Caroline, what a gorgeous pic of Hurley.
Barney was just like that, but probably even a bit more fluffier! AnnieM couldn't believe it when she saw him for the first time!
I can't believe that he's got the same white side burns that Barney had, I used to call him Amos Brearly (a character from Emmerdale a long long time ago who had massive side burns)
I'm like you, I don't want to show Barney but neither do I want to clip him. I've only seen a couple of golds clipped but I really didn't like the finish at all. Our tutor said the best colour for clipping is blue roan and the worst is gold, thats not to say that a good finish is impossible on a clipped gold it just more difficult to get it.
How old is Hurley? Typically the puppy coat is ready to come out 7 to 9 months I think. Barney's was coming out at 5 months, which was really early. Thats one of the reasons I didn't go diving in and removing it all as I was a bit unsure whether it really was ready. From about four months old he developed a rich gold streak down his back and that was gradually spreading over his body.
Have you got a Coat King? As you're not going to show him its the easiest and quickest way to strip out the puppy fluff. I had one, and had used it once but I wasn't sure how long to keep going with it as it was bringing out so much fluff. Well the answer is keep going until it stops bringing out the fluff. Use it on his back and sides but not his skirt, legs, chest and back end. I didn't want a top knot but I didn't find the coat king easy to use so I hand strip his head.
If you don't want to use a Coat King you can use a comb with a rubberband woven through it. I used that for quite a while, it did get alot of fluff out but it was taking quite a long time.
Barney had a beard which was really long, I removed that using thinning scissors. When you use thinning scissors you need to cut up or down the hair growth direction and never across if that makes sense. After I trimmed the beard off, by holding his head up and cutting upwards I also took of the long hair above the breast bone, below is left as feathering.
At his back end I trimmed back the hair above the "rose", which is like a crown, with the thinning scissors up to his bum and trimmed his tail (it docked). I also trimmed that back of his hocks again with the thinning scissors.
His feet we again done with thinning scissors. A cockers foot is described as "cat like". I was quite shocked at how much hair was to come off as they are taken right back. Pull up the hair thats between his toes so that it sticking up. Then trim upwards from the front edge onto the top of the foot. You'll also need to trim away the underneath of the foot in between his pads too. I use a pair of smaller blunt ended scissors for that.
The top of his ears will need trimming with the thinning scissors in a downward direction. Its a bit difficult to describe the effect you are wanting to achieve.
The front of his front legs can be handstripped or done using a stripping knife.
I think thats those are the main things. I got the dvd by Jackie Marris-Bray about handstripping a Cocker, you're more than welcome to borrow it if you'd like. PM me your address if you'd like it sending.
Hope this helps a bit.
