Grooming an American Cocker Spaniels

[SpringerMac]

Hi everyone ,

I'm just a novice dog groomer and have only groomed by own English Springer Spaniels, but the other day I was approached by someone who really admired my work (felt very proud I have to say :headbanger and asked me if I would groom their 5mth old American Cocker Spaniel.

I've been looking into sites and studying pictures and understand what I need to do on the top half of the dog but am struggling to figure out what to do with the legs. The dog is not a show dog and just a pet and the owner stated they just wanted her tidy, but after looking at pictures ACS legs still do appear rather bushy.

Is there anyone out there who can advise me what I do (clip, thin out) as I just want the owner to love the finished outcome.

Hopefully hear from some of you guys soon

SpringerMac

 

[dogsarebetter]

it really depends. most of our cockers do not get "skirts" because the owners like them short all over.
We run a long guard over the legs often too, but you need to go back and tidy it up with shears.
You can take thinning shears and thin it out, the tidy it up. We never do cockers with all that busy leg hair!

 

[Zoom]

I've seen them done every from an all over close clip, to a nice skirt with blended legs. I'm assuming that if they admired your work, it's because they like the clip you did and probably want something similar. Your best bet is to just talk to them and get very clear expectations.

 

[Giny]

American CockerSpaniels have a really thick coat, so for just a pet grooming I like to scissor there legs down a wee bit because to most owners, keeping them brushed so they don't mat up is rare.

I clip their back with a #7, blending it down on legs and skirt, and scissor the rest. I also tassel the ears with #10, same blade for top of head and face. If the cocker has a lot of hair on the head then you can leave a little tuff, a half moon shape over the stop, on the skull...looks nice on some, but if they don't have enough fur, it can look odd.

This is a picture of a cocker that I groom. The owner likes it in a style but not long.

 

[Giny]

I want to edit but for some reason it wont let me.

but I wanted to add that in that picture I shave the entire ear because the client wants it short. My preference is to tassel the ears.

 

[Saintgirl]

Zoom nailed it! Ask them what they are looking for. They may have admired the work you have done on your own springers and assume that you can just as easily make a cocker look great. However they may have different expectations and different views on what they think looks good and what you do. Especially for a first groom I ask question after question. If they have a picture of a cut that they really like I ask them to bring it along. This way I can clearly see what they have in mind.

I see that you are in PEI. Winter is coming and a 7 blade may be a little short, I personally would use a 5F unless that owners really wanted a very short cut. I have even used a 4F when the owner wanted a longer cut. For the skirt and the legs you have to find out how much time they are willing to put into brushing and preventing matting. Cocker fur is SO thick and the legs can matt easily. The odds are that right now we really won't get much snow to speak of, but keep in mind that cocker skirts and legs WILL catch the snow and get balled up in the longer fur. Make sure the owner knows this and that it will again take more maintenance if the skirt/legs is left longer.

For the legs and skirt I typically scissor. However you can use a comb if you are careful. I find that a comb in the thick cocker legs can look choppy and unprofessional when not done very carefully. I use a 10 on the face and ears and most often tassle aswell.

Goodluck, and be sure to post a picture!

 

[dogsarebetter]

our clients like a #10 on the back.

 

[Brattina88]

Zoom nailed it! Ask them what they are looking for. They may have admired the work you have done on your own springers and assume that you can just as easily make a cocker look great. However they may have different expectations and different views on what they think looks good and what you do. Especially for a first groom I ask question after question. If they have a picture of a cut that they really like I ask them to bring it along. This way I can clearly see what they have in mind.

I see that you are in PEI. Winter is coming and a 7 blade may be a little short, I personally would use a 5F unless that owners really wanted a very short cut. I have even used a 4F when the owner wanted a longer cut. For the skirt and the legs you have to find out how much time they are willing to put into brushing and preventing matting. Cocker fur is SO thick and the legs can matt easily. The odds are that right now we really won't get much snow to speak of, but keep in mind that cocker skirts and legs WILL catch the snow and get balled up in the longer fur. Make sure the owner knows this and that it will again take more maintenance if the skirt/legs is left longer.

For the legs and skirt I typically scissor. However you can use a comb if you are careful. I find that a comb in the thick cocker legs can look choppy and unprofessional when not done very carefully. I use a 10 on the face and ears and most often tassle aswell.

Goodluck, and be sure to post a picture!

I agree - especially with the picture part

There are many different cuts... it depends on what the owner prefers. Here's a link for a fairly activecocker grooming section of a forum. Because I'm a visual learner, I like pics - it helped me with mine

 

[MafiaPrincess]

Not fully groomed out, but I prefer Smudge in more coat.

I prefer to scissor Cider's legs and leave a few inches of skirt.. Can't find a better pic right now.

 

[michaelf]

Don't forget those pads! Clean them out with a #10 to avoid matt balls and snow balls

 

[SpringerMac]

Hi everyone

Thanks for all the replies and advice - greatly appreciated.

Spoke with owner today, she said she wants something similar to a puppy cut so searching for photographs on the internet (thank you the links that I've been sent).

Asked the owner if she has photo but as she has never had Charlie's (that's the dog) done at a professional groomers and has only been clipping the back herself.

Would anyone advise me to clip the legs with a large blade or do I need to steer clear of this method??

Look forward to hearing from you all again soon

 

[michaelf]

By a "large blade" do you mean comb attachments? That would be a good way to go, with a shorter Blade on the body is a nice pet trim.

I did a cute trim on a cocker the other day altho I'm sure it is not for everyone. The body was a 7F and even around the armpits and from there, the legs got wider down to round feet, kinda like cones. (inspired by japanese style) Very cute.

 

[SpringerMac]

Today Was The Day

Hi everyone,

Well today was the day the little pup came in for her groom. It was her first ever grooom which added to my stress :yikes:, but fortunatly her owners have been responsible enough to brush her so she came in more or less matt free.

My hubby stayed on hand to offer me some support :hail:and to help me with Charlie when she became to much of a handful, as I didn't want her to become too stress out with it being her first cut.

It did take me a while as like I've mentioned I'm a novice groomer and she was really good to put up with me for so long. The thing I struggled on the most were her legs, I really do need more practice and possible further advice with scissor techniques, but when the owners picked her up they were really pleased with how she looked .

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who took the time to post advice to me initial question. I've put a before and after in an album named Charlie The American Cocker Spaniel on my profile as I can't upload photographs. I hope you can view it (I'm a novice at forums also):thumbup:.

Thanks again to everyone SpringerMac