Recommended Clippers

[emilymarston]

Hello. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a brand of clippeds suitable for grooming at home?

I'm wanting to start shaving my dog at home as opposed to taking her tp the groomers every couple weeks. She has a very thick and curly coat, so I'm wanting something that will be able to withstand it.

Thanks

[karen15]

I've got wahl km2s which I think can clip horses. I find them good for what I do but I strip the coat, not clip it. My understanding is they are a good brand of clipper.

Pre - the sulky face is because she stole the westies' post groom piggy ear and got roused at. Worst of all, she lost the ear......

Post

She was fully clipped when I got her and I prefer the coat stripped out with a mars coat king. It took a year for the outer coat to get back to relatively straight and it's much better now IMO

Edited November 1, 2016 by karen15

[maddogdodge]

My all time favourite clippers are Heiniger cordless, but I'm grooming all day every day so I need something comfortable that I love :D

They a bit pricy but I'll never go back to anything else!

http://clipperworld.com.au/clippers/heiniger-clippers/heiniger-saphir-style-cordless-purple-p2687.html

The Wahl KM2 clippers are probably a more realistic option for just home grooming. They're cheaper at least and are definitely a great clipper. I don't find them comfortable to hold so I tend to steer clear of them, but that's just me. They are still great, especially for home grooming!

http://clipperworld.com.au/clippers/wahl-clippers/wahl-km2-two-speed-c/w-ultimate-10-blade-p1.html

[emilymarston]

Thanks for the replies :) I think I'll look into the Wagl KM2 clippers, they seem to be just what I'm after.

[emilymarston]

Hi karen15. Do you find stripping a better option as opposed to clipping for your cocker? My cocker has a similar coat to yours in the 'before' photo, but I would say it's a little thicker again and doesn't really feather. I've been unsure as to whether or not stripping would be better in the long run instead of shaving every few months.

I've attached a photo for reference.

Edited November 2, 2016 by emilymarston

[karen15]

It takes time to get past your fluffy shot to how Meg looks now. She was very similar to that when I got her. As her coat has gotten longer, it's gotten straighter. I've had her just over 12 months, which is why she's got feathers and fluffy legs.

Honestly, it was my choice to grow her hair out. Her previous owner always fully clipped her, so I could have continued to do that.

I've found the mars coat king really great to remove the under coat. I do a full groom every 6 weeks or so. By that I mean clip, strip, nails. In-between she's combed a couple of times a week. As her hair was growing out it was really tangly. Now it is long, there are much fewer tangles, even in her arm pits and other typically knotty areas.

After stripping, the hair on her back is as long as the hair on her head in her before shot. That is a couple of mm longer than when I hold it between my fingers, like a hairdresser - so an inch or less. It gets really tight and sits flat. It's coarser hair so not as soft as when there is a build up of under coat.

Clipping would probably be faster. Stripping with the tool takes ages and is tiring on the arms. It takes me about 2 1/2 hours to give her a full groom. People do strip by hand, but I don't know how to do that. As I'm after a pet trim, I haven't fussed too much about learning that technique.

My ultimate goal is a sporting version of a show look. So shorter feather etc so it doesn't collect debris, but coat trimmed so there's no mistake she's a cocker. Correctly trimmed, I believe her front legs would be clipped back with only the feathers remaining. But I like the teddy legs, so they've stayed :)

[Dogsfevr]

Stripping is very easy but it's pointless doing it every few weeks,it needs to be done weekly to keep it under control ,very fewcocker people want to do the work ,a Cocker groomed for the show ring is a sporting groom where the pictures posted makes it look like an American Cocker in body with the fluffy legs which should be stripped out,that coat will reach a point of being over runny under coat .For most clipping is what most pet owners find easy and it's very hard to get a correct coat back that isn't more work ,

[karen15]

I've tried stripping the legs but made her look moth eaten.... Not having owned fluffy dogs before, the hardest thing I've found is finding some way to learn grooming. I've randomly contacted a cocker breeder, who was very lovely and gave me good pointers. But I hate to impose on people and she didn't breed the dog (I believe she's from a BYB as no state has a registered cocker litter on her DOB). So finding a teaching source that isn't just going to take to the dog with clippers is really difficult.

My reference to sporting version of show dogs was due to the cocker breeders' dogs having very long feathering, like just clearing the ground. They were beautiful but I want shorter to make it easier to keep tangle free.

Edited November 3, 2016 by karen15

[karen15]

Showdog THANKYOU!!!!!! After your post I've googled Australian Cocker Spaniel Show and the pictures that have come up are definitely more what I want :) I'll be printing out the ones I like so I've got something to work to next time. I keep bringing up Ginger Nut, so they'll definitely be in the album LOL

As I'd said, the breeder who very generously gave me some of their time, had their show dogs much longer, so I had just assumed that was how all show dogs looked.

Over the past 12 months, I have googled cocker spaniel grooming, but again, pretty much everything that came up was clip or long.

A thought I have had was it would be great if breed clubs had "how to groom your dog" classes for their breed. Would certainly help people new to the breeds, like me. Probably something you'd do once a year, depending on demand / attendance.

[Dogsfevr]

The legs you may need to use thinners to get started the issue you have is the legs are just undercoat & will take a great deal of effort to pull the longer you let it grow also keep in mind the coat king is not the tool show people use to strip out coats ,the top coat would most likely be able to be stripped way shorter & into a better shape.

Try the Cocker club of QLD many will help if people are keen & some clubs do grooming demos at fun days etc etc ,you can then trim the body into a short show version there are other tools that will do a better job if your dedicated .

Go to a horse shop & get a slick n easy stone .

If you wish to still use the coat king it depends what blade size you have & they work better when used on a shampooed coat

The stone allows you to finger pull & use in areas the coat king wont let you .

The back hocks you would scissor up short