Advice On Clipping

[quangle]

Hi,

I have a springer spaniel and her coat is getting quite long and scruffy. On the top of her head and her back she has lighter coloured hair that sticks up a bit like a mohawk. I have been trimming her feet as they are so fluffy underneath that she can't stand still on our tiled floor, and also it helps with burrs and things getting stuck in them, not to mention how wet and muddy they get!

I also trim her ears regularly but I would like to also start keeping the feathers on her legs a bit neater and perhaps a bit of an all over clip.

Googling has not really revealed the information I am looking for. Can I just buy a decent set of clippers and basically give her a trim all over, just to keep the hair a bit shorter? Or is this a bad idea? I am worried that there may be some issue with the hair growing back different or something. Should I not be using clippers at all, but doing it somehow with scissors?

Has anyone any advice.

Thanks

Edited March 5, 2012 by quangle

[becks]

if you want to keep the dark colour, it is best to strip the long hair, just pull a few hairs at a time, keeping the skin tight. Clipping will encorage the hair to grow back as bad or worse then it is now, but if you are happy to regularly clip your dog short then it won't matter as the rich colour should still be seen when freshly clipped again.

You can buy clippers and do this yourself, but save up and get a good set of clippers, cheap ones are a false economy and often pack up half way through - i have been asked to finish off a few dogs in this state!

[Vehs]

Agree with Becks - try stripping.. then coat king.. before you do clipping - maybe your breeder can advise you what they use.

she will more than likely grow back wooly, thick and curly if you start clipping her.

If you do eventually decide to go down the clipping route you're probably going to purchase clippers upwards of $300 (+ blades) - it's a good investment if your going to be grooming the dog for it's whole life

[quangle]

thanks. That was what I wasn't quite able to articulate, that the coat might grow back different after clipping.

I just did a google on coat king and lo and behold the picture on the home page is of a springer!

I have noticed a LOT of hair in the house just lately and I suspect this might be that old dead hair/undercoat dropping out?

Can anyone give me any hints on stripping and/or using this coat king? I did actually pull the hair out from the top of her head the first time it happened but I don't much fancy doing that over her whole body.

Thanks again

[becks]

The easy way is to get a pumice block (they sell them in horse suppliers) and use that to trap some hair between that and your thumb. It can also be used to rub over the coat in direction of growth.

or you can put some chalk on your hands or use rubber gloves to give better grip on the hair

[quangle]

Ok thanks.

I have just been madly reading all over the internet. I am thinking I should:

1) get a coat king. From what I have read, there seems to be disagreement on whether the coat king cuts or strips. I think I could safely use one on her legs, tummy, throat etc to keep the length down without having to resort to actually clippers (while still trimming her feet with scissors)

and then also:

2) get the pumice thing to use all over her which will remove the old coat which is probably what is shedding all over my floors and which seems to be fairly easy to use.

Does this sound like a sensible course of action?

Any my (hopefully) last question - which blade for the coat king? The 20 seems to be the recommended size for ESS, but that also seems to recommended for finishing (not sure what finishing is). I just want to remove the excess undercoat and a smaller numbered blade seems to be recommended for that. Confused.

Edited March 5, 2012 by quangle

[becks]

Coat Kings are sharpened on the inside of the teeth, so they do cut the coat, they are very similar to the matt breakers you can buy. If you want to thin out the coat density and length, you'd be better to just get a pair of thinning scissors.