Been trying to post this all day but keep getting sidetracked.

Oscar is 6 months now and he is a total wooly mammouth in the coat department.

He is a cocker spaniel (for those that don't know ) and he has really wooly feathering already.

I am totally new to this and have no idea what his grooming requirements are.

I have been told to leave his coat to develop before i get anything done but he really is a mammouth and we are only at the start of the summer

Any ideas what i should do? I saw a cocker that had been totally clipped REALLY short the other day and i thought it looked awful (i didn't even realise it was a cocker )

I take mine to a groomer the pup hasnt needed to be cut yet other than just a tidy her feet, ears and knickers but not her body. When i take mine i always have the traditional springer cut, body short in summer, feathers on legs chest and skirt left but trimmed, ears short left a little longer around the edges knickers trimmed and thinned out but left o, think the typical cocker look will be more or less the same as the springer. I posted on a similar thread a few weeks ago and someone came back saying not to have body shaved as it spoils the coat, it never has mine his coat is soft silky and looks really sleek.

Sorry forgot to mention your groomer will tell you if she has her adult coat or not if she hasnt then a furminator will make the coat less dense, remove all the dead hair you can buy one and do this yourself or let the groomer do it.

Hi Rainy..
Remember when we had bonnie our King Charles our vet who breeds them advised us to have her body shaved every year as it was to promote a healthy new growth..she did look very funny for the first week or so but her coat was always in great nick and really soft and sleek..we started doing this after her first year and never were told any different, even the groomer agreed with her.

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Ash

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Ok.

So what is "stripping" then and how does that work?

Stripping is just removing the dead hair

I was told the same by my groomer that shaving is good for the coat ive alwas had mine shaved, never done any harm.

So like a super duper brush out ??

Stripping is a longer process so in young dogs its easier to do little n often, I described it in a previous thread as waxing instread of shaving but its not as painful for dogs.
Clipping is fine...in show cockers they are stripped and only the throat is clipped.
The puppy coat will eventually become dull and wispy so is best removed by either method.
Incidently I have a furminator for my Leo, I did try it on my cocker but I didnt find it worked it did say to use on breeds that moult.
I know through experience that once you start clipping and then decide to hand strip it is difficult to stripout.

I use a slicker on him which is pretty good.

I met a woman who used to show and judge and she was really complimentary but said to let his coat mature.

I kind of nodded but didn't know what she meant.

Will have to get some pics so you can see the little wooly mammouth.

We have met a couple of cockers a bit younger than Oscar but they were no where near as furry as him.