Has anyone ever heard of this method?

[dankeshan]

"The coat must be long to be corded for the shih tzu. Unfortunately I did cording before I began making a portfolio so I do not have any pictures. The procedure I use for cording is the same as used with show dogs that are corded, I use the coat gel, this is like hair gel, and make the cords, making sure that they lay evenly and in perfect layered rows, this way the coat looks nicely corded and not just a matted mess. the cords must be kept up with though to ensure they stay in and that they don't get moldy. Its a job that requires regular baths and grooms because even with the curly coated dogs, such as the poodle, the cording does not happen naturally and must be maintnenced to ensure it continues to keep and stays looking good. In future grooms you can have the ends of the cords trimmed to keep them shorter or you can let them grow to the ground where he will look like a mini puli"

does anyone do this with corded dogs?

[stewiedog]

I have never heard of cording a shih tzu, a Havenese, but not a shih tzu

[Kindredkiss]

I have never heard of cording a Shih either. Like Stewiedog said, a havanese, yes but not a Shih Tzu. I have however seen a picture of a Portugese Waterdog with cords on his head so that he would resemble his owner who im guessing had dreads.

[dankeshan]

i didnt realy mean the breed, i meant the mthod. i have always been told that cords occured naturally and were controlled matts, and different from human dreadlocks.

[Kindredkiss]

Well human dreads are just matted hair too. I would think if you wanted to actually cord your dog it would be the same. I have never done it though. I used to groom 2 Pulis , both owned by the same people and one got brushed out and the other had short cords which I just used to seperate and neaten. They mostly did everything themselves at home

[lexapurple]

Human dreadlocks are matts. On some types of hair they occur naturally, on some it takes a lot of work to get them started. I tried and went for a moths without brushing my hair and wearing a scarf to start dread locks. Nothing happened.
Same thing for dog hair. On corded breeds cords will start out as a mats and if not kept up by separating and oiling will be irregularly shaped and will not look good and may turn into one solid mat all over.