Grooming an older sheepie
 .She used to be very calm and patient with brushing and trimming, but now she tries to move away from the brush, and even curls up her lip on occasion. I assume its due to general soreness (she has some arthritis) and also perhaps due to her sense of balance not being what it was. My question is: folks on here with older sheepdogs...do you still keep your dog in coat, or just go with shaved down after a certain point? My dogs are always shaved for summer...but since our winters are so very cold, I like to let them grow out from sept-may. I'm also worried that she will suffer from being cold, as her tolerance for that is lower now too. As it is, its getting hard to convince her to go outside to potty when the temps are lower than the 20s. |
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| I don't have an older sheepie but I do have some advice for you. Your dog is old, might as well let her have it her way now. If she doesnt want to be groomed, keep her shaved and get a couple nice thick doggy jackets to keep her warm in the winter when she has to go outside. In a dogs last years, it's more about making them comfortable than anything. dog jacket http://www.dog.com/item/pet-life-hooded ... et/495205/ dog fleece http://www.remmeer.com/reflective-therm ... -1688.html dog snowsuit http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... HkQ8wIwBg# |
| Mo is 12 and for the first time in years she is in long coat; however she absolutely hates the brush. The hatred is not new, but like your girl, she's a bit more grumpy about me working on her....she growls now. Her arthritis is in her paw, but I suspect other spots are achy as well. Generally I've noticed she is just grumpier. She growls at all the dogs if they come too near (alot of good that does with deaf Glacier). If I could find a warm place to work inside, I'd scissor trim her down now, not shave until day temps get up into 60's. Right now I'm just keeping the feet shorter for mud control (if we ever get moisture) It will be interesting when it's shave down time, how tolerant she is of that. I'm hoping she knows what is happening and will tolerate it for the "I'm free" feeling afterwards. "I'm free" = sprinklers coming on soon. |
Laurel it is hard when they get to that golden age and yes clipping her off even just down to about an inch all over will be better for her. A coat for winter is the go too.  With my old girls I had to do it in the end as there tolerence for me fussing about trying to groom them, bathe them etc just grew to the point too much of an ordeal for them and me too. I also found too that bathing them was only required after trimming them off not very often, I had that waterless shampoo where I could just squirt that on where needed and just towel off to freshen up faces and even between the legs if they had that weeie smell very helpfull too. I could not get them up on the table to groom them as trying too with back ends going was just too painfull for them. So clipped back and I would lie them on a old sheet on the floor and just whisk through the coat with a slicker and comb to keep the knots out along with a water mist bottle as I did that to keep them clean and happy. Only took about 15 mins to 1/2 hour and at the same time while they were on there sides on the floor if needed I could trim between pads and anywhere else that was needed. I do think they get to that stage and dam hard to be trying to groom them with longer coats, just before I clipped off kelsey, she was 12 when I did that, my hubby lifted her onto the grooming table on her side, her confidence was zero by then, after my hubby gently lifted her off and we had a time getting her legs going again. I had to support her under her tummy while we massaged her back legs and butt area to get those leg feelings back again. After that it made my decision easy, she was clipped off and I actually think she really enjoyed being in a short puppy clip, like a weight off her and actually made her a bit more bouncier. Also not as much grooming was needed then and she was happy with that. So she lived in a short coat for the last 2 years of her life. She had two jackets, one for outside with fleece for warmth and water proof on top, easy to put on and a soft one like dog PJ's for the night time for winter time which she loved sleeping in.  Hard decison but they do let you know not so much fussing mom now as I am past all that. So she is showing you now, sore mommy and dont want this groom with the lip curl too, she is past all that and probably sore too with the arthritis, no harm in winter there shaving her off, just get her a good warm dog coat for outside potty sessions, even booties for the snow. You will find it will be warm enough for her to go outside, it will keep her backend warm and she will be happier in herself too without the hair, it is actually amazing how much more weight in the hair on them too when coated so it will also help her mobility as well once clipped off, less weight to carry around with old girl hips and legs. |
Its funny....I keep thinking: "Oh no, its just too cold out..." Then I think about my parent's Labs and their Pointer....these dogs do ok in the same climate with no hair at ALL  . Wrestling her into jackets is no picnic these days either I'm afraid....  My poor old girl, I wouldn't want to have go outside to pee in our weather either  been there...done that!!! |
| Timely question. Belle turns 13 in five days. She still stands on the table, but I don't like to do it for long, and she still stands in the tub, but, same deal. She has never been shaved. Ever. That said, she's kept pretty short these days. I let it get a certain length and then I scissor it all over. That way I can leave a couple of inches, so she has some coat, but I never let it get more than 3-4 max inches and then I wack a couple of inches back off. You can scissor it in stages. It's doesn't get so long that it really mats, so you can just slicker through it pretty quickly. And it's quick to bathe and blow dry as needed. Oh, sure, she LOOKS pretty funny some days. But what the hey, she's happy. If I remember I'll upload a couple of Christmas pics of her when I get home. You just experiment and whatever works for you and your dog. But that's one way to get away from the fall shave and then hoping it doesn't grow out to the point of needing to be shaved again before the spring thaw. Kristine |
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