Hi, Could anyone recommend a product to help prevent hair breakage. I have a mini schnauzer and the hair on his feet up to ankle on front feet is very short and on his back legs where there should be plenty of furnishing up to the hocks this is also breaking off. He spends a lot of time on the beach so I think is damage from sand/scrambling on rocks. I've been applying Warren London Hydrating butter leave in conditioner before walks for around a month as well as conditioning if the hair has got wet after walks but it doesn't seem to be helping very much.
Any other tips for preventing breakage, other than don't go on the beach, most welcome

Have you had his thyroid levels checked, as problems with the hair, especially the guard hair not growing properly, being brittle and breaking can be due to hypothyroidism.

To much bathing will also damage the coat by stripping essential oils.

Thanks for your reply. Would there be other symptoms if it was thyroid ? as it is only on his feet. He only gets legs washed when he gets really mucky and I always apply conditioner

There could be a couple of different things causing hair breakage in terriers. Thyroid is one as mentioned, but it can also be dietary, his coat type, or grooming related. When you do wash him, what shampoo are you using? How do you groom the hair on his legs? What do you feed him? Do you supplement with anything? Is he going in the water when at the beach? Too much conditioner can do more harm than good, and the coat can also be damaged by things like the type of brush you use and how you brush the coat. Using the wrong type of brush and brushing the hair when it's completely dry can both cause breakage. Assuming the water at the beach is salt water, that could be the source of the damage as well, in which case you would need to wash the legs each time as conditioner might not be sufficient.

If you're just looking for a good conditioner to try, I highly recommend The Stuff for preventing breakage. Have also heard that Mane N' Tail conditioner is very good and have seen some excellent results but haven't tried it myself. Adding fish oil to the food is always an option for improving coat quality as well. There is also the option of hand stripping the furnishings, which often works wonders but most people think I'm nuts for even suggesting it.

GldensNScotties Having looked at thyroid the only symptom he has on the list is the hair breaking so unlikely to be that hes 15mths.
He's washed using wahl diamond white, he is a white mini so don't know if they have a different type of coat to other colours. I tend to mainly use a greyhound comb on his legs I find it easier. He's fed raw and has oily fish at least once a week, he has brewers yeast, garlic and seaweed extract as supplements. I've also been considering coconut oil for coat improvement. He only really gets sea water on him if he walks through seaweed rock pools, he doesn't go paddling. He always gets at least a rinse off with mains water after the beach to get all the sand out but I don't always shampoo, but do apply conditioner.
I've been considering the Main N Tail.
Have you seen a schnauzer that's had the furnishings stripped ? I'd be interested to know what they were like if you have. He is hand stripped and I did pull a small patch bald on the inside of his leg around 5 weeks ago to see how it grows back. I couldn't find anything any where relating to furnishings being stripped on minis although I know its done on other breeds.

Different breed, but I feed extra virgin coconut oil and use plush puppy sea breeze oil (spray sparingly!) on my OES coats and that seems to prevent breakage-though admittedly we don't often go in the sea.  I do agree though that it is better to try and get it right from the inside out as that seems to have more effect than products that are applied.

The breed is meant to have hard furnishings so I don't see why you couldn't strip them. If you have a break from shows, it might be worth pulling his furnishings down as tight as possible and working them as they come back in. As painful as it may be, try to do it either by hand or with a stripping stone, no stripping knives. The knives may make life easier but I prefer the results I get without them, regardless of breed.

If he is getting sea water on the lower part of his legs that would explain why the hair is breaking there and nowhere else. He wouldn't need to get much on him, but just putting conditioner on won't stop the sea salt from damaging the coat. My suggestion would be to have a bottle of very diluted soap and a small bowl of water on hand so that you can wash the areas that got seawater on them as soon as you have finished the walk, then spray with a diluted conditioner later.

Thanks everyone. I think I'll start to try rolling the furnishings rather than totally strip. I don't show him, just an enthusiastic home groomer. I'm going off using stripping knives after I started using the bankers finger cots on finger and thumb but turn them inside out so the hair doesn't clog in the bobbles. You get really good grip and no sore fingers lol

I show minis and we don't strip legs hair. The hair is just the wrong texture now to be able to strip it. I bath legs once a week and make sure I apply a good rinse out conditioner after I've shampooed and rinsed.

What you can do between bath's is apply a leave in conditioner such as 'the stuff', ideal for applying before brushing out legs after a walk.

You could also supplement with Yumega show dog, this will help with leg hair, but you'll find that after about 6 weeks you'll need to increase the amount of coat work you're doing too :)

>My suggestion would be to have a bottle of very diluted soap

Baby bath liquid is good as it doesn't need to be rinsed off like shampoo as it's meant for babies bathwater.

I often use a solution for quick clean-ups for newly whelped bitches.

Even if stripping the leg hair isn't done in the breed, it doesn't mean it can't be done. I've used hand stripping on plenty of dogs that aren't usually hand stripped because you get a more natural look and it doesn't cause the hair to grow back strangely. Surely the incorrect texture comes from scissoring the hair and stripping would produce leg hair closer to what the standard calls for?

The different texture comes from the use of imported lines who bring with them a more wooly textured furnishing. The hair simply won't strip like a wire haired jacket does without causing unnecessary discomfort. There are people who rake the legs of minis with a coarse stripping knife. But if you look to see the current dogs in the ring look like, the harsh legs (similar to what Standards have) are long gone.

Very interesting. I always assumed they were more like the furnishings on the Wire Fox which look fluffy because of the grooming/grooming products that get used on them but actually have retained their texture and can still be stripped.

I've always thought it strange that the breed standard says "harsh hair on legs, furnishings fairly thick but not silky" It seems to contradict itself as well as suggesting stripping to get harsh legs.
So are a standards legs stripped if they are harsh ?

Try using coconut oil. It's completely natural and works wonders!!