Dog grooming

[NourishedNails]

I have my cavalier groomed every 3 months but to be honest I have not been that pleased with the result, they never seem to take much off despite me telling them too many times, it costs a lot too so I shall be trying out other groomers but my hubby said to me why don't you get some clippers? I said but I am not qualified to lol!! I am a believer that hair/nails/beauty should be left to a professional not a DIYer but after reading up on the wahl dog clipper, it sounds quite good and would save my bills and would be to my liking (well after a few dodgy cuts first I should imagine )

Anyway just wondering if anyone does this themselves or best left to a groomer?

Thanks x

 

[Tomme]

I do my aunts dog, he won't let anyone else near him. Between the pads are hard to do, and his legs are done freehand without a length on it xoxo

 

[MaisyMouse]

I have my cavalier groomed every 3 months but to be honest I have not been that pleased with the result, they never seem to take much off despite me telling them too many times, it costs a lot too so I shall be trying out other groomers but my hubby said to me why don't you get some clippers? I said but I am not qualified to lol!! I am a believer that hair/nails/beauty should be left to a professional not a DIYer but after reading up on the wahl dog clipper, it sounds quite good and would save my bills and would be to my liking (well after a few dodgy cuts first I should imagine )

Anyway just wondering if anyone does this themselves or best left to a groomer?

Thanks x

I have a cavalier too that I get clipped, I did buy clippers but to be honest I found it such a faff and milly hates it so I don't want her to hate me doing it so went back to a groomer. I get her clipped quite short with just a little bit left on her tails and ears, I hate it when they leave a skirt. As long as my dog is happy, and she is like a new dog when she is clipped, and those carpet feet are trimmed I'm not too bothered what she looks like.

Surely like a hairdresser they should do what you ask for :biggrin:

 

[Dolly6410]

we do our 3 golden retrievers, the 2 original ones are a pain and pull away, run and hide and get really stroppy, but the adopted one is really good, she sits nicely and loves to be faffed over.

We do nails which can be awful because they can bleed if you cut them too much so my dad is incharge of that. I cut bloomers and inbetween pads and my sister brushes. When it comes to bath time it's a 3 person job, but it's fun. We have just started using Pet Head - Royal Treatment which i love! makes them smell lovely and their fur is amazingly soft. We make sure they get lots of cuddles and kisses whilst they are being attacked with brushes and scissors so they kind of forgive us x

 

[Rory Love]

I have 2 Shih Tzu, I thought I could groom mine easily - oh how wrong I was. It took forever, had to keep stopping and starting because oldest wouldn't cooperate. Found my youngest to be really scared which made her difficult to do. Shaping the feet was a lot more tricky than I imagined too. I've switched groomers once as I didn't like the new space she moved to, moved them to a groomer that works from home and they love her. I leave them with her for an hour and a half, I can only just about bath and dry them both in that time! Both groomers I've experienced haven't done 100% what I want, no matter how much I say or bring in photos but I'd rather that than spend the entire day trying to do it myself and creating lots of mess for them to not look great. Problem with my groomer is she cuts too much off as opposed to not enough. Perhaps ask to see a clipper size (shave patch of fur) and find the length you'd like when dropping your dog off? I've done that before.

 

[faefae]

I clip my cavalier and use wahl; it's a good clipper and not too loud; it's good ur dog is used to grooming as it will be easier to do it; between the pads is the fidley bit and clipping the nails. Look up on YouTube how u can clip ur dog and if u feel confident, try it!

Maybe u can take ur dog to the groomers every 6 months and u do the clipping in between the visits? Watch how they do it, where they start from and finish off, and how they position the dog. When they're clipping the nails ask where to clip etc. x

 

[Penny Vintage]

I have my dog groomed every 2-3 months without fail. But I have a westie and I learned (when doing dog grooming for my work experience) that with westies it's a complete style everytime. But other dogs except poodle types is just a trim/clip. It's quite easy to assume it's easy but really it's a work of art to get it correct. A friend of mine clipped her laparazu (?) and my god she looked like a puffy headed rat! Loads of clipper marks in the fur too, not even. I've trimmed bits of my dog if bits grow over his eyes as he has eyedrops but never more than that for me.

 

[lynn amber]

Use to love cutting my family lasha apso when he was with us ,even though he hated being groomed ,his coat was kept long but still needed a good bit of work ,my dad said I made his paws look like pompoms ,i could so easily get into dog grooming :-D

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[lucindatracey]

I am biased and believe a cavaliers coat shouldn't be touched.. As I love love their beautiful coats but unfortunately my cavalier is a rescue he's very fragile and timid so I groom him myself and as the weather has been crappy I cut all his slippers off, took alot of his leg fur off and trimmed his skirt and tail and left his ears. Once you clip a cavaliers coat it never grows back the same lol . I do love grooming, but my dog hates it lol

 

[Bluerinse]

I'm of the Same thought, cavaliers coats need stripping, and washing twice a year at that, max! I like them to look like the grinch with their foot hair BUT I would continue with a groomer.....maybe someone else?

 

[faefae]

I didn't touch my cavalier's coat for a long time, just stripping it when it needed it; but since she's become an old lady I've had to clip it shorter as she seems more comfortable with it, especially in the summer. She had this long silky fur almost growing to the floor, I loved it; I hardly had to trim it, only if she got a little matt here and there. But I understand those who like theirs clipped; they look like puppies! x

 

[Bluerinse]

I didn't touch my cavalier's coat for a long time, just stripping it when it needed it; but since she's become an old lady I've had to clip it shorter as she seems more comfortable with it, especially in the summer. She had this long silky fur almost growing to the floor, I loved it; I hardly had to trim it, only if she got a little matt here and there. But I understand those who like theirs clipped; they look like puppies! x

The amount of dog owners who don't strip the coat is shocking!! Why would you not? It's like us sitting in a sauna in full winter clothes x

 

[NourishedNails]

Thanks for all your replies geeks

He needs trimming as he adores muddy walks in the woods near us and he gets soooo dirty after, I can't be washing him everyday/twice a day... not good for him! So he needs to be kept trim, especially under his belly and his paws, the rest stays a good length for him and his ears are shorter as personally I am not a fan of the daft long ears some have, just get uber messy!!

He is a rescue but he is literally the perfect dog, he is my boy and I love him lots, he is so sociable, adores our kids and others, and loves being groomed, he falls asleep when I bath and dry him, he loves it bless him so I think he would enjoy being groomed by me too. I may well just tidy him up in between grooms and find someone else that does a better job, after a few weeks his underbelly gets really long again and he gets filthy so will be good to get clippers to keep him tidy x

 

[Gemgem675]

We get our king charles groomed every 3 months or so aswell, i much prefer it when he is clipped short. We had problems with 2 of the groomers we first went 2, the first time we said we wanted him all short and we went back and it looked like he was hardly touched! The second place we went he just came out looking like they had hacked away with scissors!

Now we have found a really great place about 5 mins from home for him and they do a great job, so i think its just a case of trying a few out. Personally i wouldn't want to groom him myself i do the odd paw trim in between visits but wouldn't fancy attempting a full cut! Especially when its only £30 for a full groom every few months, they bath him, do his claws etc.

 

[lucindatracey]

Remember cavaliers really feel the cold as they only have a single layer coat. As for long ears getting messy that's why you buy a snood lol

 

[cora-ann]

we brought our king charles caliver to a new groomer just for a tidy as he has a beautiful coat i was horrified when i collected him, was shaved tight, so disappointed after paying 60 quid he shakes at night had to give him a fleece blanket, rang to complain nothing they could do as he was skin tight x
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[JemmaB]

We used to get our Shih tzu clipped every 3 months and he always looked like a puppy hehe.
We would brush in between though and the furminater is the best brush you can get!! It gets out all the loose little hairs and we even used it on the coat who has loads of hair and we could of brushed him all day and still of got dead hair off him lol

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[SillyBilly]

I would look for another groomer, make sure they are qualified and know what they are doing. You will find groomers who will just buy a book and some equipment and start dog grooming without knowledge, skill, insurance or many other essentials.

Yes you can probably trim your own dog to look presentable but do you know what contra indications to look for or when your dog may have an underlying condition or zoonotic disease that without training and skills you will miss?

There are reasons DIYers shouldn't be doing nails or beauty treatments and there are reasons why it's sensible to take your dog to a fully qualified, professional groomer - don't be shy to ask for proof of qualifications and insurance.

HTH