brush issues - I think I flunk brushing 101
Any advice? |
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| Yeah, something's funky. Have you been lifting weights lately, buffing up a bit?
You are probably using the brush at the incorrect angle. You want the pins and pad of the brush parrallel to the hair and keep it nice and straight. If you are coming in at an angle and swooping through the hair, you can end up with bad pins. |
One thing that I did (and Mandy corrected me on!) was the placement of my thumb. You want to kind of keep it on the side of the handle, more than on the top, because that throws it off balance too and you don't wind up using the whole brush because the thumb puts pressure on. I still catch myself doing it every once in awhile and then I hear Mandy's voice in my head saying "You're doing it WRONG!" and then I correct it.  |
| Another problem you might be having is that you're trying to go through too much coat, or matted/knotted/tangled coat. If you find that the brush is getting caught in the hair and you're having to use a lot of elbow grease, you might have this problem.
Or, you could have an old brush. I find that I wear out the pads/pins over the course of 6-10 months brushing the whole dog once weekly and first going over the tricky spots with a wide-toothed comb to get rid of any mats. Generally it's the pad (pins no longer "stay out", or flex too easily), but I've had a couple of bent pins too - usually because I got impatient and tried to go through a spot that was tangled too much for the brush. |
Craig Duffield wrote: Or, you could have an old brush. I find that I wear out the pads/pins over the course of 6-10 months brushing the whole dog once weekly and first going over the tricky spots with a wide-toothed comb to get rid of any mats. Generally it's the pad (pins no longer "stay out", or flex too easily), but I've had a couple of bent pins too - usually because I got impatient and tried to go through a spot that was tangled too much for the brush.
I don't think its tangles - and definitely not old brish - literally every time I use a new brush it happens. I think it may be the angle that is a definite possibility. |
ButtersStotch wrote: One thing that I did (and Mandy corrected me on!) was the placement of my thumb. Can you post a pic of the correct hand position? |
Jill, you post a pic and we'll grade it for correctness!! 
Until then, if you look at the black, #1 All Systems Brush it has a bit of an indent on the side of the handle, where the pad and handle come together. You want to think of it as placing your thumb right in that indent. Also, don't grip the brush like you are hanging on for dear life. Use a light grip. If you have the brush fly out of your hand every once in a while, that's probably good. |
| I'm afraid to post a pic. I don't want to get torn apart in critique! But if it helps, I will do so...
I only mentioned the side of the brush since the Christensen one doesn't have the All System's indent. Definitely, the indent on the All Systems makes it really easy to take that form, plus, it makes a lot more sense why it's there! |
| so I need to get a brush with training wheels ! |
| You can always drive south on I-81 and get lessons!!! |
| I may take you up on that Harrisburg is only like what 6 hours away. Piece of cake for a grooming lesson or two. |
| 6 hours! Fly down, it'll be quicker! |
ahh but then I can't bring my dog for a free grooming, I..I..I mean for demonstration purposes  |
I am closer  I should bring guinness for a grooming session and we can video it!! I think I have been holding my brush wrong and my dog for that matter!!!! geeze you would think by now I would have gotten it right! Poor Guinness............. |
| We should just schedule a day for everybody to gather for one big lesson and tape it. How much do you think we could drinking while brushing do you think we could do before it became a Girls Gone Wild video? |
Maxmm wrote: We should just schedule a day for everybody to gather for one big lesson and tape it. How much do you think we could drinking while brushing do you think we could do before it became a Girls Gone Wild video?
I think I just found the reason that Mandy said it's okay if the brush flies out of your hand every once in a while! Hmmm, drinking and brushing... |
Maxmm wrote: We should just schedule a day for everybody to gather for one big lesson and tape it. How much do you think we could drinking while brushing do you think we could do before it became a Girls Gone Wild video?
Didn't we try this already with no takers?? 
This is still my favorite brushing pose.. 
Or maybe this is my favorite brushing pose. 
Ah, brushing's overrated. Just shave the darn dog already! |
| I think I remember that pose from a slightly different angle!
http://photos.oes.org/albums/userpics/1 ... ovesIt.wmv |
| I was brushing Marley last night and it is definitely the angle of the brush. I tend to hold it on the side - maybe a 65 degree angle to the hair. I was trying to be very conscientious about it and found it very slow going - only because I had to keep reminding myself to do it correctly! I think I may get one of the brushes witht he indent for you thumb was it an A1 systems? I'll look back into this thread and do it today.
I use a diffeerent brush on my boy who we keep shorter and I strip his undercoat so that's easy. Because Marley is supossed to be shown I do try to keep her coat more "intact". |
| Here's a link for the brush: http://grooming.petedge.com/-1-All-Syst ... goryId=276 |
| Deb
Maybe there were no takers because there was no wine involved!!!!
Cindy |
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