I will explain the grooming methods that I use on my cresteds. Everyone has their own way of grooming their powder puffs and hairless, these are just what seems to work the best for me.

GROOMING THE TRUE HAIRLESS

A true hairless, or a hairless with very little body hair can just be left "natural". I prefer the look of a clean face, so using my Oster Finishing Trimmer I shave the hair off the face. You can also use a Oster Clipper with a 30 or 40 blade on it, but I find the trimmer much easier to use as the blades are a lot smaller in width. The ears can be shaved (again I use my Oster Finishing Trimmer) or left to grow ear fringe. If it is a hl with some body hair and you want to remove the hair, going against the grain of the hair (start at the tail and work toward the head) clip off all the body hair using either a Oster clipper with a 30 or 40 blade (I prefer the 30 as I find some of my cresteds are bothered by the closeness of the 40 blade which is a surgical blade) or the Oster Finishing Trimmer. Do the same for the legs if needed. Another method of removing the hair is by using a mans electric razor, or a straight razor. First you need to apply shaving creme to the areas you need to shave if you are using a straight razor. If I am using a electric razor, I find it helpful to apply Men's Pre-Shave to the area first to help the hair stand. Some cresteds have a sensitivity to lanolin so a good rule of thumb is to avoid using products that contain lanolin. Once you have all the hair removed you need to clean the dogs ears, clip the nails and then bath. I usually apply a good quality moisturizer after bathing, especially in the winter months when the heat is on which I find tends to dry my skin out.

GROOMING A HAIRY HAIRLESS

This is what I have found works the best for me. There are many other products and ways to remove the unwanted hair from a Hairy Hairless that work well too, but this is just what I do when grooming my hairy kids.

First I take my Oster dog clippers with a 30 blade and clipping against the grain of the hair (clip from the tail to the head) I take off all the body hair that is unwanted. (This takes me about 5 minutes usually.) A lot of people use a 40 blade but I find that some of my dogs cannot tolerate that close of a blade so I prefer to use the 30. I prefer to use a Face and Feet trimmer for doing faces and ears as the blade is a lot smaller and I find it much easier for clipping those smaller areas. If I am just grooming them for everyday then I do not do anything else to them, except of course for cleaning the ears, clipping nails and tiding up the socks if needed, and then of course bathing them. After bathing and towel drying, I apply a good quality moisturizer all over. I go over my guys about every two weeks and this way they always stay "naked" looking.

If I am grooming for a show, after I have removed all the hair I can with the 30 blade, I then either use a hair removal product such as Magic, or I use a man’s electric razor.

If I am using the Magic, I always do a skin test on any dog I haven’t used the product on before just to be sure the dog isn’t going to have a reaction to it. From what I have been told, it is a very gentle product but it is always best to be safe than sorry. Follow the directions on the can for mixing the Magic Powder to the proper consistency. Magic also comes in a ready to use formula that does not require mixing. Protect all the hair (such as crest, socks and tail plume) that you do not want to remove. I usually wrap the socks and tail in Vet Wrap and pile the crest on top of the head so it stays out of the way.

***** DO NOT PUT THE MAGIC ON THE FACE OR GENITALS******

I use either a wooden popsicle stick or a plastic spoon to apply the Magic paste to the areas I want to remove the hair from. Don’t gob it on inches thick, but make sure the area is completely covered. I leave the Magic on for 5 minutes and then thoroughly rinse it off. After bathing the dog and towel drying, I apply a really good moisturizer to prevent any skin irritation. Of course you need to do the nails and clean the ears as well.

If I use my Men’s Electric Razor, I first apply Pre-Shave to the dog to help get the stubble to stand and make it easier for the shaver to remove it. Then I go over all the areas that I clipped with the 30 blade with the electric razor and remove all the stubble. Then I bath the dog, towel dry and apply the moisturizer all over and of course clip nails and clean ears.

You can also use a Bic or other straight razor with shaving cream to remove the stubble.

Just make sure that you do not use any product that contains Lanolin on your crestie as some of them are allergic to the lanolin.

GROOMING THE PET POWDER PUFF

I prefer the look of a puff with a clean face and ears but that is purely a personal opinion. If you like the look of a puff with a full face, than just make sure you tidy the hair around the eyes so it isn't causing any irritation and just leave the face natural. If the ears on your puff are standing really well than you should be able to leave the hair on the ears if you like that look. If the dogs ears aren't standing really well than I would shave the hair off the ears to keep the weight off them till then are really standing well. I prefer my puffs with shaved ears so I always shave the hair off them. Also you can either leave the coat to grow naturally or you can keep them clipped down. This is all just a personal preference and is entirely up to whatever look you prefer. First I start with clipping the face. You will need either a pair of Oster Clippers with a 30 or 40 blade (I prefer the 30 blade as the 40 can cause irritation to some dogs) or what I prefer to use is a Finishing Trimmer which has a narrower blade which is easier to work with on those smaller faces and ears. What you want to do is to remove the hair on the face and under the throat almost in a "U" shape. You want to clip the hair off the bridge of the nose and in between the eyes. Then clip the hair off the muzzle. Be careful to hold the dogs mouth closed when you are working around the mouth as they love to stick their tongues out. You want to clip the hair off the side of their face by clipping from the outside corner of the eye over to the ear and down the neck to the throat area. Clip this off in a "U" shape so that you are taking more hair off the top section by the eyes than you are down near the throat. I know this sounds really confusing but your puppy will have come to you with a clean- face so take a good look at how I have clipped the face and hopefully this will make sense once you can see what I am trying to explain. Once you have the ears and the face shaven (or just cleaned up if you prefer the full face) you need to clean the ears and trim the nails. If you decide to clip your puff's coat down, I use a 4 blade. There are also clipper sets you can buy that only have one blade but come with a set of plastic snap on combs. The larger the space between the teeth on the snap on combs the less hair will be removed from the dog. Start at the base of the neck and clip towards the tail, then the chest up to where you stopped when you clipped the face, underneath for the belly and underarms, then the legs and feet. I take the hair off of about 1/3 of the top of the tail just for a cleaner look. Don't forget to tidy under the tail to keep everything moving smoothly Then you are ready to bath the dog. You can either towel dry and just leave the dog to dry naturally or you can use your hand held blow dryer to dry them off, this again is a matter of personal preference. If you prefer to keep the hair natural, then either clip the face and ears or just tidy them. Puff coats are actually quite easy to care for and do not mat nearly as easily as many long haired breeds. I use a greyhound comb (it is a metal comb with two sizes of teeth, fine at one end and wider spaced teeth at the other end) to comb through the coat and also a good quality pin brush. Make sure when you are brushing that you get right down to the skin other wise you are just brushing the top layer of hair and not getting the hair underneath which is what mats. Brush the whole dog out and make sure there are no tangles in the coat. You will find when you puppy is going through his teething stage at around 5 or 6 months and when he is loosing his puppy coat and getting his adult coat you might have to brush him everyday as his coat will be more apt to mat at this time. But don't worry it only lasts a couple of weeks. Once you have your puppy brushed out then you are ready to bath. Cresteds don't shed and don't have a doggy odor which is fantastic. I use a conditioner on my puffs that are in full coat. Different products work better for different people. It depends on the type of water you have, the humidity etc. just like your own hair so it's a case of experimenting to find which one you like best. Just remember to rinse and rinse and rinse again. The biggest mistake most people make it not rinsing all the shampoo and conditioner out of their dogs coat. Then use a towel to get the excess water out of the coat, then comb through the coat to make sure there are no tangles or snarls and then you are ready to dry the coat. You can use your hand held blow dryer or there are special dog dryers you can buy. You want to start at one end of the dog and comb through the coat while you are drying it. If a part of the coat is dry when before you get to it, just spritz the area with a spray bottle full or water. You can damage a coat by dry brushing. Not really as much of a problem for a pet crested but certainly not something that you want to have happen to your show dog.