Grooming your own pets

angelaloveschocolate

I have two cocker spaniels and grooming them every 3 months costs £25 each, quite a bit. I was wondering if I bought a good quality pair of clippers how difficult would it be to give them an interim 'home cut'. I'm thinking that would allow me pay for a professional groomer, say, every 4 to 6 months. I would never stop taking them to be groomed professionaly, thier groomer is excellent and anyway I would'nt cut toenails as I know that should be left to a professional.
I've bought clippers before but they were so inadequate I threw them out and thats not exactly money saving is it?
Now, to be fair, my dogs are not show animals, in fact I ask my groomer to give my dogs a tight all over cut only leaving their ears longer (dont want to spoil thier beautiful faces afterall). Grooming my dogs is for thier comfort as they get so dirty walking and swimming, it's not about good looks! Probably just as well if I'm going to undertake the job, lol.
Do any of you groom your own dogs?
Any recommendations for a brand would be greatly appreciated

Caroline_a

Why don't you want to cut your dogs' claws? So long as you have a proper claw clipper which doesnt cost a lot, and are careful not to take it too far down it's very easy to do - so long as your dogs are amenable to having claws cut! I trained mine to let me do this by handling his paws a lot and doing tiny 'clips' when he was young.

picklepick

If you're serious about home grooming id find a local course to you that offer a 'learn to groom your pet' course. Grooming schools, colleges and some grooming parlours offer them. have a google. It's well worth doing.

Good clippers arent cheap and you'll need something to safely restrain your dogs whilst being clipped.

zaksmum

I take my dog Lucy every 10 weeks to be groomed and she does look lovely afterwards.

But last summer hubby decided he could save money by doing it himself. He bought clippers for £10 and got to work on Lucy who was tremendously patient with him.

When he'd finished, nearly an hour later, I was horrified. Lucy loooked like she had a communicable disease, with bald patches everywhere. She looks a rich golden colour when her fur's long, but a creamy colour when it's short. So she was like all different patchy colours, long bits, short bits...just a total mess.

When the neighbours saw her they fell about laughing. One said, of hubby, "he should've gone to SpecSavers!" and when I saw the TV ad where the short sighted farmer shears his sheepdog along with the sheep I knew what she meant.

Poor Lucy looked dreadful for nearly two months till the baldy bits grew long enough for me to take her back to the groomers to get her sorted out. And believe me, hubby never got his clippers near he again.

Best to leave it to the experts!

Kittendreich

We get our beardie cut short(ish) once a year in the spring at a groomers. For the rest of the year I just do trims (with scissors) of the necessary bits so he can see and keep hygeinic. It means that he has shorter hair in the summer and long hair again by the winter. Works fine, although his 'fringe' does look a bit wonky at times...but at least he can see out! Again, obviously not a show dog and his grooming is based on what makes sense so he doesn't get too hot/cold and his coat is manageable.

lisawood78

We cut our girls toe nails, Storms need doing about once a month they grow so quick, she just sits there and gives me a paw to do.
Its easier on dogs with light claws, as its easier to see the quick but as long as you have a calm patient dog then clipping their nails yourself should be no issues.

GillM

Just picked mine (standard Schnauzer) up from the groomers and she looks gorgeous! I must admit, I personally wouldn't attempt to trim my own dog as I have absolutely no skill in that area, but I know a lot of people that do, all different breeds. As you say, if you are not showing, the finer detail is less important. I have trimmed claws in the past but leave that to the groomer now as I'm too nervous.

Do you stay while your dog is being groomed? If so, you can learn a lot that way. We used to have a book years ago about grooming and trimming schnauzers - might be worth googling to see if you can find one for cockers?

Good luck, anyway

angelaloveschocolate

Hey Guy's, thank you all so much for your replies. I've been using this site for nearly 2 years, but this is my first post. thank you so much for the useful suggestions and for the laugh Zaksmum. I defo gonna goggle grooming classes and a grooming book. Thank you again, I'll let you all know how I get on,

Hintza

Interesting thread.

Since we moved into the caravan (nw house build) I decided the Springer needed to be carrying less muck back and forth and after thinking about it for a couple of months took the plunge and bought the cheap pair of wahl clippers on Amazon.

Bear in mind he works so style is not hugely important and I must say athough it wouldn't get any prizes it is not that tricky to get a reasonable cut. Biggest problem I had was getting him to stand still and with his butt up when I was doing his back end (which he never liked being touched)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wahl-Multi-Mains-Clipper-Instructional/dp/B000PTQ5HS/ref=sr_1_23?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1290589964&sr=1-23

They pay for themselves after one clip.

picklepick

If people are considering getting the clippers and doing it themselves, please first read a little about it before you start.
Either get a good book or get to the local library.

Clipper burn is horrible and you need to know how to avoid it.
Proper restraint is essential and it's probably worth having a 'helper' if you're doing anything with scissors!

Hintza

I doubt the OP will be going that close with a Cocker. I just used one of the attachments to ensure I'm not cutting off bits I shouldn't!