Grooming- How Long Does It Take You?

[eingana]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

I groomed her ladyship last night. Actually, who am I kidding, I groomed a small patch of her ladyship last night.

It took me half an hour to get through about a quarter of her undercoat and it resulted in aching wrists and 2 carrier bags of fluff (plus a mat of bits stuck to carpet, jeans etc) and that means that I'll have to put in another half an hour every day until Thursday, when I can start back at the beginning again, like the grooming equivalent of painting the Forth road bridge.

I know, more fool me, I have a breed that has a really bad shedding problem (GSDs only moult once a year, but it's a shame that it lasts 365 days!) but we didn't know when we got her that she was really long haired too, because she was in such bad shape that her fur was all broken off at a short length.

How long does grooming take you with your beasties? How do those of you with Afghans manage keeping the fur free of knots?

 

[chelynnah]

About 2 minutes ROFL. I love my little wash 'n' wear whippets LOL. A little longer if going to a show as we might have to trim up tail and trousers, but beyond that and regular nail clipping, a good couple of minutes with a zoom groom keeps them in tip top coat condition.

 

[banana]

My Goldie takes for forever and like you I get carrier bags of hair.. Ripples isnt so bad and I trim her every 4 weeks or so to keep her hair out of her eyes and to keep her tidy - she is so low to the ground she gets messy very quickly!!

 

[eingana]

Molly's 2 best buddies are white shihtzus and if they run near her they end up being covered in medium velocity mud spatter patterns as well as their undercarriage being muddy. At least she doesn't show the mud quite so badly and I'm experimenting with a baby oil spray before going out to see whether it helps the mud come off easier after her run too.

I was quite surprised at how hard it is to get a comb through her hair until I saw some of her fluff under a microscope (my niece had a microscope for her birthday present a few months ago and so we took some hair off everybody to have a look and compare us all, including Molly's guard hairs and undercoat) and the hairs are so rough it's amazing they aren't just constantly in a big knot.

I'm hugely envious of those who have a short haired dog that can just get wiped down most of the time chelynnah. I think that I get some things a lot easier though, like keeping dogs warm in winter and protected in really wet conditions. What one puts in as a grooming effort saves one from ever needing to buy a dog coat

 

[lurcherman]

not long for me either, the whip x gets 3 or 4 times a week but it takes secs and the other the same apart from being a minute,

 

[TTT]

3 minutes for 3 dogs!

 

[eingana]

My next dog will be short haired

 

[banana]

How about a chinese crested???

 

[Purdy Bear]

My dog is a Cairn x something (Staffie/Shih Tzu) anyway he has 2 inch fur with no undercoat. The fur is lovely and soft if brushed but becomes increasingly wirey if it is left. I use a comb (he doesn't like slickers much) on him daily (if I get the time) and it takes about 5 minutes but I combine it with teeth cleaning, claw trimming, ear cleaning and training so takes about 30 minutes daily.

We have had a Collie x GSD before and he molted like made all year round and it was horrendous.

 

[eingana]

How about a chinese crested???

Chinese cresteds are teeny weeny little ornamental things though, aren't they? I'm a 'big working dog' kind of person and don't really do lapdogs. I may consider a standard xoloitzcuintli if I could find one though

 

[eingana]

My dog is a Cairn x something (Staffie/Shih Tzu) anyway he has 2 inch fur with no undercoat. The fur is lovely and soft if brushed but becomes increasingly wirey if it is left. I use a comb (he doesn't like slickers much) on him daily (if I get the time) and it takes about 5 minutes but I combine it with teeth cleaning, claw trimming, ear cleaning and training so takes about 30 minutes daily.

We have had a Collie x GSD before and he molted like made all year round and it was horrendous.

It's the undercoat isn't it? Bags of it

Molly is a raw fed dog so there's no real need to clean her teeth as she's showing no sign of tartar at 6 years old, but the quantity of bones she eats has taken the tips off her canines