Hi I wanted to get my girl trimmed as shes a long haired breed before she whelps. However when I told my vet this he said it would be unwise as she doesn't need stressing out. Is this ok or would she be ok with having a quick trim (id tell the groomer not to bath her)?

I wish I could do it myself in the comfort of her own home but last time I tried I couldn't show her for 12 months because of the mess of her face.

I would give my regulars a 'maternity clip' about 2 weeks before their sue date, removing surplus hair from around the vulva, nipples and inside the hind legs, but only bitches who were used to the parlour and so wouldn't be stressed.

I have shaved my dog off underneath and around her "bits" she wasnt stressed at all. I would say give her a shower though as the cut hair may irritate the skin, I just used water and a brush to get the hair out!

Mine wasnt stressed at all! Shes not a long hairded dog but not a short neither lol.

I wouldnt let a groomer near her though unless you can be there incase theres an accident or something, maybe find on who will come to your house!

> but last time I tried I couldn't show her for 12 months because of the mess of her face. <IMG class=qButton title="Quote selected text" alt="Quote selected text" src="/images/mi_quote.gif" width=20 height=10>

She's not going anywhere for several months so I wouldn;t worry.  You'll be more experienced this time and just maybe do whats needed.

I'm a groomer and I've had a couple of pregnant clients.  I always go to their house, which is a total pain as dogs always 'act up' on their own turf, but I would never take a pregnant bitch into my premises.  If only for the risk of infections or illness or stress.  I go to theirs and only take dry shampoo, comb, brush and scissors and just go slowly and very relaxed.  My girls fell asleep on the table so I thought of it like a massage for a heavily pregnant woman!  Must've been nice to get all those hard to reach areas a good scratch.

I've always made sure that my girl has a good 'cut and blow dry' :-D prior to mating and then I take the scissors to her a few days before whelping nice and calmly at home.

If as cracar does with a home visit and your girl is calm and wouldn't be bothered by it fine, there's your solution. :-)

Otherwise, forget about sides being even and cut correctly, really not important, don't care about things like that at all. Stress free is the only thing you need to concentrate on whilst she's in whelp and helping her not to get matted up at her rear and front end by your own hand matters not at this stage. :-) When the pups are 6 weeks  I take my girl for a very quick pamper and to have the damage I've done repaired ;-) my groomer makes sure it is just us and I stay with her and we are in and out in 40 mins, she's looking beautiful again and happy to leave her pups for a while, she's not stressed and enjoys the outing.

A little bit of stress can lead to a lot of unfortunate problems so just focus on that and that alone. :-)

Depends how pregnant she is and whether she minds grooming. If she's over 4 weeks but under perhaps 7 weeks, and likes going to the groomer, and you trust your groomer to be gentle and relaxed, she should be ok. But if you have the slightest doubt about anything, better to just do your best at home, or get a groomer to come out to you. I'm sure you will do a perfectly good job for the purpose of making her comfortable, and by the time she's back in show condition the hair will have regrown.