Another question - what age did you start clipping your dogs , ive got Douglas who is 7 months old and is just a bundle of puppy fluff would you start to clip him now or wait until his full coat comes through ?
I'd wait until his sleek adult coat has come through before you decide, you'll probably find it's a lot easier to manage; less of a sponge and much, much easier to get debris out of, particularly if you keep on top of the grooming. Stevie's puppy coat was a nightmare as it was so thick but her adult coat causes no real trouble at all.
My 3 are all neutered now so I use a combination of clippers, thinners and coat king - I leave the feathering as long as possible and don't really find it much of a problem ( then again maybe I'm not as house proud as some of you
). One tip I was given was to brush before walks, it makes it easier to get twigs, leaves etc out of the coat.