How to groom a cocker spaniel puppy cut
Grooming a Cocker Spaniel-Breed Standard Trim
Timecodes:
thank you for joining me today I am a
melee certified professional pet groomer
since 2003 and it is absolutely my
pleasure to share with you the secrets
of the grooming industry now if you are
tuning in you must be interested in
knowing how to trim one of the most
elegant breeds among us a cocker spaniel
this trim is one of my specialties and
I'm gonna share all my secrets with you
here today there are a few tools and
techniques that are so rarely shared
that are going to set this groom apart
from the typical pet trim but lucky for
you you land it in the right place here
today guys you see most people think
that because cocker spaniels have such a
thick coat that they're most comfortable
when shaved but I'm gonna share some
secrets with you here today that will
send down that coat nicely still
allowing it to look full and beautiful
without having to maintain as much coat
so whether you groom your copper spanner
at home or if you're a professional pet
groomer you're not gonna want to miss
this episode so stay put it all starts
with understanding the proper profile on
this breed proper pattern placement if
we place that pattern incorrectly the
whole groom is thrown off I created this
illustration for you to help you
understand key points to placing that
pattern on a contra spaniel from above
the breastbone to the point of romp
which is right about under the tail
that's our pattern and we're also going
to be creating some stunning angulation
on this breed so I want you to focus on
where the knee is the hock the tuck up
which is placed just behind the last rib
and the elbow here's a peek at what our
underlines gonna look like before we set
that angulation and here's a peek at
what it looks like afterwards last week
we focused strictly on the head assembly
of this breed if you missed that guys
I'm gonna link it in the card right now
you go back and watch it and then you
come back and watch this video because
today we're focusing strictly on code
prep pattern placement angulation the
whole body trim let's get started the
first step to this groom is to make sure
that we thoroughly brush out our cocker
spaniel we
or we get her in the tub and we
thoroughly wash this dog as well as any
degreasing that may be needed we want to
really condition this coat as well
having a very nicely crept coat is he in
order to be successful at the next step
that I'm gonna share with you guys all
right she's thoroughly cleaned we get
her out we're gonna tell her off and get
as much moisture off of her as possible
so that it's less to dry if you're
grooming at home and you don't have
access to force dryers then you can just
thoroughly towel off your dog and let
them air dry but you must come back and
brush them out clean the ears in case
they got any water in their ears this
will take care of that and I like to
trim the nails after the bath because
the nail now it has some moisture put
back in it it will not tend to want to
crack last week I created a fantastic
tutorial on nail trimming I'll link that
in the card right now for you guys there
early brushing her while she's wet right
after she's conditioned this step we
cannot skip this is a crucial step for
what I'm gonna share with you next guys
big secret coming your way this is a
Cote King undercoat rake we use it in a
brush like action to thin down the coat
and remove that hair at the same time
but this is going to make your cocker
spaniel stay beautifully maintained for
the weeks between grooming I will link
this product in the description below of
this video in case you need to pick this
up for yourself you're gonna love it you
can see I'm easily removing dead loose
hair with this undercoat rake while nd
is wet I mean it was very important that
we conditioned her because we added
moisture into the coat and also with the
conditioner it allows this technique to
work very gently on your dog it gently
pulls that dead coat right out the loose
hair that wants to come out because her
hair is fully moisturized right now it's
clean
there's no snagging we've brushed her
there's no mats there's no issues there
but it will gently pull the dead hair
out easily one last important thing that
I want to point out to you guys when
working with a dog's coat that is wet
that has just been bathed that means
their skin is soft just like when
we'd get out of the tub our skin is soft
you got to keep that in mind when using
any tools including a brush on your dog
after you've bathed them and their skin
is soft have to be careful and gentle
and let the tool do the work guys okay I
just want to remind you of that
compassion and comfort is very important
when grooming a dog and this is the hair
that we've removed from Indy after she
got out of the tub before we trimmed her
now she's ready she's prepped we're
ready to set that pattern on Indy and
this is our guide
she's brushed bathed conditioned and dry
we're gonna start by trimming the pads
of her feet with a 30 blade we're also
gonna trim all around the outside of the
pads this will eliminate some scissor
work just what's on the under part of
her foot there's a tendon right here in
the middle of her big pad I want you to
make sure you're shaving that big pad in
a v-shape coming towards the pad cocker
spaniels have very thick coats so it's
very important to clean those pads out
real nicely guys they can get mats in
there we want a nice clean foot take a
look at this now let's set that pattern
just above the breast bone to the point
of rump starting at the tail work your
way up we're using a 7 in Reverse and I
am using the Clipper vac system you
don't have to worry about that if you
don't have one same principle would
apply using large smooth strokes start
coming towards the neck and the head
you'll make about four or five passes up
this direction
now we're gonna expose this shoulder on
the cocker spaniel so starting right
about where the shoulder blade is above
it that's where we're going to start the
front of our pattern now starting at the
point of rump right under the tail we're
gonna start working our way towards that
shoulder
we just set take a look at the diagram
again guys
now picturing our imaginary line from
the pointer up to the shoulder we are
setting that pattern along the side of
our cocker spaniel I hope you can see
that I'm actually just grazing this with
only using the corner of my seven blade
and I'm holding the skin taut with my
other hand so let's step back and take a
look at this this is where we're at so
far the next thing we're gonna do guys
is blend this clip and work into our
furnishings so using our seven blade
with the lay of the coat
we're going to graze and scoop off of
that pattern line with the lay of the
coat so above the breastbone across the
shoulder to the point of rump this is
our imaginary line guys setting our
pattern now we're gonna blend it so stay
put if you're struggling with any of
this leave me a comment send me an email
my email address is in the description
of this video so please don't hesitate
to reach out guys I'm here for you
let's blend this pattern together like
magic with our kimchi lightning thinning
shears these things are wonderful I'm
using a scissor over comb technique just
blending down with the lay of the coat
I'm using my comb as a special tool here
guys in this technique my comb is
protecting the dog's skin as well as
lifting the hair for me notice I'm
moving my scissors and they comb the
whole time we're going to be blending
and thinning this whole pattern set you
see those guys all the way from the
chest the front of the dog the side of
the dog down the legs we're blending and
thinning at the same time and it looks
so natural now I'm gonna pull this tuck
up a little tighter you see I'm taking
more hair there I'm really taking quite
a bit of hair there I want to pull that
pinch that tuck up in so it gives her
dimension helps to accentuate the
angulation that we're going to apply to
this trim so let's talk tuck up if we
put this tuck up in the wrong place on
this dog guys we're gonna blow this trim
this is where you're gonna have to put
your hands on the dog you're gonna have
to feel right behind the last rib
illness dog that's approximately where
we want to set that tuck up and we're
gonna angle it towards the elbow to
about the height of the elbow and this
is what its gonna look like I'm gonna
set this tuck up strictly with my
thinning shears you can use straight
shears I'm going to use my thinning
shears from just behind the last rib
towards the elbow we're gonna set that
tug up
now just lifting her leg like she's
taking a step we're gonna work from the
arm pit back towards the tuck up just
tidy everything up if she was taking a
step some hair would be popping out
there so we're just simulating that by
moving her leg around I think would set
this tuck up perfectly guys what do you
think leave me a comment let's talk
about this stuff let's get chatty I'm
gonna show you again how I like to make
the dog look like they're moving you
know give the dog some action while I'm
trimming so that I can see what this
trim looks like when she moves when she
walks when she runs it's very important
to do this this is a really good secret
guys one that I just I'm so happy to
share with you know comb everything down
we're just gonna go around the outside
kind of tight to the toes she's a pet we
want her to stay nice for a while and go
this way against that back pad because
if you go like this you could cut it and
everything down with her standing now I
can
this is read a little better this is
where she gets a little uncooperative
and she'll pick her foot up every time
just go around the foot creating the
shape that we're looking for
[Music]
they call this
good luck
just don't over the just the top of her
foot
[Music]
right here starts her foot now we're
gonna angle down from the hock to the
back of the pad now after setting our
line from the hock to the back of the
pad we're gonna come from side to side
all the way around in a u-shape a dome
shape across the top of that foot just
the foot and we determine where that
foot is by the two ankle bones that are
on each side of her foot this picture
should give you a good idea of what I'm
talking about you can feel them with
your fingers now we're gonna set this
back leg into the Tuck up pick that back
leg up like she was running and take
anything off that doesn't belong in this
shape
[Music]
looking at it this way remember there's
a knuckle where you want to be very
careful not to negative your sister's
looking at it for less why I actually
see exactly what I've got to do to shape
that in the back oh okay however foots
down I'm gonna pick this foot up what
she stops moving around now I'm just
gonna let me shake that foot
[Music]
I'm actually bulky some of this world
very sick
and the cocaine really did send it down
it's a bit we're trying to achieve a
pillar shaped leg with a round foot can
we just one more look we're gonna hold
this foot up like she's taking a step
and then you can see what you what is
falling past that line that creates
shape overlay now for the sanitary trim
we're gonna use a ten blade we're gonna
clean up under the tail as well to keep
her clean and she goes to the bathroom
trimming the area where she pees we just
go towards it like this this is the
safest thing to do still using a ten
blade this is going to keep this area
clean and free of urine which can cause
irritation if we didn't do that now back
to a seven blade we're gonna take this
area real tight from the drop bone to
about the middle of the bend of stifle
then we're gonna take our straight
shears and we're gonna scissor that real
tight this is setting our angulation and
we want this to be very very close very
tight what we're trying to achieve here
is a very sharp rump it will show the
drive of the dog when you're looking at
it from the side it's really gonna set
the angulation off and the dog is just
gonna look like it's ready to jump into
action that's why we're taking this so
tight and so short we can even use our
thinning shears here to really tidy that
up if you incorporate this into your
cocker spaniel trim guys you're going to
see a huge noticeable difference in the
way your dog looks see we just tightened
that hip up real sharp and then that
will just lead right into the leg it
looks great let's jump back and look at
her profile before and we're gonna take
a look at it after so big difference do
you guys see how balanced she looks the
symmetry on this dog is perfect this is
what we're trying to achieve through our
grooming but here's the cool thing about
it it is a pet trim
this dog can have fun she's easy to
maintain but she looks like a show dog
that's the cool thing about the cocker
spaniel is a tough little dog they
definitely were meant to hunt but
they're very elegant and their coat
serves a huge purpose that protects them
and we need to cultivate that coat from
puppy on thanks for tuning in I'll see
you on the next one
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