Bad Hair Day

[Fran]

Hi all,

What's going on with Suzie's hair!?  Her body coat is quite short  but the hair  on top of her head has gone completely mad.   It's  a mop of shiney curls!  Not knowing anything about grooming is there any specific way I should trim/cut her hair before I have to put it in pony tails                      

[Michele]

Hi Fran,
Suzie is growing a top knot and you can deal with it in a number of ways.

You can either hand strip it out. This will give the smoothest finish but does take time. Lift a small tuft and with first finger and thumb gently pluck the hair out. If it is ready to give it will come out fairly easily. Between plucking, brush the head and then you can see if you have done enough or if there is there more left to come out. Its very easy to keep going at one area and end up with a bald spot, so be careful.

Second way is with thinning scissors. Lift the tufts and go in from the back with the blades pointing towards her nose. Only a couple of snips at a time or again you'll get a bald patch. Brush it through and see if it looks smooth enough. If not repeat until it is.
This gives a fairly similar result to hand stripping but it won't last as long or grow back as smoothly.

Third way is to use clippers. It is by far the quickest but it won't give the softer, smooth finish that the other two ways will.

HTH  
Michele                    

[charlie]

Hi Fran,

I glad its not just me, I was becoming paranoid. In my town we have 6 cockers locally and they all have lovely flat heads. Unlike Tilli, she has a toupe like mop on the top of her head. When it get wet it just like a fuzz ball(quite cute really).
I wonder if Michele could help me???
 ???At what age they are ready for their first proffessional groom and when are they old enough to hand strip? Tilli is 6 1/2 months and I cannot get any hair out. Her body coat is still quite short she is a blue roan.                    

[Mike]

I had similar problems! I got loads of help and advice from this thread:

http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/forum/viewtopic . php?t=71

I think I had to wait until Daisy (also blue roan) was about 7.5 months before her puppy fur started to give - up until then she was like a little puffball, complete with the ringlets on top   I have ended up not hand stripping my dog, but using mostly the coat king (this tool is explained in the thread above), spratts 76 comb and thinning scissors  - but this may not be suitable if you're intending on showing you dog, whereas mine is only a family pet.  

Our resident grooming experts (Michele, Jane and Pammy) will undoubtedly offer much more detailed advice, but I hope this helps                      

[Michele]

I wonder if Michele could help me???
 ???At what age they are ready for their first proffessional groom and when are they old enough to hand strip? Tilli is 6 1/2 months and I cannot get any hair out. Her body coat is still quite short she is a blue roan.

Hi Charlie,
6.5 months is still very young for the coat to start to give, but as Mike said unless you are going to show her then there's no reason why you can't use either thinning scissors or a coat king for that matter.
For all puppies though I would suggest that you go through the grooming process with them now even if they don't have hardly any coat as this will get them used to being routinely handled. I did this with Otis (he's as solid as a rock now ) & I'm sure Jane does it with her pups too. A show dog has to stand for a lot longer than a pet one whilst being prepared for a show, and this can be over a number of days too.

hth

Michele & a still very hairy Otis :-                    

[Fran]

Thanks Michele and Mike for your valuable advice                    

[Jane S]

For all puppies though I would suggest that you go through the grooming process with them now even if they don't have hardly any coat as this will get them used to being routinely handled. I did this with Otis (he's as solid as a rock now ) & I'm sure Jane does it with her pups too.

Absolutely, this is something I always recommend to new puppy buyers (& have it printed in block capitals in the grooming leaflet I include in our Puppy Packs) If you start getting a baby pup used to being brushed & handled on a table from Day 1, it will make life so much easier later on when grooming becomes much more of a necessity. Ruby (10 months) & Nina (5 months) both stand like statues on the tabe to be groomed now, although when they were younger, they tried the usual puppy tricks of wriggling, squirming & leaping off the table                    

[Mary]

Yes Jane, this is exactly what happens when I try to groom Lottie!  She will not keep still, tries nibbling me all the time and tries to go over the edge of the table backwards!  I know the advice is to do a little bit (which is obviously all she needs) but I can't keep her there for more than 15 seconds!!  Any tips to reassure her?  The breeder was grooming her when we picked her up and although she wasn't over keen,  she did keep still.                    

[Michele]

Mary perhaps you need to be a bit more assertive. I expect the breeder who has maybe handled quite a few puppies before took a much more positive approach. They do wriggle & squirm but if they get the message through the tone of your voice & body language that you mean business you will be half way to getting there.
Not for one moment do I mean you should be rough with them, but even at their very young age they can pick up on your vibes and if you are not 100% positive they will know that. Just imagine them behaving in the same way in 6 months time   and that should give you the approach you might be lacking?

hth good luck                    

[Mary]

Right then, assertive it is, no messing next time!!!                    

[Michele]

Right then, assertive it is, no messing next time!!!

Great stuff, thats what I like to hear. Hope you see a difference. Good Luck                    

[Gilly]

I've been tryinh to groom buttons everyday for about 1 minute...ha..ha But I think I've got a Kamakazi pup too
She tries to dive off the table.....I think I need to be more assertive too
I've bought a puppy slicker brush...is this OK?                    

[Pammy]

Gilly - you are doing all the right things for Buttons.  A puppy slicker is fine - do just watch the pins aren't too sharp. I eventually found a soft touch slicker made by Lawrence. The pins are set in a cushioned pad. I still use it now as the boys can be such wimps sometimes - especially around their "bits"

Keep at it - a little at a time and also do it a few times a day. Have a really nice tasty treat and she'll soon come to love it.                    

[Michele]

Another tip owners of new puppies may find handy is whilst grooming/fussing/cuddling the puppy is to momentarily hold the feet. The reason for this is, so that again they get used to being handled. Too many dogs that I've groomed have been very twitchy about their feet being trimmed. IF you feel confident enough to do it, taking off just the very tips of their nails will also help the puppy in the future. Whilst they're still young you can do this standard nail scissors.
Its all about laying down a good foundation now to have a happy dog who enjoys being groomed in the future                    

[Gilly]

Thanx Pammy and good advice Michele...I actually cut buttons claws with baby clippers whilst she was lying on my knee and she didn't object....what a sneaky mummy I am
I groomed her on the diding room table....and she stood rooted to the spot...but only because she noticed the Budgie She even let me groom her nether regions and ears Obviously the Budgie doesn't get out in her prescence her being a bird dog and all And he's too high up for her to reach....do you think I should groom her somewhere else though.... :-