Grooming working cockers?

[sophiew]

Hi

Sorry for yet another question, but I've been reading the stickies on the Grooming thread and I think they're mostly about show type cockers. We're about to get a working type, but out of the litter she had a bit of a curl (at 4 weeks) and the breeder suspected she'll have a bit more coat than the others. The mum didn't have much coat.

What will the grooming / trimming requirements be for a working type - I take it she's likely to have less in the way of feathering and ear hair?

I'm used to having a lab, so haven't groomed a longer haired dog, or trimmed one, for many years! 

Thanks

Sophie
x

[Helen]

can only tell you from our experience and Jarvis is entire....

I'll tell you in pictures cos that's easier (clickable thumbnails) of how his coat has developed....

as a wee pup....no issues with coat at all...



5 months, puppy coat is just blowing



6-7 months - fluff monster



just under a year I think...fluff gone, adult coat mostly through (the fluffy feathers and legs have remained though)



and a year old - ears still a bit short in feathers



and at 4 - he has got very feathery in the last 18 months!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/3913793420_6ee472a724.jpg

so we have - a coat king, a groomit (only purchased cos it gave a charity a nice donation) - you could have one or the other.  A spratts 76 comb (which I have lost somewhere), a steel toothed comb with a rubber band wound through it which is the best for getting the dead hair out, and a slicker brush mainly for his ears).  I also have a stripping comb for his legs as they get very feathery.  I do have some thinning scissors which I use on his ears and to trim the fluff between his toes and on his legs.

The main issue I have are his ears as they do attract various wild life and foliage so I comb those each night to see what he has collected, and I tend groom at night watching telly  (he'd never make it in the show ring so my haphazard skills at least keep him from the clippers  )

[sophiew]

Wow, thank you for such a great reply, and in pics too! That gives me a good idea of what might happen. I love the fluff-ball stage 

I'll add those things to the ever-increasing shopping list. I've got a slicker and a comb but the lab really doesn't need much... I can see ears becoming of much higher importance in my life when the pup arrives! 

*off to go look at grooming supplies*

Thank you!

Sophie
x

[Harveypops]

I never knew Jarvis ws so fluffy!!  Is he half sheep???

Cocker ears are a nightmare. Like Helen said, they seemed to pick up all sorts of debris in them. Sticky buds are grass seeds are the worse critters. Harvey has many a time come back to me with twigs attatched to his ear!

Not long now until pupster arrives 

[sophiew]

I never knew Jarvis ws so fluffy!!  Is he half sheep???

Cocker ears are a nightmare. Like Helen said, they seemed to pick up all sorts of debris in them. Sticky buds are grass seeds are the worse critters. Harvey has many a time come back to me with twigs attatched to his ear!

Not long now until pupster arrives 

2 weeks and a day, and counting!! 

[Nicola]

In general working Cockers have much less coat than show types, it's not as long or as profuse but in my experience solid liver coats seem to 'blow' a bit more readily and be fluffier than other colours. I have an almost 5 year old spayed liver girl whose coat is a disaster area if not clipped and a one year old unspayed (for now!) liver roan girl here on foster, the white bits of her coat are nice and silky but the liver bits are mostly fluffy and gingery, she's going to get a good groom at the weekend, I've been letting her settle in for a few days first but I'm itching to get her tidied up and deal with the fuzzy bits.

If/when you have your girl spayed you're likely to have some damage control to do afterwards. My spayed girl is a rescue and her previous owners kept her clipped right back so I've had to keep doing this as her coat is a fuzzy ginger mess which mats at the drop of a hat otherwise, however when she's clipped she looks great, I get them to leave her ears and feathering intact and just clip off her body coat. I would avoid clipping if at all possible though and try to manage the coat with tools like the groomit, comb and rubber band, stripping comb etc. I find the groomit very good, Tilly's coat has gone beyond being fixable with it but it does keep the fuzz at bay quite well in between clips.

This is her when she needs a clip, she looks like Tina Turner


And after being clipped, she looks really good and you can see her proper shiny brown colour...
 

My 2 and a half year old gold dog on the other hand has a beautiful shiny coat with silky feathering which hardly ever mats and never needs anything done to it. All I do is check him over after walks for ticks, burrs etc., finger comb through his ear and chest feathering every day and trim his paws once a month or so as I don't like the tufty toe look. His coat is extremely low maintenance but I'm often asked if I spend ages grooming him as he's so sleek  My 8 month old red girl is also sleek and doesn't have much feathering, she'll grow in a bit more coat as she gets older but she's not going to be a heavily feathered dog, she had a tiny bit of puppy fuzz at about 6 months old but it's gone now and she's very shiny and again doesn't really need any grooming at all save paw trimming.

[jla]

My lemon roan working cocker is 12 weeks now and has a lovely smooth coat with some tiny feathers coming through on her legs, her ears are a bit heavier coated and slightly wavy.  So, is this any indication what she may end up with as some people have said to me that the lemons/golds tend to be lighter coated?

[Helen]

I think she will be lighter coated    lucky you    She will probably be like my SIL's liver and white working cocker who has silky long fine feathering - she gets incredibly muddy and filthy yet an hour after she's dried she looks sparkling white again

[Nicola]

I think she will be lighter coated    lucky you    She will probably be like my SIL's liver and white working cocker who has silky long fine feathering - she gets incredibly muddy and filthy yet an hour after she's dried she looks sparkling white again

Rodaidh and Caoimhe are like that too whereas Tilly could stay damp and muddy for days

That's one very cute pup jla   I think she's going to be lighter coated too, you don't see many lemons with thick or heavy coats.

[jla]

Funny you should say about drying / cleaning up quickly.  She was filthy after playing with a friend's dogs the other day and I thought hubby was going to blow a gasket when he saw her but I popped her in her crate, drove home and she was white and clean by the time we got in.  God bless VetBed 

[angelbaby]

ive started to think about trimming Quincy right down as he is VERY VERY hairy! now the wetter muddy weather is coming!

[mmathison]

Hi

Working cockers can have different types of coats some have slinky coats with feathering on legs and skirt
and some have wolly mamouth coats,once dogs get neutured then,the wolly mamouth thing can need urgent
clipper attention unless you like the shaggy natural look both mine are kept short with feathering and much easier
to keep coat from getting knots and easier inside the house to keep clean.

I do grooming myself as a hobby but i believe if you keep the coat long then you must  brush the dog every day and
keep the knots at bay and is much kinder to the dog in the longrun matts are a nightmare and can hurt the dog if trying to
brush them out.

Regards
Michelle