Please reassure David!
My issue today is David. He feels terrible about Mady's ears. Mady is our first so we are still learning. So forum people, share your stories of your learning experiences with your sheepies so that he knows that he is not alone. And if you have any tips on keeping the bottoms of the ears matt free, I am all, well, ears! |
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| Kim, are you talking the hair under the ear flap? I usually shave that down for my dogs. Asterisk has exceptionally waxy ears that requires cleaning several times a week. It's really not so bad, no one sees it anyway. I think David is doing a great job! I wish my DH would learn to groom our dogs!! It would make the time go by so much faster. I think we ALL have grooming disasters when we are a first time OES owner. Heck, I have a few posts about injuries to myself (getting stabbed with my double sided comb) and I even injured Asterisk when she moved quickly that required stitches on her arm. I felt SSSSOOO bad when that happened, I cried for days. Asterisk seemed to have forgotten about the injury the second after it happened. Don't worry David! You're doing a great job!! |
The ear thing is the very bottom of the ears, where the ears hang down, on the outside. So shaved bunny ears again for Mady.  |
I had that ear issue with Bella. They were tiny mats along the very edge of the ear on the outside. And I thought I was being so good about grooming her I was surprised when I found them. Someone here recommended using a flea comb in those areas. I went and got one and it worked wonders. Now I just have to battle the little mats under her chin. Go away for the weekend when it is hot and humid, home with daddy and  Oh No .......1/4 done last night and planning another attack on them tonight. |
| Asterisk had to have that done once too. Ears are such a delicate part of a dogs body. Sometimes it's just easier to shave down and start fresh. You really wouldn't want to be pulling and tugging on those. The wonderful thing is, inside of a few months, she'll look very different! OES hair grows fast!! |
After you brush, go through it with the comb. I just did that to Chewie last evening.  I did a spot groom - his ears, muzzle area, down the neck and chest - all whites.I use my comb that has 2 sizes of spacing. Comb through with the wider side to catch any obvious tangles, then use the smaller side to "test" that it really is all clear. I hold my left hand under the ear, and comb down the entire outer ear with my right. You can flip the ear over and just do the fringe that hangs down all the way around on that side too. Then you know you got it all.  I did the ear thing like that while Chewie was growing, and changing coat - and had no problems as I kept up with it. Couldn't trim as we were showing, so I had added incentive to not get behind. Consequently, he loves having it done. Last night he sat in front of me as I worked through it while watching TV. He had a few grunts and "owie" yips with chest tangles, but very uneventful otherwise...  PS - I didn't use the fine comb on anything but the ears when showing - can't, as it pulls out too much undercoat. But, now it's not a concern. And he's an adult male and has WAY enough coat there (neck and chest) - so he can stand to lose a bit, actually! |
| Adam has never groomed Tonks and Luna, and wouldn't know where to start. About once a year he'll actually bathe them for me, and thats a BIG deal. That your David has done so much is really impressive in my book! |
| You are just so lucky to that kind of a groomer ! Mine isn't that way  But she's the only groomer around here  Good luck with your little Mady ! |
| I had the ears sneak up on me after I got Edgar. The matts were all along the edges and then under the ear by the jaw. Now I know what to look for. I've also sniped off the very tip of my finger with grooming scissors, nicked Edgar the shavers, nicked him with the scissors, given him shave rash, and Lee has cut toenails to close before (he goes to the groomer for nail trims now). It's amazing that he lets me anywhere near him but he's in love with me. lol. That and I think that he gets really excited about all the biscuits he is going to get while getting groomed. |
| I'm not sure Paul has groomed any of our dogs.....oh, maybe one........Great Pyr once. So that fact David is trying is amazing! Behind and under ears are the worst. |
| Todd does zero grooming here too. He will get burrs out of his dogs after hunting though...and he gave Tipup the cat a bath after he got sprayed by a skunk!  Tipup is Todd's cat, so his bathing job... He thought it was interesting his cat was defending the yard...  |
| Wayne does NO grooming and is happy to tell anyone he meets who comments on how gorgeous Tiggy is that he gets to enjoy her but his wife keeps her looking gorgeous, so as others have posted David is streets ahead in the grooming department already. I second what Dawn and others said. Comb the outside and the inside of the ear right out to the end of the hair. I got caught out with Tiggy's ears too, but more in behind the back of the ear fold. I was reading up on the web about grooming OES and read about checking for matts behind the ears. I went straight and looked, oh my, there was a whole patch of hair I'd been missing and Tiggy has very fine whites that matt easily. I used a detangler and a comb and a lot of patience on my behalf and Tiggy's to get those ears sorted but luckily it was early days so the matt's werent too bad. One of them I also had to split with scissors. Has your groomer or Carl, who is a fantastic mentor, shown you how to split a bad matt with your scissors? It can help break the matt down into a more manageable size. Lisa showed me how to do it and it really does help if the matt is particularly nasty. |
| Good advice above. Use a comb & work from the bottom up. |
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