Hi, I am a newbie to the site and would be grateful for some grooming advice.  I am hoping to show my border collie puppy soon and I am interested in what grooming products people with border collies favour.  He is eight months old and has a medium to long coat, with traditional black and white markings.  Also, could anyone advise if his hocks and feet are to be trimmed.  All advice received with thanks.

Hi Steph, I've got a 6 month old border collie puppy too, his a red merle. I cant give you any advice on showing as i'm a newbie too, although we have one show under our belt, (we came 2nd out of 2!!) We are entered for Richmond tomorrow, i know we dont stand a chance of getting placed but it'll be a nice day out and get to pick up lots of tips from the experts. I made a similar sort of enquiry as you have on here a while ago, have a look for my thread, there were a few helpful replies. I did bother trimming my boys feet and backs of his legs right up to his hocks, but when i got to the show realised that most of the other "serial showers" dont bother (or at least not that often). But i think it looks neater if you do trim. Also a good tip i picked up just from watching others, i saw one lady spray her dogs coat with what looked like water but may have been some coat conditioner and then lay a damp towel across his back to lay the hair down, will be trying that on my boy tomorrow.

Should only be water Carinag as other sprays would contravene KC rules.

edited to add here is Carinag's original thread

Thanks for the tip, I will bear it in mind.  Any particular shampoos or conditioners you have tried that you would recommend?