Hi guys. Hoping you experts can give me some pointers for a lesson in grooming.
I have a Golden retriever who is now 8, and whilst I've trimmed him lightly all his life, he is now getting to an age where he is needing a bit more than a light trim. His 'mane' under his neck is very thick (not matted, just hairy) and although I've tried thinning scissors and regular scissors to take away some bulk, it now looks a bit 'chewed'!! Oops!
I think when I see Goldie's in the ring they must have had some clippers underneath their necks to show off the length and contours. This is what I would like to achieve...a sleek neck that gently flows into his longer fur and feathering.
Can anyone advise on clippers and length of blades please for this grooming novice! Even some description of which direction to clip in as I have never used them and don't want to go tooooo short, I just need to sort out this terrible job I've done with scissors haha! Thanks in advance x

If u Google how to groom a gr u will find a number of u tube videos which should help

I recently bought a 23/12 dematting comb online, (other configurations are available). As I routinely comb through on alternate days, I was amazed at the amount of undercoat it took out. At least on my two, it leaves the shiny guard hairs intact.
I would use with caution if the dog is still being shown.

Don’t clip his coat, golden retrievers have a double coat so if you were to clip his coat the under coat would only grow back thicker and would be very uncomfortable for him and the appearance wouldn’t be at all sleek! As CaroleC said dematting combs or ‘coat kings’ are really good at getting bulk out of his coat. But I would suggest taking him to a professional dog groomer to try and help the appearance of the part you’ve already cut. As a dog groomer myself and having just recently got my diploma in dog grooming it’s much harder than what it looks. As you’ve found out it’s not as straight forward as cutting if you really don’t want to go to a groomers then the only other advice I can offer is to cut the hair in the direction it grows. Ie. At the neck it grows down so you want to cut down, but as I said I’d take him to a professional because it sounds as though it’ll be hard to rectify anyway

Is he neutered? That tends to make the coat of male Goldens really difficult to cope with. It should always be thinning scissors though, but I know your problem. My final Golden was neutered and his coat was an utter nightmare.

I would stick with the thinning scissors.  Some take more hair than others so the chewed look is easy to achieve!  I'll see if I can find a video.

If you've not used clippers before then without guidance, chances are he'll end up looking a lot worse!

This lady is doing what I do to thin out thick areas.  She's a little quick for a demo video but when she's wiggling the scissors, she's working them down to the root of the hair, then doing one snip.  That way you're not cutting the topcoat.  Then comb out to remove the loose hair.  I've just done River's mane and it's worked a treat - no more vulture dog!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLtQiBwC2CQ

Don’t use a furminator on a golden as it cuts the long guard hairs of the top coat and can take a long time for the coat to recover from this. Make sure if you take him to a groomer that they don’t use one on him.
One of my goldens coat became more woolly and thick and I got her professionally groomed a trimmed, if you can find one that knows how to groom a golden properly then that would be the best. I know there is a very good video on grooming a golden and using thinners on YouTube, wish I had saved it.
My current golden is not heavily coated and doesn’t take much with the thinners to have a reasonable effect. The rule of thumb seems to be to go with the direction of the hair not against it

Thanks everyone, it's great to have your tips. He's not neutered or have I ever used a furminator on him....I think he's just getting to an age where it's starting to get a bit thicker and less manageable. The video helped but not sure this will get him short enough. I think the Goldie's you see being shown must've had some sort of clippers as they almost have necks like labs until it becomes the feathery chest. He isn't shown, so it's just a case of tidying up my mistake! I think I will get a clipper with a really long comb attachment...maybe 2 inches, and see where we go from there. It's got to be neater than how he looks now

I have to say (and some of you will probably be horrified) but I prefer my Goldens to have that crazy every which way coat! I agree that some of the ones shown on you tube look almost like Labs. My boy does get brushed every other day and I make sure there are no matts and also keep his feet trimmed.

> My final Golden was neutered and his coat was an utter nightmare.

Not so much with my breed but the two elderly males we had to have castrated (prostate problems) resulted in them growing heavy coats for the breed which was one of the reasons I bitterly regretted having to have done with those two boys.

The thinning in the video isn't to get his coat shorter, it's to take the thickness out of it so it's more manageable.  It made a big difference to River's mane and it does actually look quite a bit shorter, even though I didn't cut any topcoat, simply because it was so thick to start with.