Scented shampoo and showing...

Glycerin is the main active ingredient in shampoo, so your homemade treatment was brilliant!  The apple cider vinigar is what left him feeling so clean, I bet.

While I, personally, don't see anything wrong with a clean (fruity? lol) smelling dog in the show ring, if your homemade brew left your dog looking & feeling like a million bucks, just keep doing that!

I'm pretty sure though, that the dish soap will eventually strip out the coat if you wash once a week.

Most all-natural brands of dog shampoo (like Earthbath, my fav) come with an unscented version.  

paperflowers11

...Will the scent have gone in that amount of time, or should I be looking at something unscented?...

I've noticed the scent from the shampoo usually goes away in a couple of days.  It doesn't seem to matter which shampoo I've used (I've used quite a few over the years).  As for recommendations, I absolutely love Buddy Wash!  Just beware- frequent bathing changes the texture of a Lab's coat.  As you already know, you'll need to bath Cooper days before a show to get the oils back.  There are quite a few people on the Lab board that just hose off their Labs when they're dirty, instead of bathing them.  Including at least one breeder.  Unfortunately, I can't do that too often- our water stinks!

micksmom

paperflowers11

...Will the scent have gone in that amount of time, or should I be looking at something unscented?...

I've noticed the scent from the shampoo usually goes away in a couple of days.  It doesn't seem to matter which shampoo I've used (I've used quite a few over the years).  As for recommendations, I absolutely love Buddy Wash!  Just beware- frequent bathing changes the texture of a Lab's coat.  As you already know, you'll need to bath Cooper days before a show to get the oils back.  There are quite a few people on the Lab board that just hose off their Labs when they're dirty, instead of bathing them.  Including at least one breeder.  Unfortunately, I can't do that too often- our water stinks!

Thanks. Due to his light color and the amount of dirt in our yard, just hosing him off isn't really going to work very often I'm afraid...but I think most of the time I can get by with just washing his tail, face, and legs.  We'll see when the spring shows get going. He won't need baths in the winter thank goodness since the snow covers all the dirt in the yard! In the summer he gets bathed about once a month or less, in the fall this is the only time since about August, and will hopefully be his last one till spring, although I did really like how my homemade one worked. I should try and make one without the dish soap and just save some money and his coat!

 Luna actually always smells nice and clean in the show ring. Granted, she's an Aussie with more coat prep than your lab, but a million people I know use the following brands on the show circut:

http://www.plushpuppyusa.com/catalog/item/2052117/2209898.htm

http://www.chrissystems.com/detail_informaiton.htm (scroll down to Gold on Gold)

Hope that helps!
 

 Umm... My dog smells like AWESOME in the show ring, LOL! She's bathed once or twice a week, and a totally different breed, but still.... what's wrong with a dog that smells good? I use Chris Christensen stuff on her, and recently, I've used Les Poochs exfoliating shampoo (which IS unscented, and incredibly good, but expensive) on her skin. This weekend, though, when I was showing her, she smelled like Day To Day shampoo and some Eucerin lotion. She'd had her furnishings washed in Thick N Thicker, and that has the strongest smell of anything I used.

As other Laborador exhibitors what they was their dogs in. I know a lot of Crested people like Christensen, Isle of Dogs, and Plush Puppy. I can't stand Plush Puppy, because it smells so strong.

jennie_c_d

he'd had her furnishings washed in Thick N Thicker, and that has the strongest smell of anything I used.

I can't stand Plush Puppy, because it smells so strong.

Ooooooo, I love think N Thicker!!! And, good point on the PP. I use a lot of their stuff, but I dilute everything. Full strength is a lot of scent. Diluting also makes it last a lot longer, which I need to do since it is expensive. 

I used to put some Pet Silk on before entering the ring. It smells AWESOME and put such a nice sheen on the blanket of the tris...WHOO HOO. I love a nice good smelling dog in the ring.