Zeke's fur's thick, dense, & course. Hard to brush. Typical?
It's difficult to brush. There are no mats, but it takes some energy to drag a brush or comb thru it. I can only brush a few inches at a time. I don't think I could move the brush thru his fur from his neck to his butt in one fluid swipe. Is a sheepie's coat typically like this? I'm using a cheap pin brush from PetSmart (that's all Brick ever needed) and it feels like I could rip the brush insert out of the handle sometimes. Are there better tools I should be using? Or different tools? Thanks. |
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| Wow, a coarse haired sheepdog......like the breed standard? Most, but not all of mine have been soft coated. I much prefer the coarse. You need to upgrade your brushes. If you are keeping him in long hair you need one of those long pins that Amber wrote about awhile back. You cannot get these at PetsMart or Petco. You'll have to go on line to a pro groomer site. I assume you have a slicker.......shorter pin. These you can get locally. Do you use a grooming spray before? This helps. Finally, line grooming. He isn't a Golden Retriver, you need to brush out in sections. For dust and general tidy work a good boar bristle brush works for removing outer crud, but not for lower coat work unless you do section by section. Sounds like someone is in far better health since he joined Brick and you.  |
| The type of pin brush will make a difference. A good quality pin brush with no balls on the end and with thinner pins will pull through the fur easier. You will likely have to order one of the internet that is what I have had to do as there was nothing good in the stores. I've become quite an experimenter in pin brushes. The best I have found so far is the Madan pin brush and the Pro Bass Pin Brush. The Madan pin brush has thinner pins and lighter so I find it easier on my to pull through the fur and use this one mostly. I only use the slicker for fluffing up at the end. I do thin out some off Monty coat with about once every two months as it gets a bit to thick to brush through and gets a bit matted. I do not thin out completely, just to loosen the coat so the pin brush can work through it. |
| Bella has a coarse coat as well and anyone who meets her says how great that is. I have to say I have a very easy time grooming her and the only issues is needing to thin her coat along her chest and shoulder region. I think that you said that you met with Madeline and Carol her groomer. They gave me a one on one session on the trimming and taking out the undercoat in certain areas. You might want to give them a call and see if you can get some hands on grooming with Carol. She came right to Madeline's house for my tutoring and I know she just lives in Batavia, NY. I have their numbers if you need them. |
| Thanks Gail, I would appreciate Carol's number. I had it but I think I lost it. Carol trimmed Zeke back in mid-November. She said he'd be good until she came back in the spring for the spring dog show at the Fairgrounds. And he is good. I just wish there was an easier way to brush & comb him. What kind of tools do you use on Bella? |
Tonks and Luna are soft coated; not surprising that they don't have the breed standard coarse coat- nothing about my girls seems standard.  The softer hair seems to mat up more easily; the coarse stuff can be easier to brush with the proper tools. Chris Christiansen has a line of pin brushes with no balls on the ends of the pins; I get my from Cherrybrook.com Grooming spray is a must; I've even heard spraying water while brushing is better than spraying nothing at all. I find the mats we get are easier to pull apart when they are damp. I've tried most of the sprays, and don't see any real difference. Maybe just go with what you like the smell of!!!! I will say that Dawn let me use a spray that she had and preferred, and I know quite a few show people like it a lot. On my girls it built up quite quickly, and was a bit sticky. But I think it's because their coat is so soft. So that may be a good one to try on Zeke. It had a scent that wasn't floral, either. So maybe a bit more masculine; it was nice! Hopefully Dawn will see this thread and can mention the name of it.... You can find the brushes I was talking about here: http://www.cherrybrook.com/index.cfm/a/ ... Oval_Brush |
| I use the pin brush with the gold tines and no nubs on the ends. I get it from CherryBrook. I also use a rake to thin out her coat in the shoulder and chest areas. Before I met with Carol Bella had a look more like a "bear" than an OES. Carol also showed me how to shape around the neck area to get more definition separating the chest, neck and head. It is a scissoring technique I wouldn't think of but it is easy to do. It was exactly opposite of what I was doing when I was getting bad results/look. She actually had me cut first backwards or straight towards the neck and then down from the neck into the chest area. Bella now has a neck!!! Carol also showed me the right way to do the ears and how to shape the head better. I always had no problem with the but and body but was clueless from shoulders up! LOL. Carol is great with the tips and really likes it when you get hands on. We washed Bella together and I watched her while she trimmed her asking loads of questions. She also showed me how to really take charge "of the chin" and hold her to get the right trim around the head. I was timid before but Bella was much better when I told her no and to hold still while trimming the face and ears. I was so concerned about nicking her I sort of to loose when it came to those areas. It is much easier, faster and safer for both of us when I firmly hold her chin and beard when cutting near her face. Best of all.....Carol does a great job, loves teaching, does a excellent job explaining, and is VERY reasonably priced. |
| Winston has a soft coat and is very easy to brush. Dexter has a coarse coat, his guard hair hates to give up undercoat so he starts building mats as soon as we are through brushing him. We use a comb only to tease out mats. Our favorite brush is a Hindes 6060, problem is that Hindes went out of business and I can't find anymore. There are other good brushes out there but like several people already said you aren't going to find them at Petsmart or Petco. I would not expect to be able to brush one movement from head to butt on either of the boys. |
| Murphy has a very coarse coat and is fairly easy to groom if I keep to a really good schedule and don't wait too long between grooming sessions. Amber did a great 'Grooming Seminar' at Sheepie Shindig. All the videos are only about 2 minutes long and we broke down the topics so it would be easy to look up a specific area. Taking a look at the section on tools might be a good start for you. The rest are really good too! Hope this helps! |
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