Coat Maintenance of a komondor

The Basics : Regular Care

The hair of a Komondor is never brushed or combed, as this would make it impossible to form the curls required for it to cord.

  

With regular care, the coat of a Komondor is not hard to keep. I would like to start by dispelling the rumour of the coat smelling, as a well kept coat will not smell.

 

The cords are formed by gently ripping the hair down to the skin, I have always only used my hands to complete this exercise.

 

The cord width can, ultimately be determined by you. When choosing a width keep in mind that they tend to shrink more as the dog gets older, therefore do not have them too thin at the start or they will fall out. Especially in a young dog it is better to have them thicker, as you can always split them further as the dog grows. Cords should be thickest along the topline and thinnest on the paws, beard and head. Some people choose to keep the head of their Komondor shaved to prevent the dirty beards and to be able to see their eyes, a Komondor with a shaved face can not be shown during conformation.

 

As a guideline to how thick the cords should begin, try to use the width of your thumb and forefinger when pressed together as an idea of the width for along the back, neck, chest and thighs, while on the lower legs and face you can use just the width of your thumb. Try to never create cords any thinner than your thumb as it is these cords which will inevitably fall out before they become fully grown.

 

In my time of having Komondor I have never had a Komondor show any signs of discomfort of their hair irritating their eyes or irritating them in general, When young and the hair starts to matt quickly I tie the hair over their eyes up during the day for a few hours, however some do not appreciate this and will often scratch and roll until they get the hair band out.

 

The hardest places to complete the cording progress is on the ears and tail, the ear leather of Komondor tends to be very thin and can be torn easily if you pull too hard or the dog jerks away, I urge caution when working with their hair in sensitive places.

The tail can be difficult to split, I always work it very slowly as this is one area where if the hair comes out as you rip it does not grow back quickly or at all and can often leave bald patches or 'missing pieces' as the dog grows. Do not stress if the tail becomes slightly matted for a period of time as long as the dog is not showing any discomfort as I would prefer this over it becoming bald especially in young dogs. I then gently start from the top to rip foundations for the cords, and have had success in doing this with a dog who was over a year old before having his tail worked.

 

The only places I have ever trimmed the hair on my Komondor is minimally around the genitals.

 

Drying Of A Komondor

The most timely part of the bathing experience is the drying progress which follows. There are a few methods to choose from when it comes to drying;

 

Wet & Dry Vacuum - This is our favourite method for the adult Komondorok, it is able to suck the cords dry while also helping to get out any hard to move dirt or grass seeds which were not removed during the bath itself. The vacuum for us has never damaged or ripped out any of the cords and has massively sped up the drying progress to as little as a day and a half.

 

Cage Drying - It is important to first note the cage dryer being used should preferably be blowing in  regular or cold air to prevent the dog from overheating, furthermore I advise using it for only half an hour to an hour at a time before giving the dog a break outside of the cage, and repeating the progress until the dog is dry. 

 

Natural Drying - When the weather permits, we are able to let our dogs dry naturally. They are active and love to run around, soaking everything in sight! We provide them with towels and waterproof surfaces to roll on, and for the Komondor with the longer cords they could be tied up in bunches after an hour or so of running around to assist in drying the cords underneath the top layer.

 

Hand Drying - Drying by hand is a timely but often worthwhile procedure. It is done by first bunching and squeezing the water out of the cords by gently twisting it in your hands, once you have done this throughout the body you can then separate individual or fewer cords and squeeze your fingers together from the base, forcing the water down and out of the cords. The advantages of this is that it allows you to ensure each of your Komondor' cords are individually split to the skin. The coat can be easier to split when wet (or slightly damp) so for a Komondor who is in the progress of changing from their Puppy to Adult coat, this method works perfectly.

 

Towel Drying - Towel drying can be difficult in a dog who is in the progress of growing the beginnings of their cords, do not Scrub or Rub with a towel as if you scrub  you will undo the hair, the most common place we seen this problem is on the back and the top of the head. I only ever use towels to squeeze out the excess water, never rubbing or scrubbing as to not damage the coats even in the adult dogs.

 

Blow Drying / Blasting - I do not recommend this for drying a Komondor, especially when young. This method will undo the cording progress and in a young dog will make them have a fuzzy appearance. In a slightly older Komondor (over two years) you can use this method to dry areas such as the feet, beards and faces after a walk, as well as drying the stronger blasters will also help to blow the dirt out before it becomes embedded within the cords.