John Paul Grooming Products

Ok, first let me set the stage for this.

I was at the Backer show in Chicago last weekend, and being the good shelter operator, looking for bargains that can be used for fund raising, and begging for people to donate one or two items. Nothing expensive, just something, people like door prizes, and winning things, I like saving money on prizes so it can go to vet care and the such. Ok, so you get the idea.

I walk up to the John Paul (Paul Mitchell's partner) booth, they have this adorable gift basket, galvanized bucket, puppy shampoo, spray detangler, rope toy, and a John Paul stuffed toy. Really cute, and it is all black and white, looks really smart.

So I go and ask how much, and snap it up, one gentlemen asks me if I had ever heard of their products, I reply, and cannot stop myself before I say it. "Yes, I have heard of your crap. A friends aunt sent some to her and she gave it to me."

Now first and foremost, THESE PRODUCTS ARE NOT CRAP. I tend to suffer from foot in mouth when I try to keep too many thoughts going at one time.

One thing that I always do before I use anything on the ferrets here is to use it on myself. Yes, every shampoo that was ever used on the ferrets was used in my hair first. If it made my hair awful, well, there is no way it would be used on them.

I have used John Paul on my hair, and it is a great product, left the hair nice and clean, not overly perfumed, in good condition, and shiny. The conditioners work wonderfully.

Now, after I use it on my hair, I decided to use it on the dog, much to her disdain. The results were excellent. Shiny, soft, and clean. Lathers up very nicely and rinses clean.

The second test, I used it on one of the shelter ferrets, again, they really weren't thrilled with the bath, but it worked very well on him.

I used the Oatmeal on an older adrenal boy waiting for surgery. Adrenal ferrets tend to have that dry, rough feeling to the fur. I used the Oatmeal Shampoo and Conditioner. I was very pleased with the result.

The fur was softer, and he seemed less itchy from the dry skin that adrenal ferrets seem to develop.

The final test was using it on my mink (no not coat). I hand raised a ranch mink so that we can show people what a mink looks like BEFORE it becomes a coat. (In 9 years Trouble has changed many a person's mind about wearing fur), we also do wild mink rehab and release, and give sacturary to ranch mink who escaped.

Now normally, mink are extremely clean, but for some reason Trouble decided that digging in the cat box was a good idea. AFTER the cats had used it.

In Trouble's 9 years he has gotten four baths, mink like to swim, so I don't see the need unless he swims in the toilet, or digs in the cat box. When a mink gets a bath with shampoo, once they are dried, their fur looks, well, rather funny because the natural oils is striped out.

Once he dried off, Trouble looked like his old self, no funny "fluffy", "poufy" looking fur. He looked perfectly normal, soft and shiny. That is what sold me.

One of the things that I really like about this product is the fact they use it on humans first.

Will I ever use it on myself again, sure without hesitation. Would I recommend it for use on your dogs, cats, horses, or ferrets? Yes. Will I use it on the shelter kids? Absolutely.