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Offline big_anne

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advise on correct maintenance
« on: October 28, 2012, 05:58:29 PM »
Hi
I've just registered and hope that some of you can advise please. I had a look through some of the forums and cannot get an answer to my specific question,hope I am not repeating.

I have a blue roan and tan cocker bitch approx 16 months old, I have been able to manage her coat so far quite successfully by grooming regularly and hand stripping. However now winter is approaching I have been wondering if I could consider reducing the feathering (especially on the legs) as she gets extremely muddy and her coat picks up all kinds of debris when I walk her in the counrtyside.I'm unsure of what way to approach this so I do not ruin her coat. I love her with full coat but for practical reasons thought it may be a good idea to shorten it for the winter.Any advice would be much appreciated
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Offline Homebird

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Re: advise on correct maintenance
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2012, 06:04:19 PM »
I can't help on how not to ruin her coat but I did end up having it clipped off including the feathering as she got so muddy and so many ticks latching on to the hair.

It made sense for us and the feathering just grew back but I hope you can get some more knowledgeable advice on here.
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Offline elaine.e

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Re: advise on correct maintenance
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2012, 06:42:25 PM »
Hi and welcome to COL :D

You could try thinning out some of her leg feathering with thinning scissors. I do that with my 2 boys and it definitely helps. We walk in the New Forest every day so they're always collecting bits of gorse, heather and bracken in their feathering.

Slightly more drastic, but only visible when your Cocker is laying upside down, is to use clippers to clip a strip down the middle of her tummy, from just behind the chest feathering to just in front of the feathering round her back end. You can make it as narrow or wide as you want or make it shorter. She'll still have feathering all round but the shaved strip underneath will help her to stay cleaner and dry more quickly. I call it an air-conditioning strip because it helps the dogs to stay cooler in summer as well as drying out more quickly in winter.
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Offline big_anne

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Re: advise on correct maintenance
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2012, 08:34:29 PM »
Many thanks for the suggestions, I've read that a spaniel's coat can be ruined if not clipped/trimmed correctly is this true? Maybe this only applies to the main areas of the body??

I really want to be sure I don't damage the coat at all
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