Grooming - Trimming Outline

[karen15]

The cocker spaniel is growing her coat very nicely. She's now at the stage that I need to take a little length off her undercarriage as she's picking up debris on our walks.

My problem, being new to grooming long haired dogs, is how to get the lines on the undercarriage nice and even and well shaped. I'll no doubt have the same problem when her hind feathering gets to a good length.

Do I use a comb on the clippers? I currently use a #8 comb over 10 blade on her front legs which works well. I have all combs 1-8, so have lots to choose from. Clippers are wahl KM2 (I think that's right).

Or do you scissor? I don't seem to be able to get outlines very consistent scissoring.

It's not a huge issue, hair grows back, but I would prefer not to butcher our hard grown coat :)

[fbaudry]

All you ever need to know re grooming Cockers:

http://www.tarrendayle.com/CockerGrooming.html

It has become my bible!

[karen15]

Thanks for the link fbaudry. I'd read the site early on, but now we have hair it's probably got more relevance!

I honestly can't get scissor trimming. I'm just hopeless. Doesn't help dog likes to resemble a puddle.

Her legs are super fluffy, which looks cute. All grooming I've read says front edge of front legs should be smooth. I'm happy for them to be 3" columns ;)

The hocks and down are work. As hair is growing I think its easier to manage, but we've still got lots of volume. When it was shorter I used thinning shears without much luck, but again, now we're getting length it may be time to revisit.

[Pjrt]

Whatever tools or techniques you settle on I find setting yourself up in front of a mirror can really help as you practice and learn. The mirror doesn't lie and will tell you if one side is longer or wider than the other, whether the outline looks balanced etc.

[karen15]

That's handy Gruf. I've got a cheval mirror that can go in front of the grooming table. Something I would never have thought of and haven't read reference to. Thanks!

ETA at this stage, her hair is a bit like mine. Curly, fine and thick. As the coat grows the curl is less. Stripping and growth on the back has got that quite tight, straight and short. The hind quarters seem to be coming along as they lengthen. The longer they are, the coarser the coat and the lesser the curl.

Edited September 2, 2016 by karen15

[Dogsfevr]

Scissoring will be far easier,grooming with a mirror is a must ,also get a decent picture to see what you can visually create ,draw the outline on it if need be .Ideally you should be trimming the outline all the time to grow in the shape you want

[denali]

Yes, agree to the above. + practice!

Thats all it is really. The first few times my not be the prettiest, but you'll get the hang of it in no time.

Also, there is a correct way to hold the scissors, which can make it easier if you aren't doing so :)

[karen15]

I keep changing my scissor grip to the correct way LOL

Do you hold the hair with a comb to help? Sort of like the hairdresser does?

I've spent the last 12 months enforcing that she has to stand when I ask. Initially she'd stand briefly then sit or lay down. So now she does stand I can at least see the belly to try and trim it :)

[Pjrt]

No don't do the comb thing like hair dressers do. Just comb all the hair through so that it is sitting naturally in the direction it grows and trim the tips of the hair to shape it as one line in the profile shape you are trying to achieve. Some times it's more about what you leave than what you trim off so remember you won't always get what you're after by removing lots of hair. Sometimes it's literally one or 2 judicious snips and bang, suddenly the right shape comes out of no where! Like someone else said, get some pictures of dogs groomed how you'd like yours to look, and also a line drawing of the basic outline ( can just be a trace of pictures you find) and stick them on your mirror.

There are groomers that can do the comb thing but it is usually done on the body of drop coat breeds and crosses and is very very hard to master!

[Dogsfevr]

Yes you can use the comb but generally i do that for the final finish on my show dogs but just like a hairdresser you dont use the comb & chop you still have to visualize what is to come off & what isn't .As to holding scissors correctly depends on what brand your using,bent shank,straight,curve & the length .We all will have a different style of holding .

To trim underlines you need a decent length to get a nice finish .

[karen15]

I think we managed it! The westie was easier. I ended up using a #6 comb on the cockers belly and that worked well. Did the clipping, then stripping, which blended the edges and finished with thinning shears and scissors. Should stay debris free now. I don't use the combs every groom, probably do them every third (proper groom with clipping is done every 4-6weeks). I will endeavour to scissor on the in-between grooms.