coat...? I need to bathe my Whippet for a show but I DON'T want to strip the natural oils out of his coat. Also, he doesn't have the shiniest coat despite a great diet, but I have been adding fish oil to his diet for the past few weeks and they seem to have added a little shine and color to his coat.

For the record, he does need a bath, he runs around every day and he gets dirty! I usually just rinse him off but he needs a good soapin' up. I'm not sure when the best time to give him a bath is, how many days before the show?

I have some Buddy Wash shampoo and Buddy Rinse, I think they're pretty low pH, so I'm good there.

I'd bathe the day before the show and use a good coat shine spray. Buff the coat well wiht a hound glove. Feel free while you are at a show to ask exhibitors of other breeds with similar coats, like boxers, what they use. They are less likely to deal you misinformation because they won't think of you as direct competition. Although the vast majority of show people in my breed ae very helpfulto each other, I know some breeds aren't that lucky, and some folks, regardless of breed, are just hateful enough to misguide you so you don't lower their chances of winning.