Doodle Beard and "Butt" Hygiene

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

I don't know about all of you but I'm keeping the baby wipe manufacturers in business.......Anyone else with hygeine issues, experiences or suggestions?

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

I started shaving beards & butts. With 2 doodles, I was washing the floor around the water bowls 50 times a day. The same with butts. With a home cooked diet, the poops tend towards the softer side and I was washing hineys a couple times a day. Shaving makes life easier. Maybe not the cutest, but definately easier.

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

I feed Blake a home cooked diet too...between that and his bouts of IBS things can get messy.....Even if I shave the butt area, we end up with what Adina calls "dingleberries.." Thank goodness for baby wipes with aloe!.....

The beard is a pain!..but I love the furry face......Twice a day I wipe it with a warm cloth and comb it out.....Blake HATES when I do this.....but again with the home cooked meals ( and all that rabbit poop that he is OBSESSED with consuming) it's sooooo necessary.

[Adina P]

Rosco is my only constant stinky beard and occasionally STINKY butt dog.
I ignore his beard, but will spray some vinegar water onto a cloth and rub it in to de-stink when I can't bathe him. Sometimes I'll just use a wet cloth and wipe, rinse cloth, wipe, rinse cloth and finish with the vinegar/water wipe.

As far as butts...there was this period of a few months where it seemed he was stinky there a couple days a week. I think he's had an anal gland issue because there have been times when it was unbearably stinky and even a scrub in the tub butt wash barely helped. I have a doggy perfume made of herbs I've even sprayed around his booty when it was bad and he had a therapy appt!

Otherwise, I keep stink at bay by keeping his butt area trimmed so it doesn't become a breeding ground for cling-on dingleberries!

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Adina...the vinegar is a great idea!...I'm going to try it....I love the cling-on- dingleberries comment!..........I too have a doggy perfume ( Blake hates that too...and will immediately go out and roll in something disgusting the second I spray him.) He's very mouthy and loves to kiss so the dirty stinky beard has to be kept clean constantly...

[Adina P]

I'm not too fond of the vinegar aroma...but it's an aroma magnitudes better than stinky beard :-)

[Tammy]

I am soooo scared to trim around her girl parts !! I do trim her beard though.

[Adina P]

It's not too bad. I just make sure I do it ONLY right after a bath so I know Rosco or Thule is clean in those parts that way I can maneuver around that area with my hands to safeguard from cutting either dog. Also if you use clippers even safer.

[Marcia Stevens]

My Kodie girl had the runs after her spaying...and, had the "Kling-ons" syndrome....very nasty..! I was having to wash her bottom area with warm tea tree water....since then, I've kept that area a bit "mowed" down...everyonce in awhile I'll notice a Kling-on, and have to repeat the warm water routine. She has been having firm stools lately...so, that is "good thing"...

[1v200f3rbrnxk]

I trim Max's beard to 1/2in so when he drinks and comes to rest his head in my lap I am not looking like i peed my pants. I also trim him and peanut's rear with scissors when it gets too long.

I have found a paper towel wet with warm water for the few "cling-ons" works wonders and YES vinegar mixed with water will rid beards and rears of odors. the smell of vinegar dissappears once dry.

[Adina P]

You're right...the vinegar aroma dissipates quite quickly!

[2szvsb7hzygcy]

Luckily we've had no problem with butt hygiene, however, in our hot Houston weather...we keep them trimmed to an inch or two all over in summer...a little longer in winter.

With my Snickers, her beard started changing color at about a year old...what had been a lighter apricot was getting darker and smelling a tad sour from time to time. I noticed she had a habit of licking her beard a lot too...so I set out trying to keep the area clean...spraying a light mixture of water and soap and then rinsing. LOL!!! She hated it. Can't say I blame her. But then when summer came and she was getting in the pool all the time, I noticed that the beard wasn't sour anymore (I guess by getting cleaned through pool play), but the color didn't change. I've since figured out that she just has darker hair on her beard. I do like the idea of mixing a little vinegar and water and combing that through. Seems like it would resolve the odor problem for sure, and it's not harmful to her...the vinegar should actually be a bit softening on the hair, being an alkaline substance.

Dooley doesn't have any of these problems. But he doesn't lick his beard at all. (Valri)