Kona’s Care Routine: Tips and Tools

Updated: March 10, 2021

The most common question we get from fellow and prospective Coton pawrents is how we keep Kona so clean. Since there are a lot of resources where you can find expert grooming tips, I’d like to share the products and tools that work well for Mr. KB and a bit more about his grooming routine.

Cotons have a special “cottony” coat, which can be challenging to maintain if you don’t have the right tools. While they are hypoallergenic and classified as non-shedding, hairs do come loose when you brush/comb them. This is something we didn’t expect when we adopted Kona so I thought it would be helpful to mention here.

“You know you’re a dog parent when you spend more time on your pup’s grooming than your own.”

Grooming Essentials:

We do extensive research before buying any products or tools, but there’s no better way to know if something works well until you try it! While humans may love the smell of citrus or floral scented shampoos and colognes, strong scents like these can make many pups uncomfortable. This isn’t surprising considering dogs have between 150 and 300 million olfactory cells. When possible, we opt for fragrance free.

• Slicker brush

• Fine tooth buttercomb (large for body, small for face)

• Pin brush

• Absorbent towel

• Professional hair dryer

• Body shampoo

• Tear free shampoo (for face)

• Conditioner

• Detangler (these days we’ve been using corn starch)

• Spray bottle

• Fragrance free baby wipes

• Cotton pads

• Distilled vinegar

• Enzymatic toothpaste

• Toothbrush or finger toothbrush (either for dog or baby will work)

• Paw balm (soother and protection)

• Ear cleanser

Optional:

• Nail trimmer

• Grooming scissors

• Electric clippers

Goodbye Puppy Coat:

We were halfway through this challenging phase when we learned about Cotons “blowing” their undercoat. Cotons are a double-coated breed. Between the ages of approximately 8-12 months, they undergo a change from their puppy coat to their adult coat, where they lose (or blow) their undercoat. This change creates matting and I must say it took a lot of dedication and perseverance to get through it. The key is to keep the coat clean and brush daily during this process.

Daily Routine:

Kona is an active pup with a mid-length coat so we have to stay on top of his grooming to prevent matting. We clean his eyes and face and also brush and comb him down to the skin on a daily basis. Wet eye gunk smears so we simply let the eye boogies harden and use clean hands to gently remove the crusties from the eye area. In addition to wiping his mouth with a wet towel after each meal, we also brush his teeth every night before bed — this helps minimise staining from his saliva and other gunky buildup. We use C.E.T: Enzymatic Vanilla-Mint Flavour Toothpaste and also give Kona dental chews or soft bones, which help reach any spots we missed. Cotons (and small breeds in general) are susceptible to cavities, so if you haven’t built this into your pup’s care routine we highly recommend starting *TODAY*.

Depending on how dirty Kona gets after each walk (he gets several a day) we will either wipe his paws and sani area with a 1:1 water/vinegar solution and fragrance free baby wipes OR he’ll get a warm-water paw and sani rinse with the help of some mild shampoo if needed. We’ve recently been using After trying out several “dog towels” we found that The Absorber towels did the best job at soaking up excess water and cutting down drying time.

*Pro tip: Always pat dry. DO NOT RUB or you will have one very large knot in your arms.  

Our favourite and most used tools are: Chris Christensen's oblong pin brush (27mm), fine/coarse buttercomb and small A5II Mark II Slicker. It's also important to have a good hair dryer that has a low heat setting. We let Kona air dry for about 10-15 minutes (and do his crazy wet dog routine) before we finish with combing and low heat drying. Coton hair will crimp, curl, and mat if you let air dry. We love our Dyson Supersonic hair dryer because it is quiet, efficient and has various gentle heat and wind settings.

Weekly:

We apply Paw Soother and Musher’s Secret to Kona’s paws weekly, or as needed. Kona loves the taste of his all natural balms. With a little bit of guidance (telling him to “leave it”) Kona’s now a pro at getting pawdicures.

*Pro tip: To prevent losing too much balm put baby socks on all four paws to give it time to do its magic.

Bathing:

Depending on how much park or beach time he gets we give Kona a full bath anywhere from once a week to once a month. If he’s not muddy and we’ve only been to the beach we’ll let him dry naturally — the sand usually falls off after a good shake and a little fine-tooth combing. And at the end of a beach day he’ll get a warm water rinse. If he’s a little muddy we’ll use some mild shampoo — we love The Hair Wash, by Rowan, a clean shampoo made from naturally-derived formulas made with clean ingredients. The Hair Wash has a light coconut scent, which Kona absolutely loves and it leaves his hair soft and silky. We use South Bark's Blueberry Facial for his beard and paws and Burt’s Bees (for puppies) Tearless Shampoo with Buttermilk for his head and face, along with a conditioner to help protect the coat.

*Pro tip: Always brush and comb out any debris (leaves, twigs, burs, etc.) before bathing. Your back will thank you for this and so will your pup!

We spend more time grooming Kona than we do ourselves, but once you’ve developed a good routine maintaining a healthy coat isn’t as daunting as it may seem. Not to mention, we love the extra bonding time we get with Kona.

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Updated: March 10, 2021