The Role of Water In Canine Skin & Coat Health

Water is a fundamental facet of the grooming process, and yet it is commonly overlooked for its value and effectiveness. It gently cleanses, exfoliates and moisturizes skin and hair coat.

Water is expressly important to the overall health and vitality of not only the inside of all living beings, but to the outside as well.

Water, in its simplest form, is the most natural and safest vehicle for removal of pathogens and debris from canine coat

By Christein Sertzel

and the best source for adding moisture to the canine skin.

If we don’t consider the role of water in pet grooming, aside from its mechanical use to remove shampoo and dirt from coat, we would come up short. Water is the very foundation of the grooming process, just as paint is foundation of the painter and canvas.

WATER CHEMISTRY

Contrary to popular belief water is not pure. Unless a salon has a large filtration system in place, the water from shower heads, in shampoo and topical dilution bottles, and the water applied to the skin of pets all contain microorganisms and trace elements. Environmental changes such as heavy rains, drought, and changes in water table tapping all affect the makeup of water we use in pet grooming. Even the pipes of your water system can add elements to the water before you use it. Trace elements, chemicals and microorganisms in your bathing water can superficially permeate pet skin. The content of your water affects what and how pet skin absorbs. The content of your water affects the ability of the topicals you apply and which you expect to perform their manufactured purposes. As a result, your shampoo dilution rate may change. The outcome of your product may change simply based on your Softened water is likely to provide optimal performance with many shampoos or topicals when you compare the results of using them with well or city water from a tap. These sources are often hard, or contain trace elements.

Don’t overlook how you clean and sanitize your shampoo dilution bottles, mixing bottles and your entire shampoo or hydro-dilution system, may leave residues that affect your water quality. Also there is the issue of proper sanitizing of these systems and bottles, and any resi

dues left in the process.

Anaerobic and aerobic bacteria grows in diluted shampoos, and on the inside of bottles, hoses and fittings through which water and shampoo passes. Shampoo, conditioner and other liquid topicals are a feedstock for secondary bacteria to utilize. Once water is added to any bottled shampoo or liquid concentrate, the product’s storage and shelf life becomes quite short. Breaking the seal can also shorten shelf life, but not as greatly when water is added.

Bacteria can quickly and aggressively populate the surface of such areas and grow into various molds, fungus and secondary bacteria colonies as well. This petrie dish environment is where skin infections like furunculosis begin. It takes your diligent attention to cleanliness to avoid these possibilities and enjoy optimum performance from product for skin and coat beauty and health. WATER TEMPERATURE The temperature of water affects the comfort of pets. It also affects every pets ability to absorb and moisturize. Warm used during the shampoo process (using warm water to dilute your shampoo for application upon the coat) helps to beef up the cleansing ability of your surfactant formula. It helps by liquefying congealed sebum build up and You are likely to use a variety of water temperature settings for any given pet client based on their needs. Overall, the bathing water for a pet with no open sores or medical issues should always

hot and it irritates and drys skin. It may

cause heat stress reactions in pets such as listlessness, swaying, unsteadiness

and drowsy expressions. oil-based dirt on hair shafts and skin.

Bath (with shampoo) water is the warmest temperature. Subsequent rinses should progressively be adjusted cooler. Water for rinsing conditioners from the coat should be the coolest.

Here are some reminders. Water warm enough upon your skin that you would use to bathe in is far too warm for a canine. Water that feels quite warm should never be applied to open, irritated or aggravated skin as it will enhance pain skin and likely worsen symptoms due to damaged or sensitized epidermal nerve endings.

Water temperature when treating skin symptoms certainly affects benefits upon the skin, or just the opposite.

The process of temperature change be

gins with using the appropriate warmth to both dilate or open the follicles or pores, and increase circulation and plump up the skin. Thereby you more easily release lodged sebum and oilbased dirt on skin and hair surfaces.

be tepid-warm. Hot water (but not scald

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Warm water helps tp swell and lift built up dead skin cells of the stratum corneum and aids dead hair up and out from the dilated follicle cup, and to help lift the hair cuticle depending solely on topical pH levels. Cool water used as the final rinse calms epidermal nerve endings which can help alleviate generalized itching. It also helps to congeal skin oil and set the topical coat conditioners upon the skin.

SOAKS AND WRAPS

Cool temperatures on the skin helps Soaks can soften layers of buildup. It is constrict blood vessels and capillaries best to do these soaks warm and adand tighten the skin sealing moisture justed to a pet’s needs and age. For exwithin the skin, and to help seal active ample, older or ill dogs, pregnant or 32 Copyright © 2013 Find A Groomer Inc. All rights reserved ingredients on hair shaft. Subscribe www.egroomer.com (Continued on page 33)

nursing females, should not be allowed to have an elevated core temperature so that the pet does not become chilled.

When applying an oil treatment where appropriate use a warm rinse prior to application making the skin more open to treatment, and then a warm towel wrap for maximum absorption. Do not leave pets alone at any time during treatments. Stay with them in the tub. Monitor their comfort and reactions. Pets should remain alert. PRESSURE AND FLOW Coat hairs grow at an oblique or slanting angle to skin. The water flow you apply has an optimal direction potential. The force of the water on the skin of the pet is important too. Force can alter the lay of the coat and applies pressure to the arrector pili muscle and phylosebacous unit in general. Therefore, apply rinse water through the coat in the direction you also you wish the coat to lay. lay of coat even though they typically have a more lax arrector pili reaction. Furnished dogs can be rinsed with the growth of coat on the jacket, and against the coat growth on the furnishings.

Stand up coats can be rinsed against the growth of coat. For double-coated dogs, rinsing with the growth of coat but using an elevated water pressure will help to lift up and out dead packed coat

if the skin beneath is healthy. Warning. The pressure of the water application can be abrasive and damaging to irritated skin and brittle coats if the pressure is set too high. Use less pressure and higher volume of water when rinsing coats. Pressure set too high will not only irritate skin, but potentially press pathogens more deeply into hair follicles and cause possible undesired reactions.

Squeezing hair with the shower spray held closely to the coat is safest, with minimal aggressive rubbing since hair is most vulnerable when it is wet and elas

Drop-coated dogs can be rinsed with the tic. Water is an effective and gentle tool for canine skin and coat health. Let water pressure and flow be one of the tools you have at your disposal to more easily achieve your goals to optimize skin &