Cleaning the canine creature from the black lagoon
By Phyllis DeGioia
August 2, 2009
I heard the splashing but couldn’t see him. The creek at my sister’s 35-acre hobby farm runs through the lower field, where Dodger loves to run at rocket speed and Ginger follows me, but not as closely as usual.
Imagine my surprise when a nearly solid brown dog emerged from the silty muck in which he had immersed himself. When he shook to clean himself, he didn’t lighten in color. He sprayed a lot of dark gunk, but he hardly seemed to have gotten any off. He was encased nose to tail in silt and looked for all the world like an amphibian creature from the Black Lagoon, or possibly a German shorthaired pointer with a fluffy tail and feathering. Silt is not mud; mud is dirt and water. Silt is a fine, loose sedimentary material with tiny rock particles, and sometimes clay. Wikipedia defines it as ”soil or rock derived granular material of a grain size between sand and clay,” which hardly gets across how gross it is when your dog has just gone swimming in it.
Let’s just say silt has far more staying power than mere mud. My brother-in-law David hosed him off while I held him in place. The water kept running brown and he was still mostly brown all over.
We took him inside to the stall area meant for washing dog’s muddy feet. At my house, I have several types of dog shampoo. But since they haven’t had any dogs for a while, the only thing available that wasn’t meant for humans and human pH (which are too harsh for dogs) was a horse shampoo. Sometimes you just have to make do with what you have. At least we didn’t need mane detangler. After a lot of horse shampoo and a lot of rinsing, he became his mostly white self with his usual black peeking out.
By a lot of rinsing, I mean rinsing until you think all of the shampoo has to be out and then continue to rinse. Left-in shampoo will irritate the skin, although I suspect shampoo left in a coat wouldn’t be as irritating as silt left in. Dog shampoo is supposed to keep the natural oils in a dog’s coat yet still be strong enough to get out the dirt (or silt, which is a tall order). I don’t care for the shampoo bars that are becoming popular – I feel like I don’t get enough shampoo going soon enough, but many of the nifty organic shampoos come in bar form. 
My favorite-smelling dog shampoo is Fosters & Smith’s puppy shampoo that smells like baby powder – the others that say they smell like baby powder always smell awful to me. Fosters & Smith have given it a new label and name since I’ve purchased it so I hope it still smells the same. The label indicates you can use it on horses so maybe I should leave some at my sister’s farm so we can continue to share. I don’t think I need to bring out the whitening shampoo, but maybe that’s good for silt removal.
Dodger’s coat feels normal, and he is once again a white and black dog (blue belton, in English setter lingo). I may nonetheless have nightmares about a certain creature from a certain lagoon. I wonder if the creature shakes off silt when he gets out of the lagoon.
Aroma of Silt is something to behold as well. In some situations, it’s downright putrid.
As for shampoos, I luvluvluv the Tropiclean line (yup, the whole line, although I find the Berry variety a bit strong out of the bottle without dilution). Their new green packaging is a plus, too. My other fave is NuHemp, but I don’t like the smell as much.
The Bed Head brand has a new line out too (called Pet Head) - I’m not too big on the shampoo (I prefer something more natural) but their sprays smell like a mix between candy and heaven. :O)
Comment by Kim — August 2, 2009 @ 12:57 pm
Ooops, probably should have told you that all setters LOVE mud. And silty muck was probably the EUREKA find for the day for him.
Dodger’s long ago foster mom
Comment by LB Johnson — August 2, 2009 @ 2:49 pm
My favorite for a clean, fresh smell is #1 All Systems:
http://www.petedge.com/catalog.....91568f0552
I don’t use it full strength - I dilute it one part shampoo to four parts water, and apply it using the “stream” setting from a spray bottle so that it gets right down to the skin.
And it rinses really, really clean.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — August 2, 2009 @ 2:50 pm
I like the idea of using the stream setting to get to the skin. Never thought of that. Of course on Pit Bulls it doesn’t take much. Good idea though.
Comment by Our Pack — August 2, 2009 @ 9:39 pm
It makes a HUGE difference on a double-coated breed such as a Sheltie. But even with a short-haired smooth coat, I would think it could be helpful to get the soap down INTO the coat rather than running right off the surface (particularly if you’re trying to break down the mucky silt on the Creature from the Black Lagoon! LOL!)
Comment by The OTHER Pat — August 2, 2009 @ 9:59 pm
OTHER Pat is soooo right - for a dog with any hair, dilute the shampoo - even non-concentrated shampoos, they will actually work better when diluted because… well I don’t know why but they do. Plus they will be much faster and easier to rinse out - no “glops” of shampoo anywhere.
For dogs with short, smooth coats use an old washcloth! If the dog isn’t very dirty you don’t even need to wet him down first. Wet the washcloth, put on a squirt of soap, squoosh it until it lathers up and go to it. The washcloth picks up loose hair and dirt and you’ll be done in no time. Rinsing is easier too. And if you do like a bar soap (personally I don’t know why anyone would!) then the washcloth will make it work.
Comment by Barb — August 2, 2009 @ 11:41 pm
Shampoo bars are popular with folks who make homemade soap (the chemistries are different for doing solid form soap than for liquid form soap) and I suppose doing dog shampoo bars becomes another way to get into the “market”. Plus, I can see where there could be an appeal to how much easier it is to store a solid bar than a bottle of liquid - particularly if you travel.
I’ve also been a bit puzzled about how to really make them work effectively, and Barb’s washcloth idea addresses that nicely. Although I still think the idea is going to work more effectively for a smooth, short coat than for a long one . . . . . . . .
Comment by The OTHER Pat — August 3, 2009 @ 5:05 am
I see where a washcloth would help with a shampoo bar, but I just don’t like them. Takes too long. A shampoo bar would NEVER have worked fast enough on the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I never thought of the stream setting either, but it sure makes sense.
My brother-in-law is the only reason I know about the Creature…when I was a kid he’d chase me around the pool talking about the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — August 3, 2009 @ 6:18 am
I use Dr. Bronner’s on my Boxer. It lathers up just fine and rinses really well, but I don’t know how it would work for serious dirt, because Miss PrissyPants does *not* get dirty. Ever.
I used to use liquid, but have switched to bar form, because it requires less packaging and is more compact for transport, so it’s easier on the environment.
Comment by Shelly — August 3, 2009 @ 10:06 am