Pepper is now coming up for 8 months old... can't believe how quickly the time has gone....
He has morphed from a cute, feisty little bundle off fluff into this enormous, shaggy haired beast doing quite a convincing impression of a shag-pile carpet.
People stop me in the street to tell me that "my Poodle is far too fat and I'm over feeding", and I have to patiently explain that it's very thick puppy fur, he's actually a little underweight according to my vet (scrawny little thing when wet) and he is NOT a poodle, thank you very much.
I really need some advice on what to do with him - here's my dilemma:
I know through reading the forum that I should wait for his puppy fluff to start to loosen up so I can start hand stripping him. I like the idea of a hand stripped dog - especially as he's a blue roan, but his coat is SO thick and dense and am constantly wrestling with huge knots, even though I brush him out daily. Which he HATES. So I literally am wrestling with him on a daily basis....
I met a breeder recently who said I could start Furminator-ing him, but I'm not sure if that's right - his puppy fluff isn't loose yet so wouldn't this be quite painful? Especially as he hates being brushed anyway and turns into a little toothy ball of fury every time the brush comes out (that's another post all together).
I'm also not sure if hand stripping is the best way to go now. I'm not showing him, and we do long walks every day on the beach, through long grass, he loves to swim in the river... and I wonder if actually a shorter coat would be more sensible from a maintenance point of view - I could keep some feathering etc to make sure he still looks like a Cocker! But I'm not sure if he'll look odd if he's clipped - does that suit blue roans? Any opinions on that?
Is there a halfway house? I've had to cut quite a lot of knots off his stomach recently, and actually his tummy looks really nice - it's not really short hair, just trimmed a bit - like a long clip or something....
Here are my questions in summary:
Do I need to wait until he's a bit older/ the puppy fur starts to come out before I think about coiffing him or can I get started soon?
Is there an alternative to a 'short back and sides', somewhere between being clipped and stripped so he doesn't look too short haired but has a manageable coat?
Can someone who has found a good solution to a similar dilemma as mine point me in the right direction to some pictures of their Cockers?
Help! Quickly! Before the next person calls him a Poodle and I'm forced to smother them with a poo bag....