Beards

[StillandSilent]

I don't know if this belongs in food or grooming! Neon is the first dog I've ever had with a scruffy little beard. It's absolutly adorable, but it catches food and is generally kind of stinky, no matter how clean the rest of him is.
Today, I gave him his first raw meal, and his beard got extremely gross. He is very kissy dog, and I do not want his salmonella kisses. I washed him off as best I could, but short of a full out scrub, I still feel a little skeevy about letting him kiss me.
Any tips on beard mantainence from more knowledgable people? I hate to cut it off.

[D'tailsDogGrooming]

There are several option to keeping Neon's beard salmonella free. One is to do what the show dog handlers do, wrap his beard! If its long enough, put his beard into a pony tail, and wrap the hanging air with vet wrap. This will keep it clean while he eats his food. Another option in waterless bath wipes and sprays. These do clean very well (we use them in my shop if someone goes potty after a bath), and don't require a full bath! These are sold in most Specialty stores like PetSmart and Petco. Online Ryan's Pets Supply has a very affordable wipe that works remarkably well.

Hope this helps and good luck!

~Audrey

[MericoX]

I always combed through and washed their beards afterwards. I also cut it shorter than it normally was. But yeah... schnauzers and raw kinda suck LOL