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Border Collie and Golden Retriever Advice Sheets Grooming your Border Collie or Golden Retriever - for health and comfort |
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Groom in a comfortable, convenient place |
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Grooming is Important Grooming your dog is a matter of health not appearance.
Of course dogs that are shown at dog shows are groomed and trimmed
to enhance their appearance because presentation is important in
the show ring but basic grooming is about keeping your dog's coat,
skin, nails, teeth and ears in good health. Every dog should be
groomed regularly, how regularly will depend upon the type of coat,
a smooth coated border collie will need far less grooming than a
border collie with a long thick coat, a neutered dog or bitch may
need very frequent grooming because neutering tends to produce a
thicker more woolly coat. What ever type of coat your dog has some
care will be necessary to keep it healthy, and nails, teeth and
ears will still need attention. Apart from the principle purpose
of keeping the coat in good condition the time you spend grooming
your dog will fulfil three other very useful purposes. It provides
you and your dog with time together to relax and enjoy each others
company, it will gently reinforce your position as a good and caring
leader (dogs only allow more senior pack members to groom them)
and it will provide you with an opportuntiy to check you dog all
over for parsites, cuts, sores, scratches, grass seeds, thorns,
lumps and possible infection in feet, mouth or ears. Even if your
dog has a smooth coat, spending time regularly checking him all
over will pay dividends in terms of his health and your relationship
with him. |
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If your dog's coat is very
matted a Matt Splitter |
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Grooming your Dog As with any activity with dogs get everything ready
before you start, find a suitable place where you won't be disturbed
by people or other dogs in the house. Some people like to use a proprietory
grooming table and thid is ideal if you are grooming for a show or
trimming but the nicest place to groom is on the floor with your dog
relaxed beside you or in front of you, of course if your dog is moulting
heavily you may need to brush him outside the house first. Put all
your tools and preparations in easy reach then you won't have to keep
disturbing your dog when he is relaxed. |
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A Matt Splitter parts the hair and has sharpe
barbs |
| First with your dog on his side, brush through your dog's
coat from his shoulders over his back and side and down to his croup and
the top of his back leg, take your time, if you find a knot stop and try
to very gently tease it out, if you can't remove it without causing discomfort
to your dog, cut it out with a pair of blunt nosed scissors damaging the
coat as little as possible. Whilst you are brushing run your other hand
through your dog's coat behind the brush and check for any cuts or scratches,
any parasites or bites that might indicate the presence of parasites,
any unusual lumps, areas of flakey skin or sores. When you have brushed
the coat until it feels free of tangles comb through with a wide toothed
comb just to check and to bring out any dead undercoat, never pull at
the undercoat with a comb, if the undercoat is loose it will come away
immediately. Encourage your dog to turn over and do the same on his other
side, by now he should be very contentedly asleep.
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Work systematically from shoulders backwards |
| Encourage your dog onto his back so that you can groom his
underside, once again brush through the coat until it is feels free flowing
then comb through, this time you can probably use a medium sized comb
but take care not to snag him, his underside will be very sensitive. Gently
work out any bits of mud and dirt and check very carefully in his arm
pits for any matts of hair, work back from his chest over his tummy and
towards his genitals. If you find any matts around your dogs testicles
or your bitches vulva cut them away carefully with blunt nosed scissors,
don't try to tease out, just remember to groom more regularly in future.
Check your dog's testicles for irregularities or lumps or your bitches
chest for any lumps around her mammary glands. |
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A soft palm held pin brush is ideal for Golden Retreivers |
| Now groom out the tail, dogs don't like having their tails
pulled about so be careful, lots of gentle brushing and testing for knots
with a wide toothed comb and back to brushing until the tail is throughly
groomed then move onto the feathering at the back of the hind legs. The
tail and feathers usually take the longest to groom and demand the most
patience and care, work steadily and remember to talk to your dog and
tell him what a good boy he is being. |
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An unclipped claw is long and weak |
| When your dogs feathers are done comb out his back feet,
dogs don't usually like having their feet touched but tend to be less
protective over their back feet than their front feet so this is a good
place to start. Use a medium sized comb first and move onto a narrow toothed
comb as the hair becomes more free. Comb the foot on top and use your
finger to lift the hair between the toes so that you can comb that too
but be very careful not to pull the hair between the toes, if you find
any hair clogged together with mud simply cut it out, it would be too
painful to try and comb it out. If your dog is reluctant to let you touch
his feet be firm but kind, tell him to lie still and hold his leg firmly
but don't get into a pulling contest. You may want to trim your dog's
feet and this is certainly something we recommend, it is healthier and
more comfortable for your dog and definately cleaner for your floors!
Repeat the operation on the front feet and then look closely at your dog's
nails on all four paws. |
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A neatly clipped claw is short and strong |
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The condition of a dog's nails are a good indication of
his soundness, if one paw has longer nails than the other (at the back
or front) this may be an indication that the dog is reluctant to put
his weight on that paw when walking which may suggest injury or joint
problems somewhere in the leg or shoulder. If your dog gets some of
his exercise in hard surfaces such as pavements or roads he may never
need to have his nails trimmed, border collies and particularly golden
retrievers are fairly heavy dogs so they will wear down their nails
on hard surfaces. If on the other hand your dog is exercised mainly
or exclusively on grass or soil he will not have the opportunity to
wear down his nails and they will need to be clipped. A dogs nails are
the righ length when they just touch the ground when the dog is standing
normally, any shorter and the dog;'s grip is reduced, any longer and
the toes are being forced upwards away from the ground. Some dogs very
strongly dislike having their nails clipped, so be extra careful because
if you get it wrong and clip too short two things will happen, firstly
the nail will bleed profusely and secondly your dog will not trust you
near his feet again. A dog's nail is just like a human nail in that
the "finger" extends a long way down the nail. If you do clip
your dog's nails remember just to trim off the very tip, sometimes it
is best to slice slivers of nail away gradually so that you can when
you are near the "finger" or blood vessel, this is especially
true if a dog has black nails. If a dog has white nails you can usually
see the blood vessel by holding the nail up to the light. |
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Parrot type Nail Clipper |
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With his feet done encourage your dog to sit so that you can attend to his neck, head and ears. Brush and then comb his neck and chest until the hair is free flowing then brush benieth and behind his ears, the hair here is often soft and woolly and tangles easily to form matts, be gentle and cut out any stubbon matts with blunt nosed scissors, use a meduim sized comb to check that the hair is tangle free then use the fine toothed comb to gently strip out dead hair and fluff, don't pull on the comb but tease out the hair. The rest of the head does not need much more than a wipe with a soft cloth or chamois leather to take off dust and improve the shine. Check the eyes for any soreness and as everywhere else inspect for signs of damage, parasites or irregularity. |
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Finally inspect the ears, they should smell clean and look clear of built up wax and dirt. To clean pour a little surgical spirit onto a ball of cotton wool and wipe inside the ear flap to remove dirt and wax, use a cotton bud soaked in surgical spirit to gently clear any stubbon spots but under no circumstances insert a cotton bud or anything else into your dog's ear. The only person with any business in your dog's ear canal is your vet, you are responsible for the inside of the ear flap only, if the ear smells bad or looks dirty further down take your dog to the vet who will prescribe appropriate ear drops. |
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All dogs deserve to be groomed and free to tangles |
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To finish, get your dog to stand up and give him a final brush to put his coat in place and give him lots of fuss and praise and something very tasty to reward him for being so good. Then wash your brush(es) and combs in accordance with their manufacturers instructions so that they are clean ready for next time. You are now ready to bath your dog if you wish. |
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