I've ruined his coat
This is the first time I've cried about his coat, I've really ruined it. I tried to trim him yesterday, I collected together lots of pictures of dogs his age and tried to make him look the same. I've ruined his coat
I spent the last year growing his hair because I cut it too short then, now I've undone a whole year of grooming. I'm not sure, but I think I cut his neck hair too short because it's really thick and just sticks up and looks weird. His shawl is still long and it looks awful, like wings sticking out of his shoulders. I don't know if I should try to blend them in because I thinned underneath them, they just stick right out like extra arms. I had to cut his chest really short because when I tried to thin it, it went really scraggly and it was sticking straight out and was too thin in places and looked really bad
I don't know any groomers and don't want him shaved. I'm totally distraught. I know it's just hair and it will grow back but right now I feel really terrible. |
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| Cassie,
If the guard hair is "sticking out" as you describe one way of getting it to settle down is to strip out the undercoat in the whites. The degree of success will depend on just how short the guard coat is but unless he/she is trimmed to less than 2" it should help to settle things down a bit. You should also try to blend in the differing coat lengths but use thinning shears, not regular scissors. Do a little at a time each day until you reach the look you are willing to live with, then let your Bobtail "fix" the rest. You may have to carefully trim some areas as it grows out to keep it looking "right" but there is nothing you can do with sicissors that he/she can't fix, albeit in a bit of time. Good luck with this Thanks and Cheers Carl |
| Thanks Carl, I'll try the thinning shears. I cut his neck hair to about 4", the hair on his shoulders/ shawl is 10" I guess I just need to blend them together. I'll try the thinning too. He's due a bath next week, I'll see how he looks after that and try again then too.
I feel a bit calmer already, thank you. |
Oooh Cassie dont be sad! I know how you feel as I did cut Charlie last time totally wrong around her belly, I felt really guilty that I "destroyed" Charlie's cute look!  I also did the same as you, I cut the neck hair shorter as it was sticking up too! I didnt learned it at College so I have to go with my inituition, but I think I've done something wrong!
So you are not alone Cassie!! Dont cry please!! try to smile again, I know it's not easy when looking at Ru's coat but you will get there!
Last time Ru looked fab when you did him, you will do it again!!! xxx Loads of huggies from us and especially Charlie!!! xxx    |
Dont worry Summer has lumps out of her coat, she needs a good cut but we keep hanging on! Hubby cuts her coat so I have to leave it to him to do! I am sure Ru looks fine Cassie!  |
The really lovely thing about a bobtail coat is you can't ruin it. 
I took me the longest time to work up the courage to even come anywhere near one of my dogs with scissors. A friend kept telling me to just trim (and strip), it's the only way you'll ever learn. Sure. Whatever. With this many dogs to experiment on, I've learned to do bits at a time, nothing too extreme. If I don't like it this week, I can probably reshape it into something tolerable within the next few weeks. I just finished brushing Che to discover that he has morphed into a troll. I'm taking him to obed class anyway, where they don't know the difference and it appears the more ridiculous he looks in my eyes, the cuter the average person thinks he looks  I'll trim him when we get back and I probably still won't get it quite right, but so what? I consider him a work in progress. No one but a diehard OES person has the slightest clue what they're supposed to look like anyway. 
Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: The really lovely thing about a bobtail coat is you can't ruin it.
No one but a diehard OES person has the slightest clue what they're supposed to look like anyway. Kristine Boy isn't that the truth!!!!!!!!!! |
| I think this is how they should look:
http://www.oes.org/assets/images/SI2.jpg (PS The OES is the one lying down on the floor) |
Ron wrote: I think this is how they should look:
http://www.oes.org/assets/images/SI2.jpg (PS The OES is the one lying down on the floor) ......The guy is not you Ron???? LOL |
Cassie I know just how you feel. I took Tiggy to a groomers in spring last year 'cause DH kept saying she was too hot. I asked for them to clip her long. Yeah I know, what was the point.  
Well they actually did what I asked, (miracle) about the longest you can clip is 2 inches, at least that's what they told me. Luckily I said keep her legs long and her tail and her face. Because I hated it. 5 text messages to DH going bonkers about how terrible she looked. He thought I was 'bonkers' and kept saying but its just hair, it will grow. 
He got home expecting to see a shorn thing and was totally unsympathetic as she was hairy in his opinion. It took me weeks to get over it. I was really upset and annoyed with myself. She's grown back now and its air con for Tiggy. I like brushing her too much to chop it off.
Lisa showed me thinning shears. They're great!!! She showed me to just take off about 1cm at a time and go slowly. You cant see any chop marks with them and they're good for blending angel's wings into hairy boy dog chests.
I know its not much consolation but, you're learning, and at least you didnt pay big bucks to a groomer like I did in order to HATE how he looks.  for a big hair growth spurt in the very near future. |
Its hair - it grows back and you can fix it as it grows. We have all been there  |
Thanks everyone. I seriously freaked out. There are some holes in his coat where I stripped too much and I've cut too much off but I'm telling myself it's just hair. The part that gets me is all the grooming in the last year to keep it long and now... never mind. I'm thinking about knitting him a sweater Pity it's summer, I could have got away with that otherwise. Poor Ru, he really does look odd  |
| Poppy still loves him.....whatever he looks like! Promise we won't laugh next week! |
| Not to be dumb but what is stripping ?? |
ravenbrook wrote: Not to be dumb but what is stripping
??Well it aint taking your clothes off to sexy music
Using a rake, you pull/thin out the undercoat and it leaves the long guardhairs without all the bulk underneath. Stripping is usually done around the neck right up to under the ears so it does not look like a thick lions main. You still have that length just thinning out underneath so it looks better. |
| I bet he doesn't look as bad as you think he does.
Remember it grows, in a few weeks you won't notice! |
Vicki & George wrote: I bet he doesn't look as bad as you think he does.
Remember it grows, in a few weeks you won't notice! Ah but now we all know - we'll all be looking hard on the 17th!
That was a Joke Cassie, please stop crying |
| You guys can help me out, everyone bring their grooming stuff |
Hint of Mischief wrote: :oops: You guys can help me out, everyone bring their grooming stuff
Hey Cassie, that's a good idea!!! |
| Cassie, Summer has big lumps missing out of her coat. I keep finding a knot and cutting it. She was due for a cut and shampoo this weekend but hubby has decided on a bath, and paws trimmed and then a cut Thursday after sheepie day! |
| Cassie its not worth crying about, it won't take long before ru is back to how you like it. I think your doing a great job, at least your trying to get it right. I think it takes year to get these coats just right, you'll always see another down the road looking worse.
You can always pm me or call if I can help you at all I have another new oes coming in this week, think the owner wants it clipped I'll spend at least 20mins making sure this is what they want I hate clipping them really short. |
Hint of Mischief wrote: Thanks everyone. I seriously freaked out. There are some holes in his coat where I stripped too much and I've cut too much off but I'm telling myself it's just hair.
That sounds like what I did to my dog, on my first attempt to shave him. So I just kept going and shaved him down entirely, which I thought I was going to hate. But turns out they look great shaved down as well. And he loved it. It's now a couple months later, and he's beginning to look shaggy again; it's like a perfect puppy cut. I think I'm going to try to shave him down close with a #10 once a year (maybe around late May, instead of mid-April). I'm unsure however of how his new coat will behave, but is once-a-year shaving a reasonable plan? |
| Sounds reasonable to me, you might want to trim in between a bit, of course the feet & butt as well if needed. I think a few people shave once a year. |
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