Hello I Live near Maldon Essex and have a 9 month old Cocker sapniel, I have had him groomed twice and not been happy with the results far to servere.
Would any one know of a groomer that specialises in Cocker Spaniels?
Dee@digital4.co.uk

Dee

Have you tried your breeder at all? It may be too late now having had him to a groomer but most reputable breeders will help new owners learn how to trim and groom their Cockers properly - so that they can continue to look like a Cocker at least:D.

I don't know of anyone in the Maldon area - sorry. If you actually register with the board you can ask us specific quetions about grooming and we may be able to help you do more yourself. It's not as daunting as it may seem and we all had to learn. You could try Frank Kane's book, The Pet Owners Guide to the Cocker Spaniel. That has some good starting points in it.

Good luck in your search.

Pam n the boys

Take a look at this site, which has some pointers on grooming :-)

Pam, I need to purchase a stripping knife/comb. Can you recommend a make or type?

Thanking you :-)

Hi Leigh

Thanks for the link;)

Is the knife/comb for Delores? If so, I'm not sure exactly what would be the best - but as it happens, I do know a chap who breeds and shows GWPs so if you like I can pass you his details and I'm sure he'll help you out. I'll mail privately.

hugs for the girly girl who I bet is making her mark well and proper by now :D

love

Pam n the boys
xx

Hi Pam,

yes it is for Fuzzy Face .. I thought I better get one before she turns into a spinone :D

Thanx for your help :-)

lol - all that slobber too - ooh no - let's keep her a GWP:D

My mate might take a while to reply - he sometimes doesn't access his e-mail for a while;) but I'm sure he will.

love

Pam
xx

And what's wrong with a Spinone?? There's nothing better than having a dollop of Spinone slobber land in your cup of tea you know :D Seriously, I used to handstrip a Spinone - it's so easy to strip a wiry coat compared to a Spaniel's coat. Do they not strip GWP's by hand then? Just curious really :-)

Jane

>>And what's wrong with a Spinone??

How long have you got :D
I lurve spinone ;-) but couldn't be doing with all that slobber.It gets everywhere. Claire showed me how to handstrip Lawrie, but her ears are quite 'dense' and she recommended that I use a knife on them. I'm not very confident about handstripping her yet, although I suppose I better get over that pretty quick!

Leigh

<I lurve spinone but couldn't be doing with all that slobber.It gets everywhere>

Can't argue with that :-) The beard on my Mum's Spin was never dry & he used to delight in sticking it as close to you as poss :D

Would one of the Coat King range be useful for Lawrie's ears? They seem to be used in a lot of breeds now so I expect there is one that would suit a GWP. I find them a lot easier to use than traditional stripping knives, so might be worth looking into.

Jane

Hi Jane, interested to read you are using the coat kings - how are they on Cockers? People in Americans went crazy for them when they first came out, and a couple of the trade stands were realy pushing them as the perfect tool for "Yankees" - they did work on some, but we can now see the damage done by them to a whole load of coats with the new hair growth now in. Not wanting to denigrate a useful product, they are wonderful on petw where you dont want to do a whole clip off job, but arelooking for a neat and tide breed typical finish. A groomer list I am on has had an ongoing disucssion on them for months, and they do seem a useful tool for a whole vaiety of breeds in the grooming parlour.
Gwen

PS has the original poster found a groomer, if not I can post the question on the groomer site, I know 1 or 2 are from your area?

Hi Gwen

I use Coat Kings all the time for pet Cocker trims but I don't use one on the show Cockers, even though their use is now widespread in Cockers, hence Minor Puppy classes full of apparently fully stripped out babies :-) I think they will strip without cutting on coats that are ready to come but if the coat's not ready, then they will cut the coat & regrowth is often dull & fluffy. I can usually tell which Cockers have been done with a Coat King - they look great to begin with but later .....a different story :-)
On the other hand, I do one of my older dogs with one (now retired from the show ring) & his coat looks great & the regrowth is just as you would expect with a totally handstripped dog. I know a lot of people using them in other breeds like Schnauzers & Terriers where they seem to have very good results so maybe they are better suited to wire/coarse coated breeds than the fine,silky coats of show Spaniels & Setters. I see there was mention in the English Setter breed notes this week of the disadvantages of using Coat Kings on Setter coats. I think the Coat King is an undoubtedly useful tool but needs to be used with care on show coats (though I still think one would be ok for a GWP's ears :-) )

Jane

PS Don't know if the original poster has found a groomer as I haven't heard from her. Maybe Philippa has?

I use a coat king on Harvey for his body and a stripping knife for his face. I hardly ever touch his ears so they are a bit hairy.

Helen

lol@Jane ... I think 'sharing' their wet beards with you is a spin trait :D

I will look into the Coat King range, thanx. To be honest, I haven't got a clue what I am looking for so any suggestions are welcome :-) When we had a cocker, we just used to keep him clipped off and all I had to brush was his ears and feathering.

Leigh

Phillippa & I have already replied to this poster's request - I guess she must have posted her request twice

Jane

Jane

Yes she did - but oddly for me the post that you and Phil replied to came up after the one I replied to but only on a refresh - don;t really know why though:)

Pam n the boys

Feeling quite a bit better now - and Many Congrat's on Rhona's success yesterday

Glad you're feeling better now & thanks for the congrats :-)

Jane