Grooming advice

[KJT]

Hi all

Just wanting a few pointers on how often to groom or get professionally groomed my long coated BC pup. He is now 10months old, with an obvious double coat. He is shedding at the moment and although he has a lovely shiney coat, it is getting a bit out of control! Having only had short coated dogs in the past, I'm not quite sure how to manage it. I brush him 1-2 x a week and a lot comes out, but should I be having him professionally groomed by an experienced BC groomer? His white collar and rump and back end in particular are very thick and long.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated to keep it under control

[Cass C]

Personally I use 3 different brushes an a comb on my dogs while they are at the peak of shedding season. I do this almost daily: I use a pin brush, then I use a fine toothed comb to get out any knots the brush left behind, and I finish with a soft bristle brush to remove any excess loose fur. If they are shedding to the point of adding new fur carpeting to the every day house I will use a desheding brush like a furminator in addition to the usual routine.

 

However if you don't have that kind of time you may look into a professional groomer in your area.

[gcv-border]

I have a rough coat BC, but my 'grooming' consists of 'only when necessary'. He doesn't shed too much so I am lucky there. He does have very long 'mud-flaps' (hind leg feathers) and tail fur. If it gets matted or burrs in it, I use a comb to get them out, then try to even out the remaining fur. The shorter fur makes a subsequent brushing much easier.

 

Edited to fix my mistake above: I use scissors to cut out mats and burrs, then even up with the scissors. Then I brush. The shorter fur makes brushing much easier.

[Alchemist]

One of my dogs is rough-coated. I don't tend to do a lot of brushing - perhaps during burr season. When he starts to shed, I take him to get groomed in hopes it'll reduce the spread of black hair all over our carpets. Inevitably, a week or two later, he drops his undercoat all at once, develops lots of small "dreadlocks" overnight, and I spend hours painstakingly brushing them out of his coat.

 

I don't use a Furminator - I think it ruins their outer coat. Instead I'll use a coat rake (Mars Coat King) if I want to thin his undercoat.

 

I also take him to get groomed (and have his belly shaved) at the beginning of the summer. Sometimes we'll add a sanitary trim around his butt, or very rarely we'll allow them trim some of his "feathers". Don't ever allow a groomer to talk you into having anything more than just a belly shaved on a double-coated dog.

[Sue R]

My dogs would not know what a groomer was. Several times a year I will use the rake to comb out loose undercoat and shedding guard hairs. I use the rake also to locate and help me remove (I do a lot of the de-tangling with my fingers or even a blunt scissors if needed) any mats in the feathers or behind the ears. I also have a finer comb to get tiny seeds out of the ear feathers and other locations.

 

We are used to living with dog hair and I really only comb them out enough to help with shedding and avoiding mats and tangles.

 

We don't ever bathe our dogs, either, but do use a hose if they've gotten muddy or into something stinky (we do spot wash if it's really nasty and I can't get the smell out with cold-water rinsing alone). We have cattle and deal with a lot of mud and our share of manure, plus whatever stinkiness they discover on our walks.

 

Most people are probably a lot more concerned about grooming but if our dogs were to have a bath or be groomed, the first thing they would most likely do is to find something muddy, mucky, or stinky to roll in, just to return to a more natural state.

 

Their coats are pretty self-cleaning, which is a plus with many of these dogs.

 

Best wishes!

[Gloria Atwater]

Personally, I only groom my guys when it's obvious we're having a hairball invasion. It's up to you, really. Border collies don't *require* tons of grooming and they are going to shed - it's just what they do. I have two smooth coats and an Aussie at present, but before that, we always had rough coated dogs and they just got seasonal brushings-out and emergency clip/combs if they got into something nasty or dirty.

It's up to you, though, how much work you want to do and how much house cleaning you're willing to put up with. You're already way ahead of me on the grooming diligence. I find it easier to vaccuum my floor than comb out my Aussie.

~ Gloria

[KJT]

Cool thanks for this info! I'm not hugely in to grooming or bathing unless necessary, so good to know he doesn't have to go to a groomer (I have no interest in showing, so quite happy with the shaggy look!). I may just continue brushing him once a week or so to get rod of the loose hair and hopefully that will be enough....and vacuum every day while he is shedding between seasons

[Gideon's girl]

Mine have a thin medium coat and I use a slicker only as often as they need to be reminded that grooming is a thing that can happen to them.

[D'Elle]

An undercoat rake is your best friend in grooming a border collie, in my opinion. I use it along with the usual pin brush whenever the shedding seems excessive, and always in the spring when they are shedding winter coats. I also use scissors to cut Jester's heavy "bloomers" short. I never used to do that, when we lived elsewhere, but living in the desert that heavy fur on his rear picks up whole plants and brings them inside, so I keep it short. Although my small dogs get bathed regularly, I almost never need to bathe the border collies unless they have gotten into some mud or something; they just seem to shed dirt and stay pretty clean.

[rushdoggie]

I like clean, well brushed dogs because they sleep on my and my furniture and I like to keep a clean house. So I brush weekly and address feet as needed (nails and between pad hair). I find regular brushing keeps them from smelling "dog" as they don't have a bunch of coat to retain moisture etc.

 

I brush through with a pin brush to find and gently remove any tangles or debris, then follow with a slicker and a semi fine tooth comb to remove any loose hair. I get them to lay on my lap on the living room floor and we do it in a relaxed way and they seem to really enjoy it.