Dog groomers & owners - help please!
 

There is a pine tree in my back yard which drips onto my boxer - when he lies in the dirt it forms a hard, black sticky dot. I have tried shampooing it off - that doesn't work. I can pull them off - but it's like waxing my poor puppy. Anyone have any handy hints as to how to remove pine tar from a dog's coat?

My family has two boxers, a 9 year old and an almost 3 month old. I know with the older dog we had an issue once where she did get some sap on her. I think she only got it on the fur above her paws though. If I recall, we bathed her with several types of different shampoo, two types of dog stuff and baby shampoo. That got it soft enough to pry most of it off, but some had to be peeled off, which she did not like!
Sorry, that doesn't help much! If I think or hear of any ideas, I will let you know! :(

I had a pine-sap-in-hair incident when I was eight—I thought it was the end of the world as I knew it. But my neighbor went right for the peanut butter, which got the majority of it out. IF you can get him to hold still for a few minutes with peanut butter in fur (and that is a huuuuuggggge if) it might soften enough to shampoo out.

Hey, bitches. No, I am not dead yet... Don't know what in the world made me decide to check in tonight... BUT...

The answer to your question is actually fairly simple.

PEANUT BUTTER. (It seems someone else decided to join the conversation and offer this as I was typing.)

Seriously, work large amounts of it into the coat. You should think about using a jar if necessary... WORK it into the coat with your hands, making sure to work the area in between your thumb and fingers. You want to get the oil into the coat. Let 'em sit for a while. (VariKennel if needed for around 30 minutes.)

It's ok if they eat/lick the peanut butter while it sits. The majority of the work is done by you working in into the coat first, so licking it won't do anything really. After it sits, take a small fine-toothed comb or flea comb and comb the tarred hair.

Then, get you some Dawn dishwashing liquid and wash the dogs with it. (DO NOT get this into the eyes. Use Baby Tearless-Shampoo for the eye area.)

This should remove most of the tar from the coat. If not, you can repeat it. But, usually this is all I have to do for my clients.

Works wonders for kids' hair and gum, too.

It's not a huge IF. It's just a matter of getting it done.

I was gonna say I had a pretty bad bubble gum incident when I was little and my mom slathered me with peanut butter. ;)

Yep, peanut butter works wonders. You can also use petroleum jelly or Crisco to loosen it up. Letting it soak for awhile helps too.

eta: I just read the rest of the responses, and Tippie's is the best method.

Thanks y'all - Kaiser will certainly enjoy the peanut butter more than the failed attempt at "waxing".