LONG HAIRED BREEDS

 

For long haired breeds such as cockapoos, cocker spaniels, poodles, bichon frisé etc you will need: 

- a slicker brush with long tines (avoid ones with balls on the end, they tug the knots more)

- a slicker brush with short tines

- a metal comb with both fine teeth and wider teeth

- leave in conditioner for dogs

- de-dangling mist

- treats

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Start off by misting your dogs coat with de-tangle spray.. With a long tine slicker brush, gently brush through your dogs coat using the line brushing technique (see video I have linked). Once you've brushed them through everywhere from their feet, legs, armpit, base of tail to the tip, neck, head etc go through and check your work with the wide side of the metal comb. DO NOT brush out knots with the comb. if your comb snags, take some leave in conditioner and massage a generous amount into the area and brush with your slicker until the comb glides through. Check your dog all over (especially legs, the area behind their ears, harness area and collar area) and make sure to keep telling them how gorgeous they are.

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Most long hair breeds need to come in between 3-6 weeks for professional grooming, Especially if their coat is kept at half an inch or longer. If you get your dog clipped shorter they can go more like 7-9 weeks between grooms.

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NEW PUPPY OWNERS

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Poodle mixes especially, your baby will have a very easy soft coat to brush whilst they're small. However when they get to between 7 - 10 months old they will go through a coat change. Suddenly there are knots everywhere that don't loosen like they did before. Don't panic! Getting your dog clipped off is not the end of the world, short all over usually looks better than just clipping out the knots. It will mean you can start again to keep on top of the coat whilst it's growing out again. If you do comb and brush properly, regularly, we will be able to gradually reduce that fluffy puppy coat to reveal their majestic adult colour and texture rather than having it all off at once. 

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SINGLE COATED BREEDS

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Single coated short haired breeds are much less maintenance than their long haired friends (mastiffs, french bulldogs, dobermans, greyhounds etc) all you really need is a rubber curry brush or a gentle hog hair brush to add shine to the coat. Please do not use a Fur-minator tool on your dog, improperly used it can cut the coat, hurt your dogs coat and give your dog a balding, red sore appearance. Most of our single coated clients like to come in every 1-2 months so they smell nice and don't feel greasy, but they technically don't need to see a professional groomer at all. It is totally personal preference.

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DOUBLE COATED BREEDS

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For thick double coat breeds (think Huskies, German shepherds, Shiba inu, Labrador, collies etc) you will need a short tine slicker, long tine slicker, a coat rake and a wide tooth metal comb. They can get matting caused by undercoat not properly being shed. If you prefer not to brush it out yourself, make sure they come in every 2-4 months to keep their skin and coat healthy.