Wooly legs!

[Terri in Devon]

Ollie (black show cocker) is now nearly 10 months old.  I have been grooming him with the comb and elastic band.  He is looking lovely, his coat is so shinny, but his front legs (feathering) are still very woolly and quite dull in comparison to the rest of him, what should I be doing to get his front legs looking as good as the rest of him, your advice much appreciated. 

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I have a black show cocker too and she has a massive coat  I use the thinning scissors on her legs to take out the bulk but its an on going project 

[Terri in Devon]

Thanks for your reply Braken.  I have been using the thinning scissors but am unsure how much to take out, I am new to this so am a bit worried about taking too much, will it grow back if I mess up?  Also there is a brown tinge to some of this fur which I think must be his puppy coat.  Do you think it will come out in time using the comb and elastic band or is the only solution the thinning scissors?

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I'm still learning too,as she is my first show cocker   I have 4 others but they are just pets and 2 are clipped. I just take a little at a time let it go a day or two then take some more until I get the right look. I'm worried I will take to much also but it grows so quickly   I look at loads of pics to get the finished I want...but must admit find the blend of ears and hocks very difficult, but determined to give it a go. My Lace still has lots of brown puppy coat on her tummy but I comb through gently but not with a band in this area.
Are you going to show Ollie ?

[Emma3]

I wish I knew the answer to fluffy legs, I'm in the process of trying to get bella's legs into a presentable state .

there is a brown tinge to some of this fur which I think must be his puppy coat.  Do you think it will come out in time using the comb and elastic band or is the only solution the thinning scissors?

The brown tinge is probably down to his genetics. He is likely to have the gene coding for black + the gene coding for gold. Since gold is dominant his coat colour is black, but  dogs carrying the gene for gold tend to have a brown tinge to the coat in certain lights. Its likely to be less noticeable when his puppy coat has come out though.

[Terri in Devon]

Braken, I'm not intending to show Ollie, but would like him to look 'showlike'.  I do enjoy grooming him and he is very patient, sometimes he falls asleep, I think due to boredom!!  I think I will follow your lead and print off some photos in the hope they will give me something to follow.  He has quite a long beard and a hairy face at the moment, he won't let me near his face with the scissors so we are off to the groomer's on Wednesday to sort that out.  I've not been able to find groomer who is used to doing cockers locally, that's why I'm having a go myself.  Good luck with showing Lace.

Emma, I think you're right about the genetics and the brown tinge, Ollie's mum was golden and his dad black.  As you say it only shows in certain lights at the moment, he did have the brown tinge on his back, but since losing the puppy coat there the brown has all gone.