Author Topic: your views on long coats or clipping  (Read 10016 times)

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Offline Cob-Web

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #60 on: May 29, 2007, 06:05:10 PM »
I think I have been misunderstood - the point that my groomer was making was that those people who do take time over their cocker coats, and then realise they CAN'T keep on top of it for whatever reason are more likely in her experience to ask for a "short back and sides" (just like Jane said  ;)) but her experience is that there are a lot of people who have allowed their dogs coat to get matted but then go to the groomer expecting their dog to look like something that has just walked out of the show ring, and complain when the hair is cut shorter  ::)

I think we can all be forgiven for misunderstanding, as that version bears absolutely no relation to your earlier telling of the anecdote... but hey never mind.  ::)

Tired.....on lunch break...typing quick......not perfect ::) ::)
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Offline silkstocking

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #61 on: May 29, 2007, 06:13:04 PM »
For the record, the two doggies lying here are matt free, knot free, tangle free, and with long coats!!! Because I take the time every day to brush them through and keep on top of it :D

Oh and they also like a good romp in muddy dirty hilly places, they aren't kept in a glass bubble because they have their long coats, they are allowed to still be cockers! :D

To me a cocker has a long coat so that is how I choose to keep it, that's all, other people may not have the time or the dedication to Grooming that I do, they also may just prefer a dog with a short coat. It is all about personal prefernce.

A dog with a long coat, can have as much fun as a dog with a short coat, it's just that obviously the long coat will take more looking after and give the owner more to do.






Offline Cob-Web

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #62 on: May 29, 2007, 06:37:14 PM »
For the record, the two doggies lying here are matt free, knot free, tangle free, and with long coats!!! Because I take the time every day to brush them through and keep on top of it :D

Oh and they also like a good romp in muddy dirty hilly places, they aren't kept in a glass bubble because they have their long coats, they are allowed to still be cockers! :D

To me a cocker has a long coat so that is how I choose to keep it, that's all, other people may not have the time or the dedication to Grooming that I do, they also may just prefer a dog with a short coat. It is all about personal prefernce.

A dog with a long coat, can have as much fun as a dog with a short coat, it's just that obviously the long coat will take more looking after and give the owner more to do.


I don't think anyone considers you do keep them in glass bubble, Lise - I certainly don't think you do as I know it is perfectly possible to enjoy hiking in very rural and muddy countryside in mid-winter with a full coated cocker (with the help of a hosepipe  :005:)

At the end of the day, Molo is the same dog - I made an irreversible decision to have him clipped purely for his benefit, despite my own preference for a full coat - if I am judged to have violated my dog, then so be it  :005: Oh, and I still groom him every day, too - but that IS for my own benefit, as I enjoy it......... ;)
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Offline *jean*

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #63 on: May 29, 2007, 06:51:30 PM »
dont hang me.. This is only my opinion..and a quick question.. I like seeing  show types with coats but my lot who are workers get in a fearfull mess with brambles,  stabby thorny stuff and whins and in the snow sometimes they can hardly move for the snowballs they accumulate that I have to pull them off which they dont like.. i know we get deeper snow up here but it can virtually stop the dogs in their tracks. how on earth would you get anywhere with a full coat youd be stopping every so often to pull the stabby stuff out ( ouch!) and as for sticky willies.. my lot have full ears and what a mess they get in. in open ground fields they are fine but my lot prefer rough ground. but I have to say if I got a show type id want her to look like mellycome ( mrs macs dog) who has a long coat and is just lovely and she obviously manages to stay clean. an tangle free . maybe shes not as keen to shove herself into brambles as my lot are? ( and if brambles can snare a sheep would it not tie up a long haired dog?) It can take me ages to get every stab out of my lots coats and ears. some thorns are in really deep and have to be pulled out of their skin .. then theres the ticks.. >:(
 ps I like the cocker trimmed look too with long ears feathers and some belly hair.. its the totally shaved off look Im not fussed on specially if its a fat little cocker..
 perhaps theres more to this .. maybe its the worker in mine that make them go into cover a show type might be daunted from entering? so there fore a longer coat would be fine as theyd not get strangled in the brambles..  Im interested as I might one day get a show type..
 and I dont clip my lots feathers or ears or talis as some workers are as I like the look of them with a bit of coat..I just have to comb them out more! ;)

Offline silkstocking

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #64 on: May 29, 2007, 06:56:55 PM »
Brambles can be a pain Jean  :D this is very true! But there is a knack to getting the little blighters out without too much hastle :D



Offline Cob-Web

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #65 on: May 29, 2007, 06:57:45 PM »
I remember one horrific incident in a field of thistle-style plants with hooked, prickly seed pods; well, the walk was nice, but the following two hours wasn't much fun  ph34r ph34r
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Offline lyn

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #66 on: May 29, 2007, 07:05:59 PM »
I remember one horrific incident in a field of thistle-style plants with hooked, prickly seed pods; well, the walk was nice, but the following two hours wasn't much fun  ph34r ph34r
were those pricklies teasels rachel? i have been admiring a crop of them that have taken residence in the wild bit of our garden. i won't chop them coz the small birds love the seed heads in the winter.
ellie is extra smooth coated so i hope they don't invade her :005:

Offline Cob-Web

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #67 on: May 29, 2007, 07:12:28 PM »
I remember one horrific incident in a field of thistle-style plants with hooked, prickly seed pods; well, the walk was nice, but the following two hours wasn't much fun  ph34r ph34r
were those pricklies teasels rachel? i have been admiring a crop of them that have taken residence in the wild bit of our garden. i won't chop them coz the small birds love the seed heads in the winter.
ellie is extra smooth coated so i hope they don't invade her :005:

They were much smaller, Lyn - I have no idea what they are, but there is a field of them growing just up the road, and I avoid it like the plague, now  :005:
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Offline JaspersMum

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #68 on: May 29, 2007, 07:45:19 PM »
Rachel, I am sorry you seem to think that my comments about the American cocker being clipped are a front to yourself, it is simply my opinion that there are compromise clips as many others have stated on here rather than clipping completely head to toe.  I've already stated that whilst I like Jaspers coat long, should he become uncomfortable and unable to cope with hot weather I will consider whether some (or all) of that coat needs to be removed, in the meantime he's welcome to roll in what ever he wishes and go on any walk and I will deal with the cleaning and the grooming necessary.

Thankfully he leaves the deep mud to Louie who with the worker mix coat, is much easier to keep clean and only needs feathers thinning.  Even then he's got goose grass dangling off his head and twigs stuck to his bum.... thats life.

When I had horses they were clipped according to the work I was doing with them - it'll be no different with dogs.

Have I missed the point, I thought that the OP wanted opinions on long or short?  Its for them to decide what sort of life their dog is going to lead and how much they can cope with keeping on top of the grooming not what everyone else is going to think of them by their decision.

Jenny - owned by Jasper, Ellie, Heidi, Louie & Charlie

Offline Cob-Web

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #69 on: May 29, 2007, 08:21:10 PM »
Have I missed the point, I thought that the OP wanted opinions on long or short?  Its for them to decide what sort of life their dog is going to lead and how much they can cope with keeping on top of the grooming not what everyone else is going to think of them by their decision.

Exactly! If I had read this thread before I had Molo clipped, and realised how some people judge the owners of clipped dogs, then I would have agonised even more about my decision, thinking it was somehow reflecting on my competency as a dog owner ......:(

Of course it is down to individuals; but the way you commented specifically about a dog you know, and your judgement of the owners actions, could easily make the decision more difficult :-\

I do agree with Colin, I didn't find it too hard to keep Molo's coat well maintained - but it seems a shame that if someone isn't confident enough when they are looking for a puppy to make that commitment then they would be advised (by some) to choose a short-haired breed instead  :huh:
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Offline CraftySam

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #70 on: May 30, 2007, 02:46:37 AM »
One of the teachers at my daughters school as an American Cocker and has it clipped short.  That just seems like sacrilege  :o I can't think for a minute he has it running anywhere particularly rough so I would of thought there must be a compromise.

My groomer told me recently that her experience is that owners who keep their dogs tangle and matt free are the ones who ask for it to be "all cut off" and the people whose dogs have matts are the ones who want their dogs to stay as long as possible (just a tidy up, please)  ::)
She thinks that it is because the people who keep their dogs matt-free know how much time it takes and so when they can't keep on top of it for any reason, they prefer to have the dog clipped short than allow the dog to become uncomfortable and matted  :-\


JaspersMum - Personally I agree with you.  I myself am choosing to keep Morgan with the coat that was intended for him. He may not be kept in an exact show cut but he will keep a long skirt, trimmed to a suitable length for him (when in grows).  When choosing to own an American I took on board all that came with that choice including his coat care.  I know and have seen American's clipped very short and thats not what I would choose. One of Morgan's littermates isn't going to be kept with a full coat but neither is she clipped short, she's being kept very much at the stage they are now which length wise is about the same as Barney's skirt length though its a much thicker coat. Thats a compromise that works for them.

Rachel - I do object to that sweeping generalisation by your groomer .  >:(

I do and will keep my cockers, of both varieties, coats long. I do NOT leave them to get matted and uncomfortable by any stretch of the imagination. I spend a full 12 hour day every week giving them a thorough groom and as long as it takes every day to ensure that they remain matt free.  This is part of my commitment to owning my dogs.  I do know exactly what it takes to keep my dogs matt free and comfortable and I  shan't be cutting it all off.  >:(
This decision however does NOT mean that I do not care for the comfort of my dogs. My Lab gets just as hot as my longer haired dogs.  All the dogs, long and short haired, go on the same walks over the fields and through the woods, and like lots of dogs they roll in unmentionable stuff but again thats part of being a dog and they get cleaned up when they get home.

All of these comments and my previous post are my opinions. If an owner of a cocker spaniel is unable to commit to the time needed to keep a long coat matt and tangle free then of course they should keep their dogs coat shorter for the sake of the comfort of the dog.
What I won't condone are statements that infer that only owners that keep their dogs coat short care about the comfort of the dog, that is just not so.

can we see a piccie of  your little yankee sam :D

You can.  :D The pics I have are a bit old so I'll take some pics for you after he's been groomed tomorrow and I'll post them for you in the other breeds photo section.
Sam is mum to - Sapphi (working black Lab 5 1/2 yrs), Max (Golden Retriever 4 yrs) Morgan (American Cocker 2 1/2yrs) and mum in spirit to Barney (English Cocker 3 1/2 yrs now living in Scotland)

Offline Cob-Web

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #71 on: May 30, 2007, 06:41:11 AM »
Rachel - I do object to that sweeping generalisation by your groomer .  >:(

I have already explained, and apologised to the OP that it was a poorly worded post that was in no way meant the way it has been taken......

the point that my groomer was making was that those people who do take time over their cocker coats, and then realise they CAN'T keep on top of it for whatever reason are more likely in her experience to ask for a "short back and sides" (just like Jane said  ;)) but her experience is that there are a lot of people who have allowed their dogs coat to get matted but then go to the groomer expecting their dog to look like something that has just walked out of the show ring, and complain when the hair is cut shorter  ::)

Sadly, it seems that one poorly worded post, which I typed in haste and which was corrected at the first opportunity, has resulted in the dominated this thread - but hey, we're not all perfect  ::) ::)
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Offline Jane S

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Re: your views on long coats or clipping
« Reply #72 on: May 30, 2007, 09:19:18 AM »
Time to close this thread again as Rachel has already explained what she meant and there seems no point in continuing this.
Jane