Glenbrook Cocker Spaniels

The coat of the English Cocker Spaniel does take care. Grooming your long coated dog is different from grooming a short or medium coat dog. It is important that you know how to properly groom your dog so that you enhance his natural look.

Dog grooming isn't just about keeping your cocker looking good; it's also essential for your cocker's health because it gives you the ideal opportunity to look for sores, grass seeds, matting, cuts, lumps and skin problems and be able to deal with them before they turn nasty.

Unfortunately not all dogs enjoy being groomed so it will be far easier if you begin grooming your spaniel when he's a puppy to help him get used to it. Grooming puppies early is so important, so begin now if you haven't already.

Apart from health and the obvious visual benefits to your dog, grooming has a few additional benefits for owners too. It helps us to relax and unwind and can also strengthen the bond between us and our dogs. It also (subconsciously) helps us to reinforce our position as the alpha male or female because dogs don't normally allow other members of the pack, lower in rank to them, to groom them.

Brushing and grooming your cocker is the easy part; it's the trimming and cutting that may prove a little tricky for the novice, but you can very easily learn to do the basics yourself. Rather than jumping straight into it you may want to take your dog to a professional groomer for the first time. Stay with them and watch each step carefully. Makes notes and don't be afraid to ask questions if you're not sure of something. When booked well in advance, Glenbrook also provide a grooming service and each new adopted puppy receives two free grooms in the first twelve months after purchase. We are also happy to train you during these sessions so that you can manage your cocker at home.

Cocker Spaniel coats are best described as medium to long, with long, fine, silky hairs on the top of the body and a soft short undercoat below. Most Cocker Spaniels need to be brushed at least every three days to keep them looking good. But if the brush is picking up lots of loose fur, increase the grooming to every day or every other day. You can spray the coat with a grooming spray to help draw out the dirt plus give the dog a nice fragrance.

Areas most prone to problems are your dog's 'arm pits', behind his ears, his bottom, leg feathers, and chest. If your dog's coat gets in a tangle, take one area at a time, and using a metal comb or a de-matting tool, gently tease out the knots. Start from the ends of the hair and slowly work up towards the skin. This should remove most tangles without too much effort. Hold the base of the hair firmly, close to his skin, so that you're not actually pulling the hair which can be quite painful.

Matting is a thick, lumpy felt-like material. It's basically fur from the undercoat, which has loosened as part of the natural shedding process. If it's not brushed out regularly, these loose hairs stay in the coat and eventually become 'matted'.

Grass, seeds, and burrs can easily become trapped and make 'matters' much worse. Once they're embedded, the sharp edges of grass seeds can often work their way into your dog's skin, causing irritation, pain and infection. I recommend you check the coat for any signs of burrs and plant material as soon as you return home from a walk.

It's important to remove mats as soon as you discover them otherwise they'll continue to get bigger and create a warm moist area next to your dog's skin. This is an ideal environment for bacteria and yeast, which in turn will lead to irritation, infection and sores. If your dog's coat is heavily matted, tackle as many individual tangles as you can in one 'sitting' and then rest for a while. Just work on one mat at a time, brushing your dog slowly, carefully, and gently.

If a mat gets wet, it won't help as it can tighten even more as it dries, that's why it's best to remove mats before bathing. You can buy specially formulated de-tangler products which you leave on the mat for a while and then tease it out with a de-matting comb or the prongs of a steel comb. A de-matting comb is ideal for teasing out mats in your cocker's coat. They break up matted fur and can help to thin out undercoat and excess hair. It can break a thick mat into manageable strips which can then be teased out with a steel comb. The slicker brush can then be used to remove small mats by gently pushing the wires into the mat and moving the brush from side to side in a gentle rocking motion. Repeat this several times and then try brushing it out.

Bathing Your Dog

Giving your dog a bath is essential to helpin the cocker coat stay clean and shining,and the skin healthy. I recommend gently teasing out all knots and matting and brush the coat before bathing your dog. Trapped dirt and chemicals from the cleaning shampoo so close to the skin can cause skin complaints and can aggravate existing skin conditions.

Bathing a dog with a good quality, tear-free, dog shampoo and conditioner will help to keep your cocker's coat clean and healthy looking and it will also take good care of their skin. Don't be tempted to use shampoos formulated for humans which are too harsh for them and may cause skin complaints or trigger allergies. I recommend Fraser's products especially Shine and Bright Conditioner, Squeaky Clean Shampoo, and Brushing Spray.

Use an empty bottle, pour in enough shampoo for one wash and top it up with water. Put the top on and give it a shake to mix it up. I find approximately 10 percent of shampoo to 90 percent of water works very well. Using a bottle to dilute the shampoo with water before using it on your cocker's coat helps the shampoo to lather up much more easily. The shampoo lasts longer too! You can also condition using the same procedure.

When bathing a dog, a non-slip bath mat is essential to stop them from slipping and sliding in the bathtub. It will help your dog to feel safer and could also stop them from hurting themselves. Have two towels ready to initiate the drying process. Do not rub the coat, use the towel to absorb the excess water, then dry the coat with a hair drying using a slicker or pin brush to separate the hair and facilitate drying. I like to spray the coat before drying using Magic Touch Grooming Spray which givies a shine to the coat as it dries and helps keep dirt from the coat in between baths.

You can hand strip the back of your cocker using an Andis Deshredding Tool and regular brushing. When using the stripping tool best results are achieved when the coat is wet with shampoo or conditioner. However you may also choose to clipper your dog for ease of maintenance whilst still retaining the cocker pattern.

Your dog’s coat and feet can be easily maintained in between grooms by brushing regularly and trimming feet when hair grows too long. Feet can become a problem with cockers if neglected as in summer they attract grass seeds which find their way into the skin and can travel up the leg and in winter long feet pick up the mud and moisture causing matting and impacted hair under the foot. Trim across the pad with a pair of curved scissors and trim the hair around the foot close to the toes creating a round and tight looking foot. Trim toe nails using specifically designed clippers.

Cockers ears are long and often heavy which can prevent fresh air getting into the ear canal which can cause problems. The easiest way to look after ears is to regularly check by looking in the ear and seeing that there is no discharge (dark brown or yellow in color). The smell of an ear is also important. The ear should smell sweet or neutral and if there is an offensive smell you should have your dog ears checked by your veterinarian. The ear should only be cleaned if it looks dirty as over cleaning can cause the ear some trouble and irritation. Never use cotton sticks as this can be dangerous if put too deep in the ear. Ears should be clippered from the top of the ear down 1/3 of the ear using a 10 blade. Then clip around ear opening using a number 10 blade which will allow air to get into ears. Use a slicker to brush the ear feathers and trim with curved scissors.

If the dog is stripped and scissored, the head maybe thinned out with thinning scissors for a more natural look. The head may also be clipped using a number 7 flat blade following the direction of the hair from the eyebrows to the back of the skull. Use the same blade to go down the neck to the breast bone and then use thinning scissors to blend the shoulder into the neck following the direction of the hair.

If you are grooming the tail yourself and your dog has feathering hold it out by the tip while the dog is standing and shape it in a slight curve from tip to under the bottom. You will need to make under the bottom nice and short to ensure it stays clean when toileting use a number 10 blade from the tail down to where the hair starts to whorl no further than 4-6 cm from the anus.

Dog brushes may have widely or closely spaced bristles and in general can be used on any coat. Whilst the bristle brush may not be strong enough to penetrate deep into your cocker's long coat, it will create a beautiful shine to his coat. A soft bristle brush is the ideal piece of dog grooming equipment for a young puppy as it's very gentle.

The metal pin brush is ideal for the cocker as the pins can penetrate deeper into the coat. The pin brush helps to remove dead or loose hair from the silky top coat, but it can also comb out the thick undercoat at the same time. If you're going to use a pin brush, buy one with rubber tips so that you don't accidentally scratch your Cocker's skin; the rubber tips will also help to improve your dog's blood circulation below the skin.

Slicker brushes are great for helping to untangle knots and matting, for removing dead hair, and if used regularly, they can help to reduce shedding. The slicker brush can also be used for smoothing the coat after grooming with a pin brush. It is the best brush when drying the coat with a hair dryer as it smooths and de tangles the coat as you blow dry the hair.

Steel combs can be used to remove dead hair on the top-coat and for helping to remove loose and dead hear from the undercoat, which if left behind would cause matting. Use the wide toothed comb first, then follow up with the closer toothed comb.

If you're not going to use the finger and thumb method of hand stripping to remove the excess of soft hair on your Cocker's head, you could use a stripping comb to give a smooth finish.The Cocker Spaniel coat may show cut marks where ordinary scissors or clippers have been used. These marks can be greatly reduced simply by using a stripping comb.

A good pair of cutting scissors, around 7 or 8" long, may be used to keep your Cocker's hair under and around the ear canal neatly trimmed if you do not have clippers. You can also buy shorter scissors with rounded ends for trimming areas on and around the face so that the rounded edges won't harm your dog should they move suddenly. Curved scissors will assist with trimming feet and creating a lovely curve on the body's feathers.

Another useful tool is the thinning scissors which are used primarily for thinning out heavy coats. Thinning scissors can be used to thin out excess hair on the neck under the ears, which needs to be kept neatly trimmed if matting is to be kept to a minimum.

Slicker brush bristle brush Pin brush Steel Comb Andis Deshredding tool Dematting Tool

Mention you have purchased a puppy from Glenbrook and you will receive a discount.