COAT CONDITIONERS - DO THEY REALLY WORK?

A few days ago on one of the lists that I belong to people were talking about coat conditioners. Some like one product while others preferred another product. Like in anything in life, some products may work for some of us and another product works for the rest of us. Manufactures will pay advertising companies millions of dollars to come up with the right adjectives to entice the consumer to buy their products. When it comes to show dog people, the majority of those products are bought by us. Buy this shampoo, use this coat conditioner, spray this product, and add this supplement to your dog’s food. You too will have a dog that walks into the show ring ready to blow the competition away. But do they really work? Well yes and no.

Last year I did an article right here on this blog about some coat conditioning products. I tried to review some of the more popular products that show dog people use and like. They must all work to some of your satisfaction or you wouldn’t be buying them. But I’m here to say that there is no “Miracle in a bottle!” Why do people buy these products? Well they’re looking for their dogs to have a healthy, shiny coat and then there are some that are hoping that it will give their dog a longer, plusher coat.

Before any coat conditioning product can do anything at all for your dog, your dog needs to be healthy inside. He needs to be fed a good quality food. He needs to be free from worms and other diseases. What’s going on inside your dog will show up on the outside as well.

One of the most important factors in what a dogs coat will look like is his genetics. It always amazes me when people look to buy a product that will change the length of their dogs coat or give their dog a plush coat rather than a shorter, drier type of coat. It “ain’t” going to happen.

Most people know that I sell Vibrant Pets Ultimate Formula supplements. Although it has flaxseed and omegas listed in its ingredients to help enhance the condition of your dog’s skin and coat, I never sell this product as a coat conditioner. Rather I sell it as a HEALTH conditioner. My feelings are, healthy insides makes for a healthy outside (skin and coat). That said one time a large kennel bought this product from me because her dogs all were hard, dry type of animals. She expected by using this product that she would get lush, plush coated animals. This didn’t happen. Neither I nor anyone else could ever make that statement about a product. Why is that? Because if it isn’t in the genetics of your dog to have a longer, plusher coat, then all the top products in the world is not going to give it to them.

Genetics is what determines the length and pushiness of a dog’s coat. Not a supplement or a spray or shampoo. What a top product can do is give your dog a healthier, shinier, fuller looking coat. And some of the shampoos and conditioners can even “fatten” the hair shaft of the dogs coat to make it look fuller. What these good products do is ENHANCE what “mother nature” gave to him. How a groomer grooms a dog can also make the dog appear to have a fuller coat. But if it isn’t in the dogs genetics to be plush, then he never will be.

I was a licensed skin care specialist (esthetician) for many years. I’ve sold some of the most expensive skin care on the market. Did it mean that the $100 jar of cream was going to be better than the $20 jar of cream? Well like in anything else in life, something being more expensive isn’t necessarily better. Ingredients are the key factor to look for in a product. Some products will definitely do more for you than another product will. That said, not everyone that buys an expensive product will go from an overly oily complexion to a soft, dewy complexion. Products can help correct some things, but it won’t change what a person has a predisposition for. The same things are true for dog coat products. If products could change our hair and skin, then Prince William who is a very nice looking young man in my opinion would be able to afford to buy the best hair conditioners on the market. He like his father before him is losing his hair and probably will have a bald spot on his head like his father as well. It’s in his genetics.

What I’m trying to say is that don’t expect to get a longer coat on your dog by using a product. The only way that you will get the kind of coat that you want it be is by breeding to it and incorporating it in your bloodlines. Oh sure some of the better products will make your dogs coat look beautiful, healthy and shiny too. But looking to add length or add a plush coat……then breed to it. If they ever make a product that guarantees these attributes, then I want it for my hard, dry bitches and I want to sell it!

My rating:  Vibrant Pets Supplement:  (4), good quality coat conditioners and shampoos: (4)