Working Cocker grooming & price in E.Anglia

[Coco]

I've decided that my little scuffamuffin needs to go to the groomers for a birthday grown-up tidy round, nails clipped etc . After getting a quote from 3 local groomers for hand stripping and the lot for Wherry it came through 2@£30 and the other @£18.
Is the £18 one overly cheap? I know she does little advertising whereas the others are yellow pages jobs and I called yesterday and the first appointment she can do is 19th Feb. She was also the only one who seemed to know what a WORKING cocker was 
I've looked at the other post on prices but    Does that sound OK?

Also, what do I need to say? I just want the wispy bits taken out and overall tidied up. Do I need to explain or just leave her to it. I'll have to warn her about her feet phobia won't I but she'll be OK with that??


(I want to try the £18 one as she is (didn't realise when I called) two doors down to the place we hope move to in 6 months that has the kennels etc so potentially a good ally)

[Cazzie]

When my friend did sweepie, she just trimmed her feathers on all legs and did her hairy feet    I didnt let her near her top knot    I think if I was a paying customer It would have cost around £15 for that 

[Helen]

why not do it yourself?  Save her the stress of her feet being handled etc.

[Cazzie]

why not do it yourself?  Save her the stress of her feet being handled etc.

I know for a fact that sweepie would not let anyone trim her nails  She would be petrified 

[Rhona W]

Does a working cocker need hand stripping? 

I use a coat king on Casper as his coat is quite thick. But Reuben just needs a quick brush and his feathering and feet trimmed once in a blue moon.

[Coco]

why not do it yourself?  Save her the stress of her feet being handled etc.

I must admit to never having had a dog groomed before, just trimmed at home but with Wherry she has that fuzzy fluff on her sides/back which I don't know what to do with. I think a coat king would take it out but i'd rather have her go to the professionals. i'd probably put track lines in her or something. The cheaper groomer said as it's her first time hand stripping would be best but the other two were charging £20-25 for clipping anyway.
You can see it in this pic

The most important thing is she has to have her nails clipped and her anal glands doing.
By the time I paid for the coat king, nail clippers, vet to express the glands (have tried myself, can't do it) I know i'll have the tools for life but i'm also scared to clip her nails as they are black so you can't see where to go and she has an issue with one nail from an injury so i'd worry to do it myself.

[Rhona W]

A coat king would remove all the fluffy bits. And I don't think it's possible to leave tram lines.   

But I'd definitely pay someone else to deal with the anal glands.  

[Cazzie]

What a lovely picture  Yes one of those jaggy blade things we have at the kennels would prob sort that out  , she is adorable 

[Helen]

Jarv's coat is very similar - it's his winter fluff coming out (happened last year too!)  I keep on top of it using a steel comb with a rubber band wrapped around it, and get a couple of handfuls of fluff out most nights.   

I trim his paws myself, trim his feathering myself and only cut his dew claws as he seems to wear his claws down naturally.  He's not the most confident of dogs and unless I was there with him being groomed I think he would be a bit stressed.

[The Woolys]

We pay £40 to have Freddy handstripped, so £18 sounds incredibly cheap

[Potter]

Hi there

Firstly, I agree - what a fabulous photo.   

I live between Peterborough and Huntingdon and the prices for hand stripping around those areas vary from £25 up to £55. 

My Daisy is not a working cocker, she is nearly 9 months old, and she is going for her first trip to the groomers next week.  (Yes, I am very nervous about it!)  She is a blue roan and INCREDIBLY hairy!  I groom her every night to get her used to it, I snip her hairy feet to get her used to scissors, etc. 

I chose the groomer because she sounded very kind:  she said that the first few visits would be to build Daisy's confidence and to see how she got on with hand stripping.  She also said that even if Daisy didn't find the hand stripping nice, there were plenty of other ways to keep her coat nicely trimmed without resorting to the clippers.  She said for a first visit, it would be about £15.00, but if she took to the hand stripping, it would be about £50 for a full job - bath, nails, strip and scissor trim.  She also said that once stripped, we would have to see just how quickly or slowly Daisy's coat grew thereafter.  No mention of anal glands - think I would leave that to the Vet!

Anyway, hope this gives you an idea of the costs in the middle part of East Anglia. And good luck!

Kay

[workingcockers]

to be honest, Id take her to the vet and have her nails and glands done there - should be about a tenner, and get a steel comb as previously suggested or stripping knife and do her coat yourself. Its should come out really easily (my fingers are itching to hand strip it lol) and theres not too much to come out judging by the pic. I wouldnt let anyone near her with clippers unless of course she gets spayed at some point and then her coat could be a completely different story..

[joanne_v]

I'm guessing your quotes are not for handstripping as then they would be way too cheap! £30 is a lot for a normal groom but £18 is fine. Dont let them use clippers on her!!!! She's not that hairy I dont think. A coat king would sort it out in ten mins. Its either that or paying a fortune for handstripping when she isnt even that fluffy. If it was me I'd invest in a coat king and then just trim the feathers. Vet can clip nails and do anal glands.

[Coco]

I'm guessing your quotes are not for handstripping as then they would be way too cheap! £30 is a lot for a normal groom but £18 is fine. Dont let them use clippers on her!!!!

That was for hand stripping - and doG no, I don't want anyone touching her with clippers, I just asked the price as they were saying ...'ohh, hand stripping is more expensive...' in a kind of 'sales person/big ask kind of way, which it then turned out was only about £5-10 more for hand stripping than the other.

Hmm, i'm not sure now. I think maybe if I send her to the groomers this once then I can see what she is 'supposed' to look like to do it myself in the future.
Well, that sounds silly as it's not that I want her to look brill just want her tidy and not so scruffy, but like it would show me how far to go with her flags etc? 

[Helen]

I'm sure you could do the job coco - and to be honest Jarv's coat would be as fluffy as Wherry's if I didn't get a couple of handful's out each night (lets not talk tuft cos I'm not allowed near it  )  As for his leg feathering, I'm trying to strip the old hair out without trimming it as the feathering itself is not that long (only the dead hair is any real length)

try a steel comb with a rubber band around it - Jarv's fur on his back is actually not long enough for a coat king to be really effective, and the comb/rubberband combo does the trick.

btw, within a couple of days of stripping his fur, he starts to get fluffy again - it's just major moult time!