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All Things Great Pyrenees

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Xtra Mud Not Necessary [GIVEAWAY!]

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When it comes to giant breed health and nutrition, there's a lot that goes into raising a happy, healthy dog. We're going from A to Z talking about giant breed specific needs! Today, it's all about trying to keep the white fur, white!

Xtra Mud Not Necessary

Okay, so I know I cheated a bit in the title there. The letter ‘x’ is a difficult one! Especially since I already knew what I wanted to talk about today.

Mauja and Atka (well, mostly Atka) love mud, sand, dirt, and anything messy. It’s been raining for three days straight here and my beautiful white dogs are now a lovely shade of brown. As soon as their fur dries and the dirt flakes off, they go back outside and start the process all over again.

I’m not really sure how I’m going to handle our upcoming move to the Seattle area. I’m always thankful for their self-cleaning coats, but I think Mauja and Atka need rain gear – STAT! They’re going to hate me, but I have to try and keep things somewhat clean 😉

However, I do have one tool that helps keep the mud to a minimum – PL360 Grooming Wipes.

I keep these wipes everywhere. They’re in my car, my husband’s car, and like three places around our house so they’re always easily accessible. While these aren’t going to clean up a fluffy that decided a mud puddle looked like a great place to play, they’re great for touch-ups as needed – like when Atka rubs his face into the grass.

We’ve tried a lot of grooming wipes over the years and these are definitely my favorite so far. They do a great job cleaning up the pups, but they also only contain natural ingredients. As someone who tries to limit the amount of chemicals in the home, these are perfect for us.

I wrote a lengthy post on the benefits of using plant-based ingredients and why PL360 is my brand of choice for these products, particularly the grooming wipes, here.

PL360 Grooming Wipes are made without:

  • Parabens
  • Sulfates
  • Phthalates
  • Toxins
  • Lanolin
  • Soap
  • Alcohol

The wipes also have a lovely mandarin scent to them to refresh any mud/grass smell the fluffies have going on. I love the scent, but Mauja disagrees. She promptly rubs her head into the ground after I use the wipes on her.

What a diva 😉

Do you have a dog who likes to get dirty and want to try PL360’s Grooming Wipes yourself? Enter the giveaway using the widget below!

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When it comes to giant breed health and nutrition, there's a lot that goes into raising a happy, healthy dog. We're going from A to Z talking about giant breed specific needs! Today, it's all about trying to keep the white fur, white!

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Shedding – 8 Ways to Manage the Madness [GIVEAWAY!]

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When it comes to giant breed health and nutrition, there's a lot that goes into raising a happy, healthy dog. We're going from A to Z talking about giant breed specific needs! Today, it's all about how to manage the mass amount of fur!

Shedding – 8 Ways to Manage the Madness

Fur, fur, everywhere. If you have a dog, shedding is a given. If you have a long-haired, double-coated dog, shedding is a part of life. It’s on your clothes, in your food, and you even find it in your office. If you don’t find a way to handle it and laugh about it, you’ll quickly go mad. Here are our top 8 tips for not drowning in a sea of fluff.

Brush Your Dog

This one is a given, but don’t underestimate the power of brushing! I can definitely notice when I go too long between brushing sessions for Mauja and Atka. Not only does their fur feel clumpy, but the corners of my rooms collect fur bunnies much more quickly. If your dog has fur like a Great Pyrenees, I recommend brushing at least 2-3 times per week.

Feed a High-Quality Food

A healthy coat is less likely to shed all over the place. Make sure your dog’s diet consists of high-quality protein and is free from corn, wheat, soy, by-products, and anything artificial.

Essential Fatty Acids

Most high-quality foods have essential fatty acids included in the formula, but we always supplement with extra. In my opinion, the amount added to the food isn’t enough to control the dry skin issues we have and to help nourish a healthy coat. One of our favorites is the Salmon Oil from Only Natural Pet.

Control Itching

Have you ever watched your dog scratching away while the cloud of fur surrounds his body? Definitely reminiscent of Pig-Pen! Once you determine the cause of the itching, you’ll be able to devise a solution to minimize or eliminate it.

Become Best Friends With Your Vacuum

Mauja and Atka spend a lot of time in the living room so I vacuum that every single day. Our carpet is beige so the fur blends in a bit, but after a day or two, you can definitely notice fur clumps forming. Also, you might as well invest in a quality vacuum. I resisted it for a long time (who wants to spend that much on a vacuum?), but after killing three in less than a year, we finally took the plunge. I wish we would have done it sooner!

Use a Forced Air Dryer

If you’ve never tried one, you’re seriously missing out. I always wondered how the groomer was able to get so much dead fluff out, so I finally asked her. The secret was the use of a forced air dryer. While Mauja and Atka only get professionally groomed a few times a year, there is a DIY grooming place less than 10 minutes from us. For $15, we can use all of their equipment, which includes my favorite part, the forced air dryer. Nick’s favorite part is the fact that we don’t have to clean up the mess 😉

Invest in a Quality Brush

Our personal favorite is the Oster Grooming Rake – it does an amazing job of getting out the dead undercoat. The most important thing when looking for a quality brush is to ensure that it gets out the undercoat. So many “undercoat rakes” only brush the surface, so they never get through the outer coat.

Try a Supplement

A few months ago, we were given the opportunity to try Shed No More® from PL360. Shed No More is formulated with vitamins, minerals, and essential oils to support a healthy skin and coat. It comes in flavored, chewable tablets which made it super easy to give to the pups.

The directions state that it takes approximately 4-6 weeks to begin seeing results in your dog. After about 3 weeks, I definitely noticed an extra shine to Mauja and Atka’s coats. While I can’t say definitively that they were shedding less (although I do feel like I was vacuuming less), their coats looked much healthier than they had previously.

Want to try Shed No More for your dog? Enter the giveaway below for your chance to win!

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When it comes to giant breed health and nutrition, there's a lot that goes into raising a happy, healthy dog. We're going from A to Z talking about giant breed specific needs! Today, it's all about how to manage the mass amount of fur!

Plant-Based Ingredients with PL360

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PL360 for a Pet-Friendly Home

Big dogs, big messes – you know how it goes. I try to keep the chemicals to a minimal in this house, but let’s be honest – I’m not perfect; it’s always a work in progress! But what are the alternatives?

5 Benefits of Plant-Based Ingredients
  1. Constantly replenished by the environment so there is no danger of depletion
  2. Completely biodegradable
  3. Little impact on the greenhouse effect because production requires little energy
  4. No damage to the environment
  5. Production of plant ingredients benefits a large portion of the population

I was recently introduced to PL360, formerly known as PawGanics. We had received a package of PawGanics grooming wipes in a PetBox long ago and loved them, so I was super excited to hear they were even better now!

PL360‘s grooming wipes are durable, yet sensitive wipes to meet the needs of an on-the-go pet parent. The plant-based formula makes them ideal for cleaning paws, ears, and faces without irritation. Made from natural, cold-pressed seed oils, the wipes are antioxidant and vitamin rich to tend to your pet’s sensitive skin. The wipes are made without parabens, sulfate, phthalates, lanolin, and alcohol.

I have these on me all the time to keep my white dogs, well, white. Sometimes it isn’t easy – I noticed a nice grass stain on Atka’s head as we got ready to take pictures for this post!

Great Pyrenees with PL360

Another item in the PL360 line that I was super excited to test was the odor neutralizing carpet powder. A few years ago, I tried using a carpet powder that I found in our grocery store. While I loved the results, I discovered Mauja was having an allergic reaction to it. I stopped using the powder and didn’t search for another one.

The PL360 Carpet Powder is also plant-based for a natural, allergy-free cleaning experience. I’ve been using the powder for about a week and am loving how much fresher our carpets smell. Not to mention, Mauja isn’t having a reaction to it! Yay!

Great Pyrenees with PL360

We also received the Multi Surface Cleaning Wipes, the Daily Grooming Shampoo, and the All-in-One Shampoo & Conditioner. Because the Cleaning Wipes are plant-based as well, they’re safe on toys, food bowls, and even counters. Talk about multi purpose! I haven’t had a chance to try the shampoos, but boy do they smell lovely! I’m excited to try them out next bath time. Mauja and Atka are not so excited 😉

Do you want the chance to try PL360’s natural, plant-based products? You’re in luck! PL360 is giving away prize packs to 3 lucky winners. Enter below!

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