Need Some Help and/or Tips for My Doggo

[mcstar]

Hi everyone! Just a couple quick questions that I'm unsure of. My dog is a mix of something, something, and probably several other things, we have no idea lol. He has different hair on different parts of his body. Around his shoulders he has much thicker and longer hair (the white area in the picture), then it gets shorter as you move to his behind area. His front paws legs have very long hair, he has longer/wiry hair on his chest, and he has short hair on his face, with very long hairs on his cheek.

My questions:

Should I be trimming the hair on his front feet and legs? (his back legs have short hair, so no issue there)

Should I be using a different brush on his thicker shoulder hair?

And should I be trimming the hairs on his face? This last one is a point of contention between me and my fiance, because she thinks it's cure, and I think we should trim it. It doesn't bother him, and it always sits just as it is in the picture so it's never in the way or anything.

I'm not a professional by any means so I was hoping to get some suggestions. All suggestions are appreciated!

Front paws:

https://imgur.com/WftyGjP

White hair around shoulders:

https://imgur.com/GUqeEgc

Front paws:

https://imgur.com/WftyGjP

Chest Area:

https://imgur.com/5DeS20j

Full bodies in a couple angles for a better view of the long/short thing going on:

https://imgur.com/zJsfR8p

https://imgur.com/dK5ioul
https://imgur.com/2fSgtr6

PS: Sorry for the long post. I always set out to make a short one but want to include all the info/pics possible. Thanks again!

edit: Is there a certain shampoo we should be using? We use oatmeal because it's supposed to be better for his skin and if we don't add salmon oil to his food he gets dandruff really bad so we assume his skin is easily irritated.

 

[zach2]

@mcstar From what I can tell from the pictures, hair like that is in no need of trimming unless it's causing some kind of discomfort/problem. I'd say it'd be a pure "for the look" thing if you decided to get it trimmed.

A rubber curry brush seems like it would be fine for most of the brushing since he's so short, with either a soft slicker or a comb for the longer shoulder scruff depending on how long it really is/if it actually mats or otherwise accumulates dead coat. If it's not that dense/doesn't tangle, the curry brush could potentially be enough for it, too.

 

[mcstar]

@zach2 Cool. Thank you.

We actually use a rubber curry brush on him sometimes at my fiance's mom's house. He likes it fine and it seems to get a lot of hair out. We'll have to get one for home. We already have a slicker brush, but I use it on all of him. I'll switch to using the slicker on the thicker/longer/wiry hair and a rubber curry on the shorter stuff.

Thanks for the input!

 

[yabu]

@mcstar Your pup has wiry hair. It can probably be hand stripped.

 

[mcstar]

@yabu When I was googling I thought he might, but it seemed wiry hair was only on dogs that don't shed. Looks like I may have to find a pro for that though. Or get to video watching and practicing lol.

Thanks for the input!

 

[jared185bingham]

@mcstar Oh your dog is SO cute! I would keep his hair natural, personally, I think he has such a cute scruffy look. Maybe trim his front feet to keep them clean if he tracks mud or anything. His hair shouldn’t grow past the current length, but if you were to cut it down it should grow back to the same length without any issue.

What kind of brush are you using for him currently? How is the texture of his shorter hair? Wiry also, or more smooth?

Oatmeal shampoo can be helpful for dry skin like that, but the most important thing IMO is to use a conditioner in addition to any shampoo. My dog has dandruff-y dry skin too and I use Nature’s Specialties Colloidal Oatmeal shampoo and Creme Rinse conditioner on her. I like the smell too

 

[mcstar]

@jared185bingham Thank you! My fiance will be thrilled to see people saying not to cut his long facial hair lol.

To answer your questions, every once in I while I use a Slicker Brush (googled it and I think that's right, thin metal wires, push it down to "eject the hair"). I admittedly don't brush him much.

The texture of his shorter hair is softer than the longer hair for sure. His wirey hair by his shoulders is definitely "fluffy" underneath, like there is an undercoat of finer hair or something like that.