Opions and Advice on Puppy Cuts
Those of you that have had them, what length do you recommend to the groomer? Also if any of yoiu have photos please post! Also I am open to any suggestions! |
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| Sorry not to answer your question, but have you tried a nice, gentle slant-tooth comb? Either way, I bet you've got a big wriggly ball of fur on your hands... good luck! |
| We have Truman in a puppy cut right now. We let him grow out over the winter and he got mats very quickly. Since he detests being groomed, it is always a struggle to brush him out. Therefore, we keep him in a puppy cut almost all the time. Also, he looks really CUTE in a puppy cut. He's a real traffic-stopper - everywhere we go, people comment on how cute he is. When he's being naughty, I tell him it's a good thing he is so cute but then, that's another story! |
| I'm having the same problem with Isobel,she is getting small mat's around her mouth,not underneath but at the sides of her mouth.She loves being groomed everywhere else but around her face she hates it and I have a real stuggle on my hands. |
| if anyone has any photos of a "puppy cut"please can i see them as i have been thinking of giving molly one,
JACKY |
| Often a "puppy cut" can't be accomplished without hand scissoring the entire coat - which from experience I can tell you very few groomers are willing to do. Most groomers will say they will do a "puppy cut" - but you will end up with a shaved dog! You can sometimes do a "long" shave - I think the fur is about 1 inch long - but the coat has to be completely free of mats (which most of the time isn't the case and is why you want them to have the puppy cut in the first place).
You can go to www.neoesr.org in the Photo Gallery and see all different coat lengths! I would recommend bringing a picture to the groomer - they all seem to have different ideas of what a "puppy cut" is! |
Ron wrote: Sorry not to answer your question, but have you tried a nice, gentle slant-tooth comb? Either way, I bet you've got a big wriggly ball of fur on your hands... good luck!
Ron, do you have a pic of the comb you are describing? I think I need something like that too. Dancer has a couple very small mats beginning behind her ears. She hates to be brushed there, so it's hard if I have to spend much time on that area. She hates to be brushed at all actually, so I am kind of wondering if she will shape up to be a show dog. I just don't know if it's something she'd enjoy anymore, considering she hates grooming, and is very protective of me whether we are at home or out for a walk. I want to show her, but I don't want to make her do something if she doesn't like it, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see... I digress... sorry... the comb? LOL  |
| Two things I've learned:
1) It's REALLY HARD to find a picture of this on the web (and usually I can find pictures of things fairly quickly!) 2) It's REALLY HARD to take a good picture of one of these combs after you give up looking on the web. I just did a little photo shoot of the one we have (I think we got it at a PetsMart or Petco or even WalMart... It's not very expensive...) I will post the pictures shortly. |
Here are pictures of what Joan and I have always called a slant-tooth comb or slant-tooth rake.
The angle is slight but significant, as it allows the comb to rise up over any mats it encounters. It's the most gentle of combs, you just keep gently dragging the comb through the hair until it finally moves through without a catch. And notice the there is another row of teeth, so that the deeper you're able to comb mat-free, the more work the top of the comb does in the de-tangled top coat. 
On the web, the only devices I saw like this were all called rakes, and most were labeled "undercoat rakes". I didn't see any with a good angle on them, except for a couple of de-mating rakes that were razor blades designed to split the mats. Maybe it's just that taking a picture of them with the angle prominent is very difficult, as I found out. These should be available wherever you buy your grooming supplies. Hope this helps! |
| Thanks for all the great replies. I have been able to work out some of the mats with time and sissors. But everytime I think I got them, I find more little ones. Max may be blowing his second coat, and that may be causing it (someone had mentioned that somewhere here). He's almost 11 months so it sounds right. But I think I will try a puppy cut, I just don't want him shaved!!! My groomer is pretty good so I will see what she says. And Yes any pictures = Please!! I cked out the photos the main page, but there weren't many. My mom advised me to go to about 1-1/2 - 2 inches. (We had sheepie growing up) |
| Well I am taking Max to the groomer on Thursday to get a puppy cut. He must be getting his second coat of adult hair, because no matter how much I have been brushing and combing him, I am find knots and matting everywhere. His hair is sooooo thick around his upper body. My question is - how short should we go? My mom recommended 1-1/2 inches? any thoughts would be great!! |
Maggy is about 1 1/2 " now. Just warning you - that's pretty short. I'm looking forwad to the 2-3" stage.  |
| I'm glad you wrote that, I dropped off Max this morning, and told them an 1-1/2, but just called them and told them 2 inches. He is now 11 months, and is getting his second coat and I cant keep up with it, knots everywhere - so he needs it cut. I'm excited and scared to pick him up after work. They are first told me $60, but when I called back to change the length they said it was going to be more like $75-90. But I guess its worth it, I just hope they do a good job. A few of my neighbors use them, and said they were good. I'll let you know how he looks! Thanks for the info too!! |
If you buy a good set of clippers (oster brand is best in my opinion) it comes with different "blade covers" to acheive different lengths. With my first oes I would often take her coat down to one inch, but if I wanted a 1.5 to 2 " I would go with a #5 blade cover. It's quite easy once you get the hang of it, and then you can do it whenever you like, without having to pay groomers. If, of course, you would like to. Some people prefer the simplicity of dropping them off and picking up a beautifully groomed dog, but I prefer to do it myself, since the one time we got a groomer to do Mickey they clipped her ear and made it bleed. 
Doing it yourself means one of two things... number one, if you want to leave a bit of coat, you have to be very meticulous about making sure there are NO mats or else the clipper gets stuck and it can be painful. However, if you want to just shave it down, not quite to the skin, use a #2 or #3 blade cover and zoom away. Their coat grows back quite quickly up to the 2-3 inch length and then slows down, at least this has always been my experience. Mickey loved being naked....  |
Willowsprite wrote: Some people prefer the simplicity of dropping them off and picking up a beautifully groomed dog, but I prefer to do it myself, since the one time we got a groomer to do Mickey they clipped her ear and made it bleed.
It's also a great "bonding" time with your dogs! I would recommend to anyone with a pup - to start off immediately - even if they don't need to be groomed! Get them used to grooming - as it is a part of life with an OES! Also - make sure if your dog does get clipped to continue brushing - because in the blink of an eye they'll be grown out and matted AGAIN!  |
| Okay, 2 inches is still short!! Max looks like another dog! His head now looks too big for his body . He is still adorable, but so different. I can now see his body! I think he likes it though. I just hope it grows in a little. But overall Great for Summer!! |
Drake is going to get his first puppy cut today and I am really anxious about it. I have already warned my groomer that I do not want to come back to a shaved puppy  I told her what I wanted and she said it will be 45-60 dollars depending on how big Drake is. I felt a little relieved because she sounded like she knew just what I wanted and has worked with a few other OES. Wish me luck and I will let you know how it goes!
As far as the slant tooth comb goes it has worked wonders on Drakes coat. It gets out mats that I did not even know were there. Drake is blowing his first coat and it really takes out the old hair. I found one at Walmart for $5.00 and it has worked wonders. Drake even lets me work around his feet and face with it. The comb I got just has one row of teeth with very blunt tips so I am now going to look for a better one with two rows because I think it would be well worth the expense.  |
| Speaking of mats, I just finished a long grooming session with Dancer, and it seems with her puppy coat blowing all over the place a few mats have sprung up overnight it seems! They must have started before but I always thought I was pretty careful to get every inch of her. She had a couple little ones that always seem to form behind her ears and I just pick at them with my fingers, but today I found her front legs were matted! I brush her quite often so I have no idea how I missed this, but it took a lot of work to get them out. I used the rake, and it works well, but the forelegs are such a difficult spot to brush, I'm always afraid it will hurt. She had a couple little ones starting on her belly too, but she loved it when I raked those out, she got the back legs thumping and laid her head back with her tongue hanging out.
Anyway, off to the bathtub we go! |
 All went well at the groomers yesterday. Drake was really a good boy and had a good time with the other dogs. He made a liar out of me though. The things I told the groomer he may not like, such as his ears and mouth, he did very well with but he got tired of the brushing which is something he usually likes. He did not even mind getting his pads done, little devil  . I was really pleased with the groomer because she did just what I wanted her to do and it was only $35.00. I decided not to have Drakes hair cut so she just did his paws, ears, wiggle butt and shaved his tummy. You can also now see Drakes eyes! What she did was shaved a narrow strip across the bridge of his nose and took the hair away from the corners of his eyes. He still has the hair over the top of his eyes and a full muzzel. You can not tell what she did unless you look but the you can now see Drakes eyes and I can tell he is able to see better. I will try and get picks up this weekend. So I am very happy and relieved that all went well. |
| I like the shaving the tummy idea or at least keeping it really short. It sounds like it would cut the grooming time in half--nice and cool in summer! And no one would even notice it.
Like Brit said, no matter how short your sheepie is, keep brushing! Maggy gets brushed everyday and so far, knock-on-wood, she hasn't had a single mat. It will be intesting to see how things go when she's in a full coat. It's also nice, as the increased grooming time is a gradual increase and neither the sheepie nor the 2-legger notices the diiference. Poor Shelly! There was probably nothing anyone could say to truly prepare you for Max's new do! I can imagine your surprise when you picked him up. Did he strut around to show you how 'pretty' he is now? |
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