There are two types of Cocker Spaniels: English and American. Despite the similar name, common ancestors and some external similarities, these dogs have different purposes. The English Cocker is a real hunter, while the American Cocker is slowly becoming a decorative breed, although he still has the instincts of a hunter. Both variations have long, silky hair, so the haircuts of the English Cocker Spaniel and the American Cocker Spaniel are similar and can be done at home.
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A small dog, at first glance, seems like the sweetest, trouble-free creature, a sort of plush toy. In practice, caring for the American Cocker Spaniel often requires special knowledge, a lot of work and time. At the same time, the owner’s efforts will not be in vain: the pet will become a “star” both on walks and at prestigious exhibitions.
Grooming and trimming of various breeds of dogs
- Beaver York
- Other breeds
- Mestizos (mongrels)
- Dachshund
- Pug
- Schnauzer
- Retriever
- Shepherd
- Maltese
- Afghan Hound
- Shar Pei
- Chow chow
- Brabant griffin
- Bobtail
- Newfoundland
- Bernese Mountain Dog
- Spitz
- Shih Tzu
- Pekingese
- Poodle
- Chihuahua
- Petersburg orchid
- Bichon
- cocker spaniel
- Chinese Crested
- Griffon Belgian, Brussels
- Pomeranian Spitz
- Yorkshire Terrier
- West Highland White Terrier
- Scottish Terrier
Features of wool
Selective work on the breed has changed the appearance of the cocker since the era of his passion for hunting. The coat has lengthened - the American Cocker Spaniel has become a hero of dog shows, a source of pride for experienced dog breeders and groomers. If there is a difference between the English Cocker Spaniel and the American one, then, of course, there are differences in their care and maintenance.
According to the standard requirements, Cocker coats of different lengths:
- the back and head are covered with a short and close-fitting cape;
- the body is moderately long, flowing, with a thick undercoat.
In addition, we recommend reading the article Colors of American Cocker Spaniels to get a more detailed idea of the characteristics of the coat of this breed.
Difficulties of care
Raising cute dogs is an expensive hobby, despite the adaptation of the modern Cocker Spaniel to living with a person in an apartment. Sufficient funds and time are needed to care for these delicate beauties. Alas! Cockers themselves cannot tidy up their luxurious coat, so caring for the American Cocker Spaniel is the permanent responsibility of its owner.
After walks, you can’t do without cleaning the fur, because no one wants to see skin irritations or allergies in your pet after splashing through puddles and examining bushes. Cleaning of paws, ears and eyes is inevitable. You can even bathe only with special “dog” shampoos.
Unlike the English Cocker Spaniel, the longer-haired American Cockers suffer from a common problem - mats. They form in the abdomen and joints. Advice: periodically lubricating these places with cosmetic oils will reduce their formation.
The American Cocker requires brushing every day, even lightly. Another thing is haircut and grooming, professional comprehensive care, which should be carried out only for show beauties. In addition, many dog owners teach themselves how to perform certain procedures. This helps pets to always be beautiful, and owners to be proud of their successes and save decent amounts.
Combing
Let's talk about combing first. You can definitely handle this procedure on your own. At the same time, despite its apparent simplicity, it also has its own complexities and nuances.
How to teach a puppy to brush
An American Cocker Spaniel puppy should be trained to manipulate its appearance from the moment it arrives in the home. The baby's fur is short, so some owners do not care for it. According to experienced dog breeders, this is a big mistake.
When combing, you need to take care of your baby's delicate skin, otherwise he may get a staphylococcal infection. It's best to start with the blunt teeth of a plastic comb. Later, it can be replaced with a massage brush, and then switch to special devices.
At 3 months and older, the puppy is ready for adult tools. You can even comb it with a cord comb, but be careful. A good time for brushing is when the puppy is tired after playing and relaxed before going to bed.
Take advantage of this moment!
Stroking with your hands soothes and sets you up for gradual and persistent combing. Daily care will harden the skin, improve blood circulation, and enhance hair growth. As a result, the Cocker will not be susceptible to minor scratches and tugging while removing mats.
It is recommended to teach the dog to lie on its back while moving the brush along and against the hair growth. Finally, the spaniel can stand up and brush himself off.
The treatment will get rid of lost hair and prevent it from falling into buns. As a result, the cocker will be neat, and the owner will be happy.
Interesting photo
A haircut
Now let's talk about how to cut an American Cocker Spaniel. The first coat trimming is done for 2-month-old puppies. Subsequently, they are cut as they become overgrown.
The American Cocker Spaniel's haircut includes two options: partial and full.
Partial haircut
This is exactly the type of American Cocker Spaniel haircut that can be done at home. This is not professional training of a dog for a show; there are no special tricks here. So you can handle it quite well on your own, the main thing is not to be afraid of anything.
Useful tips and tricks
In order for your pet to have good and beautiful fur, it would be nice to provide it with quality care. For this purpose, it is necessary to bathe the animal in a timely manner. However, it is acceptable to use high-quality shampoos and conditioners from reputable brands.
It is best to comb the resulting tangles carefully and carefully, without making sudden, jerky movements. You need to use a strong and high-quality comb.
It is advisable to carry out hygiene procedures a couple of times a month or as the animal becomes overgrown with hair. If you rely on the above diagram, then the pet will not feel discomfort, and its owner will not encounter significant difficulties during this procedure.
If you cut the hair on the back of an American Spaniel too short, it will be very difficult to tidy up the dog later, because the new hair that has grown will stick out a lot.
From an early age, it is imperative to accustom your dog to regular brushing and washing. Otherwise, the animal will be unkempt with a lot of tangles and protruding hair. In addition, when trying to put the dog in order, the owner may encounter fierce resistance.
To summarize, we can come to the conclusion that it is possible to cut an American Cocker Spaniel haircut at home with your own hands . If you doubt your abilities and skills or are afraid of making a serious mistake, then the best solution would be to turn to specialists.
Haircut patterns by breed are good helpers for professionals and amateurs in creating an aesthetic appearance for dogs. Basically, they are used to create a standard or show image that matches the breed. There are countless varieties of freestyle model hairstyles. At the same time, the groomer can create his own options using ready-made ideas.
Do I need to cut my hair?
An English Cocker needs to be groomed regardless of whether he is being shown or not . After all, in addition to the fact that a haircut gives dogs a beautiful and well-groomed appearance, it is also necessary for hygiene purposes.
Plant seeds, various debris and external parasites cling less to the shortened coat; it does not tangle and mat so much, forming tangles that cause discomfort to the spaniel.
Working cockers also need a haircut, since in the forest or in the field the too long hair of an uncut dog will constantly cling to the branches of bushes and collect dirt and various debris..
As for show dogs, only a beautifully and correctly trimmed cocker will be appreciated by experts and will be able to qualify for prizes, not to mention the championship title.
Grooming makes caring for an English Cocker much easier, since short and straight hair is easier to comb than long and constantly tangled hair.
When and why to cut a spaniel's hair
Grooming a Cocker Spaniel usually has two purposes:
- exhibition;
- hygienic.
For the exhibition, the dog must be cut to certain standards. But even if you are not going to exhibitions, long hair needs care. If you do not comb and cut your spaniel, it will look untidy and unsightly, and the hairs will become tangled, causing discomfort to the animal. An unkempt coat is more difficult to wash, food gets stuck in the hair around the muzzle, and bangs get into the eyes.
The spaniel is cut 3-4 times a year. If the individual is for exhibition, grooming is updated several days before each exhibition. Pets are often cut before summer, as short hair makes it easier to track ticks.
Should you cut your hair yourself or leave it to a professional?
You can carry out an incomplete, or, as it is also called, hygienic haircut of a cocker who does not participate in exhibitions, yourself, since this does not require professional skills: you just need to confidently hold scissors and a comb in your hands.
But if the pet is a show pet, then it is better to take it to a groomer or salon, since a non-professional can easily ruin the pet’s fur with a poor-quality haircut, sometimes even irrevocably.
It is also recommended to contact a professional if a grown-up puppy is going to have his hair cut for the first time.
After all, an inept haircut can not only ruin your pet’s fur, but also greatly frighten you during the procedure, which will subsequently complicate his care if the dog begins to be afraid of scissors and hairdressing clippers.
If the owner of a cocker spaniel wants to cut his pet in a special way, choosing an unusual haircut for him, then in this case, of course, you should also contact a professional groomer .
Showroom price
Tep grooming or salon haircut is not just about creating a pleasant appearance. The specialist provides a whole range of services to the dog, including: trimming nails, removing tartar, cleaning the anal glands, and caring for the ears.
The cost of grooming depends on many factors and varies between salons. On average, the price varies from 1300 to 3000 rubles. If you order a groomer to come to your home, the procedure will cost more.
Main types of haircuts with photos and their descriptions
Hygienic
It consists of removing excess hair that bothers the animal and giving the dog a more neat and well-groomed appearance.
Usually includes:
- Shortening ear hair.
- Trimming the hair on the paws, and in particular between the pads.
- Removal of long hair in the groin area and around the anus.
- Final combing and removal of detected tangles.
Exhibition (full)
According to a number of requirements, this type of haircut includes the following manipulations:
- The coat is shortened as much as possible on the head, neck and top of the ears.
- The hair on the lower part of the ears remains long.
- The hair on the back and shoulders is left in its natural form, but the undercoat is completely removed.
- Beautiful feathering remains on the lower abdomen and limbs.
A fairly short haircut is also recommended for puppies whose fur has not yet reached the length and thickness of the hair of adult dogs.
Procedure at home step by step
The scheme for creating a hygienic hairstyle is simple, and it can be applied with equal success to both English and American cockers.
- Before you start trimming the dog’s fur, you need to wash it and dry it with a hairdryer, comb it, and if there are tangles, sort them out.
- The back, croup and withers are combed with a furminator, a trimming knife, or plucked using fingertips. The head can be trimmed or shaved.
- The muzzle, the inside and the outer upper third of the ears are shaved with a machine. The neck is shaved down to the collarbones, leaving a triangle on the chest. English spaniels have the hair removed from the front of their paws, leaving the feathering at the back.
- The hair under the tail is removed using a machine.
- Using straight scissors, shape the ears, draw a line of feathers on the paws and tail, and trim the desired length of the skirt. For the English, the fur on the hind paws is smoothed out.
- Using rounded scissors, cut the hairs between the toes and make neat oval paws. At the same stage, the animal's claws are trimmed.
Even if you don't know how to cut a cocker spaniel at home, you can use these instructions. If you did everything correctly, you will get a handsome spaniel that looks almost like a show photo.
Types for boys and girls
If we are not talking about a show haircut, the requirements for which are the same for both males and females, then English Cocker boys and girls can be cut in different ways.
Thus, for active and energetic males, we can recommend shorter haircut options than for gentle and calm females.
For boys, we can recommend two most suitable options:
- Stripping with a short "skirt" . With this haircut, the hair on the body, neck and head is plucked by hand. Along the edges of the ears it is shortened almost to their edges, small feathers are left on the limbs, and the hair on the lower abdomen is cut quite short.
- Short haircut with poodle paws . The fur on the animal’s body is greatly shortened, but a “cap” remains on the head and lush fringes on the ears.
Russian Spaniel Grooming
It is easier to trim a Russian spaniel than its foreign relatives. His haircut should look as natural as possible, as if nature itself had worked on the pet’s fur, and not the groomer’s tools.
You cannot shorten the hair on the underside of the tail, on the back of the paws, or on the lower abdomen. It is also advisable to leave the curls on the ears, neck and chest in their original form.
The Russian Spaniel's hair should be smooth and close to the body. To do this, you need to comb it with a fine-toothed comb, and regularly pluck the fluff. It is not advisable to change the length of the hair on the tail. If the tufts of hair on it stick out in different directions, they can be slightly adjusted with scissors.
Required Tools
To cut your hair at home you will need the following tools::
- Regular scissors
- Thinning scissors.
- Hair clipper.
- Trimming knife.
- Bath towel.
Many professional groomers believe that the best trimming is obtained by pinching the coat by hand, rather than using a trimming knife, which, while removing fluff, can damage the guard hairs.
How to cut your own hair?
- First of all, you need to comb the dog’s fur with a brush, and if there are tangles, take them apart or cut them off.
- The cocker is washed and combed with a wide-toothed comb, after which the pet is thoroughly dried with a towel, dried with a hairdryer and its coat is carefully combed again.
- The crest or protruding hairs on the scalp are plucked by hand.
- The ears, outside and inside, are cut as short as possible at the top by 2/3 of the length. To do this, you can use a clipper with attachment No. 10. At the bottom of the ears, the hair is trimmed with thinning scissors, and you need to trim it so as to give the animal’s ears a teardrop shape.
- The cheekbones and muzzle are also cut short with a clipper. In this case, you need to act especially carefully in the lip area so as not to injure your pet or cut off its whiskers. If you are not sure that you will be able to do this neatly and evenly using a machine, then you can use thinning scissors.
- The hair on the chin, throat and sides of the neck is cut downwards.
- The sides of the chest are cut short with a clipper according to the growth of the fur. In this case, a triangular area with long hair should be left in the upper part of the chest.
- On the sides of the body and on the stomach, the hair is trimmed with thinning scissors or shortened to the desired length.
- The undercoat on the back is plucked by hand or using a trimming knife.
- The croup is trimmed.
- The lower part of the limbs is processed using ordinary scissors. The hair between the toes and along the contour of the paws is trimmed.
- On the hind legs, the hair remains long from the hip to the hock; below it it should be shortened.
- On the front legs, the hair should be cut short on the front and sides. There are beautiful fringes at the back.
- The tail is short processed with a machine.
- In the area of the anus, a diamond-shaped area is cut off with thinning scissors and smoothing is done from the base of the tail to the ischial tuberosity.
It is also very important to remember that the hair on the back, back of the neck and sides of the Cocker cannot be cut or, especially, shaved. Ideally, you need to pluck it by hand, but if the pet does not participate in exhibitions, then you can treat it with a trimming knife.
Appearance of an English Cocker Spaniel
General impression
Touching beauty is just one of the advantages of the English Cocker Spaniel. He is strong, smart, agile - these are the qualities of an exemplary hunter. The breed is harmoniously built, and you can admire the dog running forever because of the incredible grace in its movements. The breed is a mixture of the Field Spaniel and subsequent bred species. This is noticeable in the photo of an English Cocker Spaniel.
Head
The Englishman is distinguished by a square muzzle, not stretched in width, a powerful jaw with a classic bite. The breed's brilliant sense of smell is achieved through a nose with wide nostrils. Large oval eyes are not protruding and have brown shades. The ears hang down and are covered with hair, reaching to the nose.
Neck
The neck should not be long, but not short, pumped up and without folds.
Torso
True breeds have a small body, wiry and muscular. The back does not bend, it is straight. The chest is without bulges, deep.
Forelegs
The spaniel's paws are sinewy and straight, moderately elongated. For the greatest freedom of movement, the cocker's knees are bent, due to this the dog's running is not constrained. The swing is achieved by elastic repulsions from the ground with round paws. The fingers are close to each other.
Hind limbs
According to the standard, the hind legs should be identical in length to the body. The back is balanced with the front.
Tail
Cockers' tails are docked, but not in all countries. Dogs with undocked tails also participate in shows. Allowable length is up to the hock joints. The tail should not look runny.
Movement
The spaniel moves with sweeping steps, the step is fast and light. Large webbed paws help the dog swim. The spaniel runs energetically and sweepingly.
Wool
The texture of the coat is somewhere between wavy and straight. It feels silky and very pleasant to the touch. Present on all limbs, body and abdomen. In the lower part of the body, the fur looks like a skirt, and on the paws it looks like a fringe. Long hair forms a fringe. According to the standard, the coat should not be fluffy, curly or harsh.
Color
English Cockers come in solid, mixed, tri-color and speckled varieties. Of the solid colors, red, brown-chocolate, spotted, black, and golden are allowed. Of the mixed colors, the following colors of English Cocker Spaniels are found: red, liver, fawn, black - all of these shades contain white specks. But pets of these colors do not participate in exhibitions. The standard recognized only four colors: black, marbled blue, marbled red, red. As the dog grows, the coat darkens. Lips must be depigmented.
Size
When standing, a cocker boy reaches 41 cm at the withers, a girl – 39 cm, the maximum and minimum height of an English Cocker Spaniel is regulated by standards. The weight of an English Cocker Spaniel does not exceed 14.5 kg. The size of the English Cocker Spaniel is compact, but it still needs space, as the dog is energetic and active.
How to properly care for your fur
The English Cocker Spaniel needs to be brushed 2-3 times a week. First, the dog needs to be combed with a brush, after which the body and sides are combed with a fine-toothed comb, and areas with long hair are treated with a wide-toothed comb.
An English Cocker is bathed no more than once a month and, usually, this procedure is combined with a full haircut and nail trimming..
When washing, use shampoos for long-haired dogs. Also, to improve the quality and appearance of the coat, you can use balms or conditioners also intended for dogs.
Care after grooming
After grooming, you need to maintain the condition of your pet’s hair so that it does not turn into a matted felt boot before the next haircut. Care is not that difficult, but requires regularity and some persistence on the part of the owner.
Bathing
When walking through mud, long and medium coats should be protected with waterproof overalls. A cocker is given a full bath no more than once every 1-1.5 months; many owners try to combine a “bath day” with nail trimming. Cockers are washed with special shampoos for long hair; it is advisable to select the product according to the color of the hair. After the bath, the furry friend is dried with a towel, dried with a hairdryer and combed, removing tangles if necessary.
Combing
They comb the cocker every other day, if the dog likes the procedure, then you can do it every day. Combing has a beneficial effect on the skin, improving blood circulation and preventing tangles from matting. First comb the dog with a brush, then go over the long part with a comb with sparse teeth. If tangles have formed somewhere (and this can happen even with frequent combing, especially in the season when you have to put overalls on your pet), then they need to be carefully disassembled. Sprays can help a little to make it easier to comb.
