with this much hair to contend with, bathtime was bound to have an extra twist and when daz needed to look his best for dog show crufts, which runs till sunday, it was never going to be a case of just ‘wash and go’ instead, an eight hour clean up operation ensued for the dread locked komondor — involving three hours in the tub, then five more under a vast array of dryers thankfully, placid daz soaks up the attention as well as the suds locks like i need a bath: a pre grooming walk relaxes the sprightly five year old daz  suds u like: owner julie does four shampoos and rinse jobs, before a final conditioner is massaged in  it takes a lot of water to lather daz up, according to his owner  the 10st 7lb five year old stands 33in to the shoulder and is one of around only 45 of his breed in the uk puppies, which cost upwards of £1,200, are born with downy coats that develop into dreadlocks (or, to be correct, ‘cords’) komondors are known as ‘the ultimate sheep dog’ in hungary, their country of origin, where their thick, shaggy hair protected them from the wolves and bears which threatened farmers’ flocks the cleaning process — at his owner julie branch’s dog grooming parlour — starts with daz stepping into a hydrobath, which has a door for easy access the first challenge is to get his dense coat wet enough miss branch, 52, of harlow, essex, said: ‘it’s quite wiry and coarse, so it takes a lot of water before you can lather him up’ then its four shampoos and separate rinses before the conditioner goes on and a final rinse a rubdown with a towel follows, plus a once over with a ‘wet and dry’ vacuum cleaner to suck out as much water as possible then it’s out with the arsenal of hairdryers they include a £300 x power airmover, which gusts cool air over daz from its three large black hoses — and which is nicknamed ‘octopussy’ by miss branch ‘if we left him to dry naturally, it’d probably take up to four days,’ said julie’s partner barry davison, 61, who runs a courier business high and dry: a hurricane of blowdryers slowly gets the komondor's coat dried out  finally, daz slips into a fetching green onesie that helps keep his locks spotless and means he can carry on as normal until show day daz, whose pedigree name is jabenezer zolltan, will be at the birmingham nec today in the working and pastoral breeds section, where he has previously won top dog in the komondor class needless to say, this year he’s hoping for a clean sweep of even more prestigious titles on trend: a green onsie helps to stop a freshly blow dried daz picking up dirt like a damp mop  crufts ready: a primped and preened daz is poised for the top spot   even if his podium is a little makeshift 
komondor eight hours five year old three hours komondors hungary top dog
clean up operation for crufts of dread locked komondor takes eight hours . five year old daz spends three hours in the tub and five more under dryers . komondors are known as ‘the ultimate sheep dog’ in their native hungary . daz is competing at crufts and has previously won top dog in his class 