Dog Conditioner

Conditioner does one useful thing: it puts slip back into hair so a comb passes through instead of snapping it. That matters most on long drop coats, on coats that have been over-washed, and on any dog you brush daily — most coat damage happens at the brush, not in the bath.

There are two formats and they are not interchangeable. Rinse-out conditioners go on after shampoo, sit for a minute or two and wash out; they do the heavier repair work. Leave-in sprays go onto a damp or dry coat and stay there, which makes them the ones you reach for before brushing on a non-bath day. Plenty of ranges sell the same formula in both, so check the label before assuming a bottle is one or the other.

One caution worth more than any product claim: conditioner softens. On a harsh-coated breed — terriers, many working breeds, wire coats — softening is the opposite of what the coat needs, and regular conditioning will flatten the texture a stripping knife is meant to maintain. Those coats want a texturising shampoo and no conditioner, or conditioner only on the furnishings. As with shampoo, larger professional sizes are often concentrates, so read the dilution before judging the price.

• Dog shampoo
• Dog grooming brushes
• Plush Puppy, Fidos, Aloveen, Anipal