Mars and furminator

[winewood]

Sorry for the long post, I was sent this article by a friend made me a little concerned as I've been using thinning sissors and Mars on my dogs keeping them quite short Cockers must fall into this category groomers opinons would be vauled. Mine are short but not clipped.

Mod Edit: Content changed to link due to copyright issues : http://www.theunion.com/article/20110603/NEWS/110609950

[Emilyoliver]

I don't think that cockers have a true 'double coat' like terriers and GSDs or even golden retrievers. Grooming tools used on shepherds, huskies, etc to remove undercoat such as a shedding blade, aren't used on cockers as they don't produce the soft fluffy undercoat that insulates and prevents ingress of water. Thinning out coat with coat king and thinning scissors is just that rather than shaving through dense undercoat IYSWIM. Somebody more knowledgeable will post something more articulate soon am sure!

[Aillse]

Although I don't know what the article says, I've used Mars and thinning shears on my retired show dogs for years. In fact, I was able to get an old retired black dog of mine back to show coat by stripping him out with the Mars and by hand after he'd been clipped down, or as I call it, 'beaglized', for years. It took a while to grow out his coat though!

I love the using the Mars, so don't worry about it. Ultimately, it's what you want your dog to look like that counts.

[JeffandAnnie]

I had rough collies before cockers, and they are proper double-coated. IMO cockers don't have double coats - their hair is the same consistency top to bottom and they don't have a downy layer like the fluffies did. Jeff really suffers in the heat if he isn't clipped out in the summer (panting, can't settle or sleep etc), and the weight of cocker coats varies so much (from fine and silky to thick and woolly) unlike dogs like rough collies, which have the same clear definition between undercoat down and top coat hair in every dog.