, Cowboy Magic…ICE ICE BABY!!!

May 14, 2014June 12, 2014

Combs + Combs + Combs (Part 1)

7.5 Inch Grooming Comb Review:

Combs are used EVERY SINGLE DAY, and multiple times each day! A comb review is pretty hard to do in one pass. There are tons of GOOD and GREAT choices. We will look at just Grooming Combs today.

Face, beard and flea combs will be covered in future posts.

I have used, loved and hated all kinds of different combs. I let my dogs tell me what they like as their comfort is TOP PRIORITY when they get their SPA GROOMING treatment. Light weight and high function are very important to me as the groomer.

The truth is my heart LOVES the Chris Christensen special edition #000 Buttercomb.

#000 Chris Christensen Buttercomb 7 1/2 ” Long Tooth Fine/Coarse

It is BLUE and Crazy AMAZING! Sadly, this blue special edition butter comb is not currently available. I have had it for about 4 years and with the exception of ONE tooth being bent and a small corner chip in the paint, it works like BUTTER!

http://www.chrissystems.com/grooming-tools/pet-grooming-show-dog-and-cat-combs.aspx

I LOVE CC combs. The combs simply glide through the hair smoothly, ‘LIKE BUTTER’. In the brush world my GO TO pin brush is a Madan over the CC pin (both are AWESOME). In the comb world, my GO TO comb is the CC Buttercomb over the Madan (again these are my TOP 2).

Chris Christensen Buttercombs are the GOLD STANDARD for my GO TO GROOMING Comb + Detangler

In my daily grooming routine, I will search for mats after I do an initial brushing out with a Madan pin brush. I always spritz with either the CC Ice on Ice or the PURE PAWS Classic Line SHINE Conditioning Spray (purple bottle) before any type of brushing.

If I find any mats I spray the mat with CC ICE on ICE and then work out the mats with my fingers. If the mat is small I just spray with ICE AND ICE and brush with the CC WOODEN PIN brush (works on mats like a charm). This takes out most of the mat.

Then I follow and finish the body with this CC 7 1/2″ Buttercomb. I will once again spritz both the area where the mat was as well as the COMB with IceONIce before combing.

The CC Buttercomb will finish taking out all the loosened mats as well as CLEANLY brush out and separate all the hair. (pictured above)

CC #000 Buttercomb in Blue vs MADAN X-Long Pin in Pink Aluminum

$32 on a CC comb is pretty steep. There are some less expensive alternatives, but if you have multiple dogs and home groom,

I would recommend either the
#000 $32 or the #005 $50 as a GO TO GROOMING Comb!

CC 7.5 Inch Buttercomb Coarse/Fine #000 $32

Madan 7.5″ Aluminum X-LONG Pins $20

The new Madan Aluminum 7/5″ with EXTRA LONGER PINS (pic above) is actually equivalent to the CC #005, though the Madan pins are slightly shorter (1.4″ long vs the CC 1.625″). The ALUMINUM OVAL non-slip handle makes this comb EXTREMELY light for it’s size and appearance.

I love the lightness of the aluminum body, as I am hard on my hands and they are starting to hurt from arthritis, so lightweight combs and brushes are a must for my GO TO Grooming needs.

The tips of the pins are SLIGHTLY pointier to the touch then the CC Buttercomb, but I really enjoyed the longer pins and the light weight feature of this comb.

This comb is new and is available in Purple, Light Pink (pictured), Orange and Gold. Definitely worth it’s weight for just $20.

Madan 7.5″ Aluminum X-Long Pins $20 —- the longer pins make it great to use with Clipper work

Add caption

Pictured above is another great feature about the longer pins on say a CC #005 or a Madan Aluminum 7.5″ Aluminum with Xtra Long pins. Safety is really important when home grooming and the longer pins allow us groomers to use the comb as a tool/barrier when we are using a clipper. This is very useful when clipping closer to the skin especially in the rump area or hygiene area.

The longer pins are also FANTASTIC for fluffing the coat prior to using the clipper or prior to scissor clipping.

We have a choice of the CC #005 for $50 or the Madan X-Long Alum for $20. Great 1,2 choices!

Madan Pink 7.5″ Aluminum $13

A great inexpensive comparable comb to the amazing #000 would be the Madan 7.5″ Aluminum comb. The PINK and GREEN have pins that are 1.14″ long, but the BLUE and PURPLE have pins just under 1″. Sadly I find the 1″ pins too short and quite unfunctional for my uses. I would move over to a face or beard comb if I want short pins.

Again, the aluminum body makes this comb very lightweight and very useful for everyday grooming. A great 2nd choice if you didn’t want to spend $32 on the #000 Buttercomb.

Madan SHINY Grooming Comb 7.5″ $20

Another great alternative is the Madan SHINY Grooming comb 7.5″, also available at www.toplinepet.com. This is made of some type of Automobile Galvanized plated finish, with a COPPER round handle. This comb comes in many colors and has COARSE + FINE pins. The weight and overall size for the Blue CC#000 and this Madan SHINY 7/5″ are pretty identical.

I would say it is definitely SLIGHTLY heavier then the 2 Aluminum Madan combs that I posted above, but if you like a solid shiny comb that is really a perfect size for everyday grooming, then this is a pretty good alternative.

Petedge Master Grooming Greyhound Comb Fine/Coarse $7.43 on sale from $9.29

Master Grooming Greyhounds can be found at Petedge.com and I thought I would try these out to see if they would hold up to my snobby comb preferences.

Above is the MGT 7.5″ Greyhound Fine/Coarse, which is only $7.43 on sale at the moment. It is available in many colors and pictured above is the RAINBOW version. The comb is noticeably and significantly heavier then both the CC combs and the Madan combs. My eyes tell me that they should be just as good as my BLUE CC BUTTERCOMB, but somehow there is a huge disparity in the two combs.

First, the SIGNIFICAANTLY heavier weight of the MGT comb makes me hate picking it up (sorry MGT). Next, and more importantly my dogs didn’t like this comb anywhere near their legs.

The hair doesn’t have that ‘LIKE BUTTER’ glide with this comb. HOW can this be? Isn’t stainless steel all the same? In the cooking world, all stainless steel pots are NOT created equal. I prefer using ALL CLAD stainless steel pots over any other less expensive brands. The ALL CLAD pots maintain their luster, are better conductors of heat, and for many other reasons make cooking an enjoyable and gourmet experience.

I think the same goes for the quality of the stainless steel that is used in Chris Christensen combs. One of the earlier interviews I read about the making of the CC company was that CC was focused on the making a great product without consideration of making it less expensive for the consumer. The stainless steel of the CC combs, must be likened to the high quality of the stainless steel that is used in my favored ALL CLAD cooking pots.

Sadly, my review of the MGT Grooming comb is that though it is a great deal for a comb, I would much rather pay a little more @ $13 and get a much better product with the Madan 7.5″ aluminum. BETTER YET just fork out the $32 for the CC#000 or $50 for the #005 and LOVE grooming with it FOREVER!!!…just saying…

Wow, and we haven’t even touched on the rat tail comb nor the face/beard combs yet. Forthcoming in the near future.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to share your thoughts on what your favorite grooming comb is!!

PRODUCT MENTIONED and PICTURED:

CC #000 Buttercomb 7 1/2″ Fine/Course: Teeth are 1 1/16″ long (26 wide and 37 fine pins) $32
Madan Aluminum 7.5″ Lightweight Comb Fine/Coarse: Teeth are 1.14″ (PINK or Green) or 1″ (blue or purple) $13
Madan Shiny grooming 7 1/2″ Comb Fine/Coarse: Teeth are 1.1″ (many colors) $20

CC #005 Buttercomb 7 1/2″ Long Tooth Fine/Course: Teeth are 1 5/8″ long @ $50
Madan Alum 7.5″ Xtra Long Pins: Teeth are 1.4″ long (26 wide and 37 fine pins) $20

Other must haves: I will find comps for these CC combs in a future post

CC #006 Face & Feet Buttercomb 5″ long: Teeth are 5/8″ long (spaced at 24/inch and 12/inch)
CC #008 Tail Comb ALL FINE: 7″ long with 4″ tail: Teeth are 3/4″ long (spaced 16/inch)

Chris Christensen combs are found on their website at www.chrissytems.com
Madan combs and brushes are found onwww.toplinepet.com

Note: All fluffs as wells as their groomers have different tastes, needs and favorites. Not every SPAW treatment need be the same. Maltese Obsession is happy to share our PAWSITIVELY Perfect GO TO Grooming experiences.

Category: Ice on ICE