New Dog, hair problem!

[Hairbear]

Hi all,

I'm getting a puppy at the end of the week. A Newfoundland. For anyone who doesn't know this breed, they are a water rescue dog, so this means I will be swimming in the sea with it. This is something I have not done since I was a shorty.

I'm currently WO. I had an idea about how to protect my hair from the salty water and would like the views of the forum. I was going to do a heavy oiling with jojoba followed by coconut oil and then braid it. After swimming in the ocean I will take a shower and give the hair a good rinse. Anyone had any experience with this? Will it work? Any drawbacks?

I wear my hair in a bun mostly, so if it is a bit oily it should not matter.

[naereid]

I haven't been swimming yet as an LHCer, but here's what I've gathered from other threads:
pre-soak your hair with fresh water, so that by the time you get to the sea, it'll already be saturated with it and won't take in as much salt water
oil it heavily so it creates a barrier
braid or bun it

[UltraBella]

This is my routine for pool or seawater. I french braid my hair and then completely soak it with regular water. That way my hair is completely saturated and can not soak up any of the salt water. I then put a Speedo swim cap on, they do make one for long hair, and tuck my braid up under it. When I get out of the water I just remove the cap, undo my braid and rinse my head again.
My daughter is a competitive swimmer and we tried everything to keep her hair healthy. Even with oiling it, her hair still absorbed a lot of the chlorinated water. Once we started thoroughly saturating her hair with regular water first it has been so much better.

[luckyduck]

Newfoundlands are the greatest dogs! We just found a 3 month old mostly Newfy on the side of the road with a bag a dog food! She is the greatest!

[Purdy Bear]

Looking forward to the Puppy pictures!

When I spoke to a cross channel swimmer (my swimming teacher for two weeks), she only recommended using a good cap. There was a discussion about lard, and vaseline but I cant remember what it was. (NB I tried vaseline on my Alopecian eyebrows and it made the hair shed worse, so be careful if your going down that route).

[chopandchange]

I haven't been swimming yet as an LHCer, but here's what I've gathered from other threads:
pre-soak your hair with fresh water, so that by the time you get to the sea, it'll already be saturated with it and won't take in as much salt water
oil it heavily so it creates a barrier
braid or bun it


Ditto.

I haven't been swimming for years, but like the above poster, I've read all the LHC recommendations, and the only one I'd add is wearing a swimming cap. Also, you can plaster your hair in conditioner instead of oil, as it tends to be easier to wash out (although for this reason it might not be as good as the oil, since it might rinse out while you were swimming).

[Night_Kitten]

Haven't been to the see for ages now, but when I go to the pool, I oil my hair, do a bun secured with a scrunchee and wear a rubber swim-hat (like the one swimmers wear in competitions). Not the prittiest look, but keeps the pool water out of my hair :)

[katze666]

I live near the beach and i go swimming everyday in summer :S

I don´t do anything special with my hair.

[dropinthebucket]

We had a Chessie (Chesapeake Bay Retriever) and man, she could never get enough of the water! You may spend as much time out of the water as in! We would just throw balls and water toys for her, over and over and over and over .... and over! She'd stay in all day, didn't really need us in there with her - but we did do puppy training, i mean a lot of it, so that she would come back ABSOLUTELY at a call or a whistle, because we'd read that Chessie's (dunno 'bout Newfoundland's, maybe?) will just keep swimming out farther and farther and can get themselves into deep water trouble. We'd keep our eyes on her all the time, and call her back right away if she started getting too far for our comfort. Sure miss that dog, she's passed now.

[teela1978]

I do the presoak in water, maybe oil (if I think of it, usually I skip that), bun it, and shove in a swim cap. I don't really have too much trouble with my hair and salt water (that varies widely from person to person, some hair seems to react badly to it), but if you'll be doing open water swims, its generally a good idea to get a bright, easily visible swim cap so you can be spotted if you run into any trouble.