Hi. Just a quickie. How do i use thinning scissors of my girls coat. Her coat is so thick (more than other girls) and is just knotting like theres no tomorrow. I thinking that thinning the coat a little will stop some of this and make her a little cooler. Thanks

Brush the coat upwards and then lay the thinning scissors level with the skin and cut, this cuts into the undercoat.  Brush coat back down again, this means that you are just taking out some of the undercoat and not spoiling the top coat. Keep doing this until you have thinned out enough.  Never take too much from one area without checking after each cut or you will end up with the area being patchy.

Might also be worth trying a Coat King or stripping comb? Let me know how it goes with thinning scissors, next month I have to groom an extremely thick and woolly Cavalier with SM who apparently hates Coat Kings, so am undecided whether to try that first or just try scissors. :-)

If the Cav hates coat kings either they've been used wrongly or they are blunted (or maybe just plain dirty)  The dogs I've used them on react no differently to when they are brushed or combed ;)

I've seen the results of a coat king on a Springer coat (esp feathering) and it was excellent, but you must use it in the same direction as the coat grows and lies, that way the outer coat won't be damaged but the undercoat will be thinned ;)  There are different sizes of coat king for different breeds and thicknesses of coat and the dog should be knot/tangle free before starting.

The people you buy the tool from should be able to advise on which one/s for which type of coat and it should come with instructions for use ;)

Lucy, have you tried a shedding comb? If undercoat is the problem then this should help enormously ;)

Hope this helps

Hi Dill, is a shedding comb the same as my Mikki stripping comb? Blue plastic with short bladey bits? None of the dogs I have used coat kings on have ever objected, but this one I'm doing in May does have SM so is very sensitive to touch on her shoulders and neck. I'll just have to try and see! I don't want to hurt her of course, but if she's just being silly about it she'll have to put up with it! :-)

Hi Lucy

No the Coat king is quite different ;) if you click on the link I gave you'll see ;)

A shedding comb has two different sizes of teeth set alternately in one single row, not sure why this makes such a difference but it does :)

the picture here shows what I mean :)  <a class='url' href='http://tinyurl.com/qjwxt'>http://tinyurl.com/qjwxt</a>

You can buy them at most petshops and PAH :)

Hi Dill, I know the coat king's different from a stripping knife, I was wondering about the shedding comb though! Is that what that picture is? I'll have to invest in one. :-)

Whats a coat king? Think I'm being blonde!! :) The other reason I want to thin the coat is the vet found a tick that had been picked up that morning and when he went to remove it there was soo much coat it took a while to find it again. Then later we found one on the other girl. First time for both. Poor girls.

You can find pictures of coat kings

here

don't be scared by the look of them, they are really easy to use if the instructions are followed and you stop and check regularly to assess the results :)

Although they seem expensive they leave a really good finish, the harder top coat is barely touched but the woolly undercoat is thinned.  It's better to go lightly all over the coat several times than to try and finish the dog in a hurry ;)

Hope this helps :)

Yep they look quite scarey. Which one would I go for???  Theres so many!!

LOL :)

They aren't as scarey as they look :)  you just use them with a light touch - much as you would a comb, instructions for use should be included and HUB are very good at giving advice on which one to choose for your dog's particular coat type :)  If you're a bit doubtful or your dog doesn't have a typical coat for its breed, then get in touch with them :)

If you scroll down the page they have recommendations for different breeds of dog and coat types :)

The FINE 10 blade or 12 blade is recommended for cavaliers, the no of blades governs the width so if the dog is fairly small, use the smaller one :)  The blade part of the comb is changeable so you can replace them when they no longer work, although using them on a clean coat will ensure they work for longer ;)

Hope this helps