Cocker Spaniel Grooming – Make Them Tidy from Head to Tail!

The perfect tools for Cocker Spaniel Grooming

Cocker Spaniel breeds are a unique and wonderful animal, originally from Spain they are quite noble dogs fun and full of energy, but very reliable and devoted to their masters. The English Cocker Spaniels were initially bred as hunting dogs many centuries ago, then were transported to the US and bred down in size to become smaller American Cocker Spaniels.

Both of these dogs have very similar features though it is their size and hair that separates them; the American Cocker Spaniel is smaller and has much longer hair. Cocker Spaniel grooming is very important and depending on which breed you have extra attention should be paid to the coat and the ears.

On both of the spaniels their hair grows short on their backs and then starts to grow more rapidly towards the bottom half sometimes even covering their legs; this should be trimmed occasionally for comfort and cleanliness. Because the Cocker Spaniels have such long wide ears, this warm, dark and moist area can become a breeding ground for mites, ticks and even fleas; ear infections are especially common in this dog.

Grooming often is essential to your Cocker Spaniel health levels and there are 2 options available to you, you can pay professional groomers to do the job for you or buy a few special Cocker Spaniel grooming tools and do it yourself.

Tools for successful Cocker Spaniel grooming

So you’ve decided to take the plunge and groom your beautiful Cocker Spaniel yourself, well you’ve made a brave decision and unless you own a Cocker Spaniel miniature grooming this particular breed will take quite a bit of time. Here are a few tips to help you maintain your Cocker Spaniels health levels and keep him or her looking their best.

The Cocker Spaniel has a lot of curly hair that can easily get tangled and matted, to help keep this in order there is a whole range of tools that you might want to consider buying, here are the main items for the hair and nails:

Combing Tools:

• Slicker Brush - This is a common tool for untangling hair, removing mats and getting rid of that loose hair which otherwise ends up all over your home. It looks like an almost flat padded brush with very short bristles on the face.
• Pin Brush – Just like its name says, this brush is quite large and is made up of a pad with upside down pins pushed into the face; it works well on American Cocker Spaniels with longer hair. This brush pulls out hair and debris as well as breaking up extra thick mats, using this brush on your dog will stimulate the release of oil from their skin leaving them with a smooth shiny fur coat.
• Mars King Coat – Most professional groomers who are preparing an American Cocker Spaniel for a competition show use this tool to un-mat and straighten all of the lower body hair. This grooming tool has a unique shape similar to a row of bent dining forks, it has the advantage of being able to give a coat an equal all over look in just a couple of strokes.
• De-matting Comb - This comb is usually only used on dogs whose coats have been neglected for some time and are filled with thick mats and tangles. It has 6-7 long teeth that get in deep and gradually pull out the problem knots.

Nail Tools:

• Nail Grinders – These were really made for professional groomers, but are openly available for the public to buy. They are basically a hand held device with a small cylindrical grinder on the end; you can use this to round and blunt the end of your dog’s nails, but be warned not all dogs react well to the sound or feel of this machine.
• Nail Cutters – These look like a regular pair of pliers and are an effective tool for clipping the ends of your Cocker Spaniels sharp nails. They have been designed specifically for dogs so you simply have to put the nail between the blades and press; if you’ve never done it before ask you vet to teach you because cutting too near the skin will cause your pet a lot of pain.
• Nail Fillers – This is another painless way to smooth down your dogs sharp ends and the bet thing is you don’t have to buy them from the pet store, just stop into the ladies section at the supermarket and get a coarse edge file.

For further information on Cocker Spaniel grooming, we suggest you check out the highly recommended Cocker Spaniel eBook and audio package today!