Image Credit: Well Pet Coach
There are many factors to consider when keeping your Corgi skin and coat healthy. Minimize your Corgi coat problems by getting to know your Shih Tzu needs. You can follow these basic guidelines:
Bathing Your Corgi
Bathing your Corgi too often can strip away essential body oils. Daily baths is not practical or advised. It is advised to give your Corgi a bath once every 3 weeks. But what do you do if your Corgi gets dirty within those 3 weeks (which is highly likely)?
Fortunately, there are easy ways to keep a Corgi looking very clean and smelling nice in between baths. Many of the methods to keep a Corgi clean have added benefits that contribute to good health, so this is definitely a win-win.
Keep the face clean with eye wipes when necessary.
Brush the coat on a regular basis.
Keep teeth clean with brushing, a spray, or a supplement powder and offer a dental treat once per day.
Brushing Your Corgi
Thoroughly brushing the coat every 2 to 3 days will help keep your Corgi clean by removing dirt and debris. Brushing also frees the coat of dead hairs which is an important step in keeping a dog smelling nice. Though Corgi do not shed like other breeds that have fur, hairs on the coat are always in 1 of 3 phases of a cycle: growth, rest, or fall-out. Hairs that fall out and stay in the coat end up coated in body oils, and if not removed will start to smell.
If your Corgi has medium to long hair, a pin brush with polished tips will work well. If your Corgi has a short puppy cut, a lightly compacted bristle brush is the way to go.
Cleaning Your Corgi Ears
The Corgi breed has drop ears which put them at a disadvantage compared to dogs with standup ears. Hanging ear flaps mean that dirt and debris stay in the ear and excess wax can accumulate fast. In addition, dogs with drop ears that trap moisture tend to have more frequent ear infections. Below are a couple of different options to keeping your Shih Tzu ears clean.
1. Regular use of ear wipes. With a good ear wipe, you can keep the ears clean before matter makes it way down into the ear canal. You may wonder if you can use a general grooming wipe for this; but, there are 2 main reasons that ear wipes are preferred over general wipes: 1) Wipes designed specifically for the ears, contain witch hazel which is ideal to clean the ears and 2) these wipes are only semi-damp and therefore do not introduce moisture into the ears which can lead to infections.
As often as every other day or at least once per week, take one ear wipe for each ear and clean the entire inner ear (just try not to push this down into the canal).
2. Use an ear cleanser. This is a liquid that flushes out the ear canal. If your Corgi is prone to ear infections, cleaning the ear canals every 2 to 3 weeks with a quality ear cleanser can be quite beneficial.
Place a few drops into the entrance of the ear canal, massage the base of the ear for 1 minute, and then use a clean piece of gauze, a cotton ball, or an ear wipe to swipe up any goop that comes out.
Keeping Your Corgi Face Clean
Baths alone are often not enough to keep up with facial staining. Stains under and around the eyes and sometimes down the cheeks, around the mouth, and/or on the chin can make a Corgi face look unclean.
Stains around the eyes can be due to a number of causes including additives in food, allergies, or partially blocked tear ducts. Natural tears may stain hairs at a faster rate if a dog drinks tap water that contains a high mineral count.
Other causes of stains, both around the eyes, and over the face (and particularly around the mouth and/or chin) include hairs staying wet after drinking water, eating kibble that contains artificial coloring, and/or eating or drinking from brightly colored plastic bowls.
1. Take steps to reduce stains by kibble that has no artificial coloring, use only stainless steel or ceramic bowls, and have any allergies or excessive tearing diagnosed and treated.
In addition, do not offer unfiltered tap water. Aside from possible high mineral content, tap water contains hundreds of contaminants ranging from traces of prescription medicine to known carcinogens. Instead, offer bottle spring water or invest in a filtering device.
2. Routinely wipe the face. Using a fresh wipe each time, swipe over and around the eyes, as well as down the cheeks, around the mouth, and over the chin if needed.