Hello all

Looking for some advice here please. Barney is now 10 months old and everyone, including our dog walker (who is an ESS owner), says we should have had Barney cut by now. However, I do not necessarily agree with them as everyone (inc the wife) says he should be clipped.

I have had my hair clipped for the last 20 years and have seen how disgusting it looks when it grows a little long and do not want the same for Barney. I regularly thin his ears and trim his paws. He has a strip of coarse & curly hair on his back but the rest is of his fur is fine.

I only need his back trimmed as it is starting to resemble a curly mohican. He hasn't been castrated yet. However, all the groomers in my area (Maidstone) says they will clip him and I'm having difficulties convincing my wife that we should avoid this.

Is there a way that I could simply trim his back, perhaps a Mars Coat King would help? If so, what size would I need for coarse fur (16?, along witha 20 for the fine fur?). Perhaps someone knows of a groomer in my area that will trim his back using scissors as I don't trust myself to do a good job!

Many thanks.

SVM

I used to show Springers and we never trimmed tthe body hair except the throat area. The paws were trimed close and long hair on front legs up to the pad at back of leg and on back legs to the hock.
The ears were trimmed underneath to let them lie flat. Any other surplus was hand stripped such as the topknot and dead hair. This is done just a little every day using thumb and finger and they usually don't mind at all. Some people used rubber thimbles like the typists used to have.
Nowadays the clippers are generally used but I only use them on a badly matted dog.
Mary is a groomer and will help you out . Also Fuddles will tell you of a cunning plan with a comb and elastic band.

Hi Sea Pigeon

Thanks for your reply. I do most of his regular grooming, of which include using the comb/elastic band trick!

But nothing seems to be working vis a vis his mohican strip. I do wonder whether this will naturally grow out if we left it alone. Thus I'm thinking that perhaps we ought to leave him alone for now.

We met another ESS that had recently been given a body clip, with the feathers/skirts left to grow long. I kbiw it's a subjective issue but I personally didn't like it. One groomer said this is the "show cut" - I felt she was having a laugh! But my wife liked it........

I welcome other views on the mohican strip and remedies to solve this!

Thanks.

Have you tried stripping the coat using a stripping stone or stripping knife, you could ask the groomer to handstip if your not too sure, they will charge a wee bit extra for this service as it takes much longer than clipping

Me and a friend just clipped our 3yr old cos her coat was a bit wispy/long and was getting very hot with the summer weather (we occasionally see!) We pretty much clipped her grade 2 all over -it was first time but she was really good and looks better and she is happier and not so hot and bothered.

We used scissors to go down back of legs and other delicate areas. Not sure what other people do or if this is the correct method but as she is not a show dog it was good to clip her back.

Sarah x

Try the comb and lazzy band, inter thread through the teeth, you will be amazed

Thats all I do on mine these days on a regular basis. Quick after a walk, twice a week proper. Occasional strip,

Jackie

It sounds like Obi (who is a year old) has a similar kind of coat to Barney, Obi has a short, glossy liver coat all over except a wide strip (neck to tail) of longer, slightly coarser fur on top, which has a slightly more 'gingery' colour.
I must admit, it had never occured to me to cut or clip the fur, even if I did it would still have a slightly different colour and texture, therefore would still stand out.
Personally, I can't see much point in clipping a dog unless the dog may be uncomfortable if it isn't done, ie risk of matting or overheating etc

XX

Thank you all. We have decided to forego the clipping/trimming of Barney. We'll see how he gets on with the regular grooming I do myself. I pretty much trim him when needed but have yet to do learn how todo his chest - will need to research that one a bit further.

Meanwhile, Barney has been bitten by a Jack Russell and had stitches. So he's awalking around with a cone and he's feeling sorry for himself.