Shampoo for wire coated breeds?

Are there any special things to consider when grooming a wire coated dog? I know my friend with collies has to be careful shampooing her show dogs too close to a show otherwise the shampoo makes their coats too soft and incorrect.

Is that an issue with wire haired dogs?

JRT people will not bathe the dogs any time leading up to a trial. You can tell the dog who work in 'red' earth as they will have a red tinge to them in the show ring.

Clean and soft is not cool in the JRT world. (but is cool in my world if you want to sleep in my bed)

lol, thanks Dekka.

Most people I know with harder coated breeds do little besides rinse and blow out most of the time and leave the shampooing for either the off-season or when the dogs have rolled in something foul.

We might be shampooing on the more often side then, because if we get the dog he'll be exercising in the vicinity of cow patties and a beach.

Lol...this made me giggle a little. Milo's certainly not a show dog and half the time I just wash him with my herbal essence...and occasionally conditioner. Otherwise it's just basic deodorizing dog shampoo. My shampoo doesn't seem to irriate his skin so I've been using that. It kind of makes him look like a JRT with the coat of cocker spaniel, but I don't care. I like my dog's hair like I like my guy's hair, soft and curly and yummy smelling...he doesn't need a wirey coat to protect him from rats or briars or rain or anything, he can wear his suede jacket for that

Don't use a shampoo that contains a conditioner if you want to keep a hard coat. We do this for Terriers (especially ones going to a show) and the Newf's etc we don't use a shampoo with conditioner especially if they are going to a show. There are times for conditioners but not that often on some coats, most times we have a conditioner in a spray bottle for spot on treatments. We have also groomed Collie's day before a show and kept proper coat.

Yes there is a wiry coat shampoo available from Bio-Groom - I have seen it in the DezynaDog catalogue. It is a texturising shampoo which makes the coat extra crisp to enhance this coat type