Help Grooming a Cocker Spaniel

[kayleighbethh]

I have a four year old cocker spaniel with bad anxiety so groom him at home.

The clippers I use are Wahl Deluxe Combo these.

When I’ve been cutting my dog, it takes me literally all day and it feels like it doesn’t make any difference. For example, his back should be quick to do and the hair should come off, but it can literally take hours.

Is it obvious what I’m doing wrong? I’ve tried going from a high number and working my way down to a 1. I’ve tried starting on a 1 and doing small patches as I go. I go with the grain of the hair.

I’m not wanting it to look perfect, I just need the hair to come off.

 

[ohgemma]

@kayleighbethh These are not appropriate clippers for grooming a cocker spaniel. They have very thick coats and you will need to use professional equipment. The cheapest I would recommend are the andis 2 speed professional clippers. You will need blades for these clippers as well. If aesthetics are not a factor consider shaving nose to tail with a #10 blade. You will need at least 2.

Please consider that cockers in particular have extensive grooming needs and I would heavily encourage you to seek the help of a professional. We work with many anxious pets. You're risking neglecting basic grooming needs and possibly injuring your pet by doing this at home with inappropriate equipment and no experience.

 

[rickt65]

@ohgemma They're £150, with two 10 blades that's probably over £200. Really no need to spend that amount of money on home grooming. Also I'd argue a 10 is too short for a cocker spaniel, I do mine in the salon on a 7 (though yes I know the dangers of the 7 blade especially for the inexperienced)

 

[bfg33]

@kayleighbethh To properly groom a cocker you need a clipper that you can change out the blades.

Use a 7 for the neck and back. A 10 for the face, skull, top of ears and sanitary. A 30 or 40 for pads of feet and inside of ears.

The reason I always used a 40 on the inside of the ears was to help cut down on moisture since cockers are prone to ear infections.

 

[rickt65]

@bfg33 I honestly wouldn't suggest a pet owner to do a 40 on the insides of the ears, or a 30 on paw pads. Both areas are so easy to cut, when starting at school we did paw pads on a 10 because it's safer

 

[bfg33]

@rickt65 Did it that way for 35 years without issue

 

[rickt65]

@bfg33 As a professional, yes. Just wouldn't recommend it to a pet owner

 

[bfg33]

@rickt65 You are less likely to cut a dog using a 30 or 40 than any other blade. The lower the number the larger the spacing between the teeth. You can catch a piece of the ear in those spaces. It is impossible to do this with a 30 or 40.

 

[kayleighbethh]

Thanks everyone. So I’m an amateur who’s done it for the past two years, but admittedly, still sort of fudge it. I’m super careful and don’t risk anything with the “fiddly” bits.

We have tried taking him to a professional (for the first couple of years he was fine with them) but the groomer said it would be cruel to cut him herself because of how anxious he was.

What would people advise then:

What clippers would be best for me to buy?

His hair is getting longer so it’s becoming more urgent

 

[offsetonsetonfroy]

@kayleighbethh You could try a mobile groomer or getting anxiety pills from the vet for just grooming days at the salon.

 

[offsetonsetonfroy]

@kayleighbethh Andis 2 speed or five speed have worked well for me. Also probably just a couple ten blades and some clipper cool. Check blade hotness often.

 

[rickt65]

@kayleighbethh I used to use this exact set on my maltese and never had any problems. They do say in the instructions to go against the hair grain though, and I know cocker spaniels are the ones I most often have to reverse clip, I can brush the coat up and go over as many times as I like and get nothing off, then as soon as I reverse clip it all comes off at the length I want. Also wouldn't recommend working your way down the combs, pick one and go with it or it'll take off a few mm more each time and you're not really going to notice that coming off. Cocker spaniel I'd personally do a 3 in reverse, you can try the 1 the right way but if it's not working the 3 is the corresponding reverse blade

 

[ohgemma]

@rickt65 This is completely incorrect and dangerous advice in every regard.

Understand that this sub is full of professionals - give them time to respond.

While you may mean well you don't have the knowledge or experience to respond appropriately and give advice. Pet owners take responses on this sub seriously and you're risking giving someone confidence in inaccurate and dangerous advice that could result in their pets being injured.

This is a public space and anyone can comment here but consider whether you're really qualified to answer and what the consequences could really be if someone takes what you say into real world action.

Eta: I just saw in your comment history that you do seem to be a professional so definitely my apologies for assuming you were not based on your comment. I still stand by that advising someone to use clip combs in reverse to at home groom their cocker spaniel with extremely cheap clippers is very dangerous and tbh bizarre advice.

 

[rickt65]

@ohgemma Um... I'm a professional dog groomer? Maybe I got the information about the particular clippers wrong (though I just got out the packaging from them as I never threw it out and a breed they say they are suitable for is "long silky coat, cocker spaniel", they are Wahl clippers after all) but the rest of my comment was information taught from grooming school. Still not entirely sure how it's dangerous, the set is a 10 blade with attachment combs, again I used it on my dog many times with no problems at all before I got professional clippers for my course. Please get off your high horse before putting people down you know nothing about.

 

[ohgemma]

@rickt65 I just saw that and did edit my comment! I genuinely don't mean to be insulting I apologize.

I don't know your history at all but these are not professional clippers and are not appropriate for a cocker spaniel regardless of what the packaging says? I am definitely surprised to see a professional recommending them. It's totally outside my experience for a professional to use tools like this. They're just not appropriate. This is why I incorrectly believed you were not a professional.

While a professional may be able to safely use blades in reverse advising someone to at home groom their anxious cocker spaniel with what I'm assuming are plastic clip combs in reverse using inappropriate clippers is definitely dangerous. If I'm being honest it reads like a joke most groomers I know would make.

 

[rickt65]

@ohgemma Thank you for the edit, I didn't see it before I commented and should probably have waited before commenting what I did.

I used them for about a year on my own dog (in reverse as that's what the instructions say, maybe I was wrong to do that but didn't have any problems) and they always worked fine, I actually learnt a lot using them and got comments from people asking where I got her groomed when I did her at home myself. They are actually £90 on Amazon so not sure why they are so cheap on Argos, again they are Wahl clippers so not just some knock off, though obviously a cheaper make than their professional ones.

I still don't understand why there would be danger? Worst that could happen that I can think of is comb slips off (though they do click on tightly and never happened to me) and you get a short patch. Surely a ten blade isn't going to cut a dog going along its back etc if the comb falls off? I know they might if you're going in tricky areas but then you wouldn't be using the comb anyway

 

[ohgemma]

@rickt65 So there's a few factors in this particular situation that would make it dangerous but in just a basic way it's just easier to accidentally feed skin into the blade instead of hair when going in reverse. It's easier to cut the dog in a more severe way. Obviously any professional should be able to safely reverse clip. I do it often with no issues. It's handy and I wouldn't want to fear monger about it wrt using the technique in a professional manner.

But professionals know dog anatomy extremely well. We know the "tricky areas" you're referencing without even thinking about it and that you wouldn't reverse with a 5/8" cc along the tuck up for example. Not everyone does. Things that are obvious to us aren't obvious to inexperienced people trying to groom at home.

In this situation in particular the reverse clip would be 1 - through very thick hair that will obscure what exactly is underneath it ie what they are clipping, 2 - using plastic clip combs so the teeth are long and far apart and 3 - on an anxious dog. All of those make feeding skin into the blade an even higher risk.

[Apologies again for any incorrect assumptions on my part or coming off insulting]

Edit: deleted accidental double post!

 

[kayleighbethh]

@rickt65 Perfect, thank you. So against the grain is the way to go. By “reverse clip” you just mean going against the grain right?