English Toy Terriers have short, glossy coats that don’t need a huge amount of maintenance compared with longer coated dog breeds, but they do still need a coat-care regime.
As part of your dog’s regular health check and grooming regime make sure you examine their coat and skin, checking for any loss of hair, changes in coat condition, cuts or grazes, signs of redness or irritation, and of course for parasites.
Regular “Brushing”
While English Toy Terriers have short coats, they still benefit from being “brushed”, or their coats wiped over with a grooming mitt or a soft cloth. This helps to remove loose hair and dirt, and it also helps to distribute natural oils through the skin and coat, helping to maintain good condition.
Cleaning & Bathing
The short coat of an English Toy Terrier is relatively easy to keep clean. Muddy walks can usually be wiped away easily with a damp towel, or with wet wipes – choose baby wipes, or wipes for sensitive skin, preferably the flushable kind which are kinder to the environment.
Bathing obviously keeps dogs clean and removes dirt, allergens, and odours. However, over-bathing can strip natural oils and dry out the skin so English Toy Terriers are usually fine with a bath every couple of months.
When bathing your English Toy Terrier, make sure that you use only lukewarm water – too hot and it will strip too much oil from your dog’s skin and coat, as well as making your dog uncomfortable or scalding them, and too cold will make it an unpleasant experience for your dog.
ETTs are easy enough to pop in a sink or a bathtub to hose down with a hand-shower. Use a good quality, specially formulated dog shampoo – there are many to choose from. Favourites in the show world include the range by Plush Puppy which includes a Sensitive Skin Shampoo and the range by Artero. Always rinse the shampoo from their coat thoroughly.
Towel dry your dog until they are touch dry – most English Toy Terriers love being rubbed down with a soft towel and enjoy this bit the most. If you feel your dog’s coat needs help with condition, use a light conditioning spray and work it into their coat. A brilliant option is Olive Oil Nourishing Sheen Spray for human hair (inexpensive and available in supermarkets, pharmacies and cosmetics stores) but there are many options available on the market.
Food & Nutrition
The foundation to a healthy coat is diet – take a look at the info on Food & Nutrition to ensure that you are feeding your English Toy Terrier a complete and balanced diet so that they are getting all of the nutrients that they need.
Natural oils such as Salmon Oil for dogs are particularly good supplements for improving and maintaining coat condition, plus Salmon Oil is full of Omegas too.
Parasites and Mange
English Toy Terriers are susceptible to the Demodex Mite which causes Demodectic Mange. Symptoms include localized hair loss, red or inflamed skin, scaling or crusting, and patches of thickened skin. Make sure your English Toy Terrier has a rigorous parasite prevention regime.
Coat-care is one the essential grooming tasks required to ensure your dog’s health and well-being along with a regular health check, dental care, nail care and ear cleaning.