What it takes to be beautiful!

As those who have met Yu You will know, her hair is (usually) gorgeous, soft and cotton wool like - hence the name. However, as I have found it takes a lot of work to maintain the hair she is used to. The slightest wrong move it seems can produce a tangle which won't budge and needs to be cut out! Arrrgh! She already has a slight "hole" on her paws from earlier tangles.

The golden rule is supposedly to comb out all the tangles before getting her wet but I don't seem to have the patience for that so she goes straight in the bath. I use a special white dogs shampoo now (if you remember I spent quite a lot on "pet costmetics" recently) which is to keep her white and bright, like Daz Daniel says... It's royal blue but really does seem to work!

It takes forever to get her hair all wet through. I think I have her soaking and then I find that the hair underneath some patches are still bone dry! This is why she doesn't feel the cold on rainy days I think. Her skin isn't really soaking!

There is a right and a wrong way to wash a Coton I have found. I have to always rub the shampoo into her coat in the same direction. If I do what feels natural and rub it in a circle to get lather she will pay for it later when I am tugging at a tangle! This, as you can imagine, takes ages. It is also very horrifying how much dirt comes out of her hair! Rivers of brown water!

After she has been shampooed she gets through two towels (pat only! again no rubbing!!) and then is blow dried. This is her "Before" shot.



I used to just blow dry her for a little while and use my fingers to de-tangle but this wasn't working. It was taking forever as she has so much and such thick hair. And after 30 mins she still wouldn't be dry!

I did some research and now I spray her with Vellus anti static conditioning spray first and comb her while I dry her. The special Mason & Pearson comb is absolutely wonderful! I think I need one for myself. Yu You doesn't seem to feel the tugs as much with it. It does seem to make her hair dry faster if I am combing at the same time.

And 40 minutes (yes, 40!) later this is the finished result. Ta Da!



Looking good!

Cola...

Those who have seen Il Mare will know what I mean. No way is the dog meant to be big and brown! That would be Chro...

I wonder if she thinks the cushions are Cotons... :D

Growing Pains

I'm feeling a bit sad today as it seems Yu You is growing up and becoming more independant every day. She no longer sleeps contentedly next to me on my sofa but often jumps down to sleep on her rug or walks over the sofa arms to get to the other sofa.

She no longer sleeps in all her funny positions in my office but sleeps either at the front door (this is admittedly funny when the post comes...) or at the top of the stairs so she can see the front door and protect us.

But she does still like to sleep on top of my slippers when i am not wearing them and so I know she still wants to be near me :-)