your views on long coats or clipping

[Cazzie]

I can't comment on my own dog as she is a working cocker & doesn't have the long coat, but will comment on one of my liitle charmers that come to me. He is a show cocker (golden) and is georgous, I love him with his long feathers and longer coat, but as he loves to swim run around in all the bushes etc he is clipped, his coat weighs him down in the water and he is always getting nasty things stuck to him so clipping him makes his life a wee bit easier.

[Jan/Billy]

his coat weighs him down in the water and he is always getting nasty things stuck to him so clipping him makes his life a wee bit easier.

Billy always used to get bits of twigs and stuff stuck in his feathering 

He was very good though, if i showed them to him he pulls them out himself  Its teamwork 

[Beth]

Jarvis is terrible for picking up stuff in his coat if its long, which was my main reason for clipping him.

On almost every walk he'd get loads of brambles twisted tightly into his fur, and he used to yelp loads when we tried to get them out. To be fair he got over it very quickly but i hated making him yelp like that. Another advantage is how quickly he dries now. He does miss being combed for hours though.

[Jan/Billy]

On almost every walk he'd get loads of brambles twisted tightly into his fur, and he used to yelp loads when we tried to get them out.

Billy never used to like it either. Then one day as i was pulling a twig out he nudged my hand out of the way and pulled it himself  

So now when it happens (he's longer than i like at the moment) when i find a twig in his fur i say "Billy Twig" , show him the twig, and he pulls it out  

It's hillarious  

[Beth]

Billy's a genius.

(Jarvis is too fixated on his ball to even realise when things get caught He'll happily run for ages on 3 legs rather than come back to be de-twigged! )

[Luvly]

every dog should be brushed every day long coat or not .Its Personal choice really how you want your dog to look .  Clipping a coat makes it go wooly and curly and graduly the coat gets woolier and tighter curls . a stipped coat lays nice and sleek although it takes some doing . pet owners can meet in the middle and have a long coat thinning the head legs and trimming the feet .you could have  a go at grooming
as for hot weather and a coat well a few show people I speak to of different long haired breeds tell me that not only does a long coat keep the heat in when needed but if combed out well will trap cool air between the fur too , I think what they say might be right .

[LurcherGirl]

Must admit, I like the spaniels if they are groomed similar to show dogs. I have an American cocker (with a lot more fur than English ones) and he will be only slightly shorter than a show dog. I don't like them all clipped short...

[jann]

For the last three years, I have resisted clipping, and have kept Molo's coat tidy, but medium to long, using scissors and a coat king 

This year for the first time, I have had him clipped in a "pet clip" style, which is short to medium length.........I was worried about how the heat was effecting him while I was out day-hiking with him, and decided that my preferences come second to his comfort 

Personally I prefer long coats, that's what cockers have !  and that's part of the deal imho.
If I wanted something easier to manage I'd choose another breed

mmmhhh Not sure i agree here 

I wouldn't not choose a breed of dog purely on their coat, there are far more important features IMO

I had the intention of keeping Billy long, but his coat is quite fine & doesn't really have the WOW factor that some cockers have. Plus I had no idea the amount of dust a long coat brings into the house.

Billy is a mud and water magnet, I have tried to keep him short as it makes it easier for me and Billy 

  Just my view. As the topic title asked for !

[clairep4]

I love cockers with long coats but both mine are clipped - they're not show dogs, they go in a river almost every day, and they also get incredibly hot during the warmer months.

I clip them myself as I resent paying someone £30 a go to do what is often not a particularly good job on them, and I like that if I do them myself I can do a less harsh clip if I want to. I went on a 1 day course to learn how to do the job a bit more properly but am still learning. 

Bella seems to really like having her coat shorter, she is always like a little spring lamb for the first few days after she's been clipped.

I also like that you can really see the lovely shape of their bodies when they have shorter coats.

But then I see lovely show dogs like Chelsea's Sid and Ringo and just inwardly sigh that mine will never look like that! 

[Beth]

I also like that you can really see the lovely shape of their bodies when they have shorter coats.

  Or in Jarvis' case, you can now see that he's rather bow-legged.

[Cazzie]

I also like that you can really see the lovely shape of their bodies when they have shorter coats.

  Or in Jarvis' case, you can now see that he's rather bow-legged.

Aww Jarvis close you're ears  Wee poppet 

[Gilly]

Definitely prefer them in full coat   Buttons is now clipped but in a show style which means I clip everywhere you would normally hand strip or use thinning scissors ans all the feathering is left intact but shaped accordingly.
The only part that gets clipped on Gracie is her chest and the tops/inside of her ears, the rest is done by hand even though I'm not showing her anymore, all feathers are left intact  
Lola hasn't got a lot of puppy fluff, she is going straight into a lovely silky smooth adult coat..thank god, as so far it looks like she's going to be easy to hand strip    I also love the Blue Roan coat more than the other 2 as trimming it (so far) seems to be more forgiving..trying to thin the chest on a B&W without getting any scissors marks proved to be beyond my grooming skills  

Overall I think clipping is OK but in moderation..leaving some feathering intact and not making them look like shorn sheep.

[bluegirl]

I also love cockers with long coats. I hand strip all my 3 and I have used the coat king and the clippers on the pups, but for them all I have given them the show look.
Mine love being groomed so they just run to the shed and all 3 fight to go on the table first. I keep on top of the grooming so they don't get many tangles and grooming doesn't take forever. I always take mine on off road walks so they do get pretty grubby, but I wouldn't change their look.

[LoveCatz]

I think it's very much down to personal choice and if you show your dog. Mine are show dogs but I have never intended to show them. If fact Woody doesn't ahve enough coat to show  Woody is hand stripped but now he's been castrated that will have to change. Pepsi has always been clipped as she's always been a Woolly mammouth and I couldn't find anyone who would attempt to do it. She's been speyed now any way. Personally I keep her coat short as mine as walked by a stream every day and are in and out of. Pepsi's coat matts easily if it's long. She seems more comfortable in the warmer weather with a shorter coat too.

[piewwiew]

hm !

now i don't know whats best as we will be up the farm everyday with the horses

i love my choice of show cocker chosen especially for his look and personality

but in hiensite (sorry i havent a clue how to spell this word) maybe i should have looked further into it and maybe a working cocker would have suited our lifestyle

it will all be ok in the end we will find a middle ground with everything coat wise in time 

teresa xxxxxxxxxx