I'm done...again
They were at the groomers about a month ago to get cleaned up for Christmas pictures. Since the flurry(bah-humbug) of the Christmas season and my grooming table has been out in the breezeway once the tree got up, the dogs have not been brushed since the last wash and brushout at the groomers. I freely admit I am lax(read lazy) in the brushing department. That reason alone is why I don't want my dogs in a long coat. Gar except for his face is very patient and will lay for as long as you want him to. If I took about FIVE hours I could probably get him brushed out. His coat is not that hard to brush but he does have some mats . Simon on the other hand...WOW. He has VERY thick cotton candy hair. His neck is like a lions mane. Dh insists(he doesn't brush) that both wear collars in case they ever get lost, so brushing the neck area is a matted mess. Simon is not very patient with me pulling on his hair. I try to be gentle but working on mats will pull. He gets frustrated and moves around a lot and then I get frustrated. I know this is my fault and I do feel bad. I guess I'm trying to rationalize why both dogs are a mess. In my own defense I did tell dh when we got Simon, that I was going to keep him in a puppy cut. So, I'm throwing in the towel...again. I'm not going to make the dogs suffer at my hands. I'll call the groomer and look very  as I take them in.Its not the length of the hair that defines a sheepdog. |
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Simon's Mom wrote: Its not the length of the hair that defines a sheepdog. No it's not and they're better off comfy and healthy than all matted. Sheepies look cute in a puppy cut and there's always cute coats for keeping warm.  |
| do i get u ..duffs hair i can't even put a brush through it not matts just like thick cotton .. i too been thinking time to shave him down .. |
  I usually wait longer into the cold season, but Izzie was just shaved down after spending 10 days at daycare over the holidays. I scheduled it when I dropped her off...I knew she would be a giant matt by the end. They actually shaved her the day after she arrived and then cleaned her up right before we picked her up. Now she is extra cuddly...and I am keeping the heat higher than I normally would to make her comfortable.  |
I think puppy cuts are adorable!  Its a very good thing I feel that way too...as I'm with you on the "lazy groomer" team!  I just made the first step towards giving up the long hair: I got fed up with trying to train their bangs into topknots, and trimmed their faces. Oh dear...my poor, poor babies  They look so...surprised!   |
ravenmoonart wrote: I got fed up with trying to train their bangs into topknots, and trimmed their faces. Oh dear...my poor, poor babies They look so...surprised! Pictures   |
I think we all understand!! It's getting hard for my belly to bend over to comb or lift the dog. I still do every other day, but it's torture. It's mr. j who insists on not cutting it right now. Like you, it's the husband not brushing but giving demands.  |
| I'm too in the puppy cut camp. Butch does not like my brushing him altho he's doing pretty well for the groomer. I manage to get his face, ears and neck pretty good but then he's done with me so I figure the puppy cut works the best. I can manage that and if he gets a matt, lots of treats and some help from his dad and we get thru it. Our other 2 sheepdogs would stand very well for whatever we wanted to do but they still had shorter cuts. |
| I would be in the puppy camp IF I had to work through matts, and knots...... I just love mine fullcoated and to be honest.... Both are great with my brushing..they lay quietly and let me get to every spot!!!! Pearl has old girl hair...it is thinning..she has alot but it never matts!!!! And Heart's hair?????? Cottony, fluffy...but again, once the puppyhair was gone, she doesn't matt either.. So I brush one a week and it takes me about 45 minutes for Pearl..and maybe an hour for Heart...so...I am very lucky ~~~~~ But if I ever had a problem...I would do puppycuts on both!!!!! |
| Mady after having such a good November-December with easy grooming, all of a sudden is having an explosion of mats, I'm back to grooming her every 2nd day. I think it's a combination of lots of snow and puppies right now. The puppies love her, she's extremely tolerant and patient with them, but they nip and climb all over her. But it's exhausting for me |
| The great thing about it is that the coat will always grow back. As long as your dogs are comfy, that's the important thing! I'm with you - I love a shaggy dog in a shaggy coat. In addition to the icky state of a matted coat, it is the shedding that makes me bonkers. Too much fur on my clothes, in the car, in my house and the invasion of the dust bunnies... it makes me nuts. Have you tried stripping the undercoat? The Mars Coat King is my pal. When the undercoat is stripped, matting is significantly reduced. With four shaggy's in our house the only way to keep a long coat is significantly reduced undercoat and a bath at least once a month. |
| If not for Nelson's weekly therapy visits he most likely would have been shaved down long ago. The seniors really love that long coat! There's no shame in a sheepdog in short coat and it does grow back before you know it. It takes a lot of perseverance to keep the mats out and having a dedicated grooming area, the proper tools and time to spend on grooming really help. Don't feel badly about the haircut. The boys have a different look for every season! |
| Don't feel bad! My two are sporting puppy cuts too. With work full-time (with travel), 6 hours of Master's classes, training for a half-marathon, and all this snow, I just couldn't do it anymore. I love the long hair too, but Oliver and Lucy don't care. I just clipped Lucy down this weekend, and boy was she happy: figure-8s in the backyard afterwards! |
jcc9797 wrote: Don't feel bad! My two are sporting puppy cuts too. With work full-time (with travel), 6 hours of Master's classes, training for a half-marathon, and all this snow, I just couldn't do it anymore. I love the long hair too, but Oliver and Lucy don't care. I just clipped Lucy down this weekend, and boy was she happy: figure-8s in the backyard afterwards! Who did the trim on the dog in your avatar? S/he looks great! That's my favorite length. Before all hell breaks loose  I keep the dogs who are competing in coat because it looks pretty flying over jumps. I'm sure they'd much rather be BALD KB |
Mad Dog wrote: I keep the dogs who are competing in coat because it looks pretty flying over jumps. I'm sure they'd much rather be BALD Just as important as because they jump better.I was talking to someone from my agility club the other day and she was watching Karen Sheedy's dogs jump at Susan Garrett's workshop and thought that sometimes it was coat taking down the bars. What do you think about that theory?? |
Hair - oh yes. It can help take down bars.  Chewie's is just getting long enough that I'm keeping an eye on it. 2 of my local friends in agility have briards in show coat and they have the same issues. But - they seem to overjump more than an OES, so they get lucky. |
Mim wrote: Mad Dog wrote: I keep the dogs who are competing in coat because it looks pretty flying over jumps. I'm sure they'd much rather be BALD Just as important as because they jump better.I was talking to someone from my agility club the other day and she was watching Karen Sheedy's dogs jump at Susan Garrett's workshop and thought that sometimes it was coat taking down the bars. What do you think about that theory?? Yes, mine have done that too. At which point I know it's time to whack some leg and belly coat off. Then it usually stops, unless they're jumping lazy. The coat has to be fairly long before that happens though. Since even our OES in show coat are typically trimmed back further on this side of the pond than elsewhere I don't see it a lot, but it happens. On the plus side at least they're not taking down bars with their tails. Seen that happen too, especially upon collection and when turning in air. Tail aids in both, but it can also easily whack a bar. Kristine |
got sheep wrote: Hair - oh yes. It can help take down bars. Chewie's is just getting long enough that I'm keeping an eye on it. 2 of my local friends in agility have briards in show coat and they have the same issues. But - they seem to overjump more than an OES, so they get lucky. Not really, since over-jumping isn't healthy in the long run, more wear and tear on dog. But lucky for Q rate, yes. KB |
Mad Dog wrote: Who did the trim on the dog in your avatar? S/he looks great! That's my favorite length. Before all hell breaks loose I keep the dogs who are competing in coat because it looks pretty flying over jumps. I'm sure they'd much rather be BALD KB The trim in my avatar is my favorite length as well. I generally keep my two about this length, it's so much easier to deal with! They feel like giant cotton balls too! I spent a little over 2 years paying someone a crazy amount of money to get a cut that I didn't like (why do groomers always cut these guys like terriers?), so I do it myself now. Took a few times of looking choppy, but with the right tools it's easier to get a decent cut. |
Mad Dog wrote: got sheep wrote: Hair - oh yes. It can help take down bars. Chewie's is just getting long enough that I'm keeping an eye on it. 2 of my local friends in agility have briards in show coat and they have the same issues. But - they seem to overjump more than an OES, so they get lucky. Not really, since over-jumping isn't healthy in the long run, more wear and tear on dog. But lucky for Q rate, yes. KB But maybe it is a learned behavior to counteract those pesky TAILS...  |
| i spend about 45 minutes before bed brushing 4-5 nights a week using a tangle remover spray..but we keep moes face and neck shorter..its a lot of time..but i like longer coat and it calms him down before bed |
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