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Field Spaniel Grooming.
Informtion on how to groom your Field Spaniel
DBT highly recommends the How To Professionally Groom Your Dog At Home ebook when learning to groom your dog or pet.
The Field Spaniel is a silky, long-haired glossy dog that is a moderate to heavy shedder and requires a relatively high level of grooming. This dog needs to be brushed and combed daily.
Regular brushing is one of the most important things you can do to keep your pet healthy and happy.
Brushing:
. Removes dirt and debris
. Invigorates skin
. Spreads oils to moisturize skin and keep a shiny coat
. Prevents mats and tangles which are irritating, painful and can harbor bacteria, fungus, other infection
. Keeps your house cleaner especially during shedding seasons
. Bonding, massaging, loving interaction
. Detects fleas, ticks, eczema, infection and smells
that may notify you of sickness
Tools: Slicker, Pin brush, Medium-toothed comb, Rake, Curry comb
Line brushing consists of holding hair up and out of the way and then brushing/detangling a small amount of hair, a row or line, at a time from underneath.
Always work from the inside out on a coat and from the bottom to the top of the hair.
Brace the skin of your dog with one hand while working on knots and always brush in the direction of hair growth.
Use the pin brush and comb for tangles on the chest, ears, tail, and featherings.
Use the slicker for the rest of the body.
Gloss up your Field spaniel with the curry comb.
Eyes: Check your dog's eyes daily.
Debris is flushed to the corners of the eyes and daily wiping with a wet cloth or paper towel can prevent the build up of bacteria.
Ears: Check your Field Spaniel's ears once a week.
They should be pink and healthy inside. If not, don't do anything to them until you see a vet. Keeping ears clean minimizes odour, removes dirt, bacteria and mites trapped in wax. Never use a cotton swab on the inner ear.
Tools: Cotton wool balls or soft cloth and ear solution.
There is solution made specifically for dogs but substitutes include: hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, mineral oil, witch hazel, and tea tree oil.
Place a few drops of ear solution in ear and rub and massage to loosen wax. Swab out with cotton wool balls or cloth.
Ear Hair Plucking: Every week.
The Field Spaniel has hair growing into the ear canal. This can prevent the canal from drying properly, trap bacteria, and cause fungal infection.
Tools: Tweezers, powder, chalk, rubber gloves( all optional)
Lift the dog's ear and lay it back. Grasp hair along the inside of the ear between thumb and forefinger and pull firmly. This hair is easily removed.
Use tools to help grip slippery hair.
Teeth: Regularly.
Should you rush your Field spaniel's teeth? Yes. 80% of 3 year old dogs have periodontal disease. Cavities and gum disease are painful for your dog; they diminish its pleasure and ability to eat. Bacteria that develops can infect the heart, kidney, liver and brain. Really bad breath is usually a sign of gum disease.
Tools: Toothbrush/finger cap/cloth, doggie toothpaste, tooth scraper.
Never use human toothpaste. It is not edible.
Starting this dog off with this practice takes patience. Reward it constantly.
Start off by getting it used to its mouth being handled.
Progress to touching the teeth with your finger.
Get some meat-flavoured toothpaste and apply with your finger.
Brush in a circular motion and get under the gum line.
If you don't want to brush everyday, use a tooth scraper once or twice a month to get rid of the build up of plaque. It accumulates mostly on the outside of the teeth and on the back molars. This won't be much fun for you or your dog though.
Lots of bones and hard, crunchy foods can minimize plaque but not to a truly effective degree.
Nails: Every two weeks.
Nail care is very important for your Field Spaniel. Nails that aren't trimmed can splinter and infect the quick or grow and curl into the flesh. This can be painful for your dog to walk on. It will affect its gait, posture, and eventually it's skeletal and ligament health. Nails should never touch the ground. When your dog is standing its nails should rest above the ground. If you hear clicking on the kitchen floor, clipping is overdue.
Tools: Doggie Nail Clippers (scissors, pliers, guillotine), Dremel or file, Styptic or Kwikstop.
Introducing your dog to nail clipping should start off by getting it used to its paws being handled. Stroke, touch and manipulate your Field Spaniel's paws whenever you are giving it affection.
Getting it used to the Dremel is your best bet to avoid clipping altogether.
Sit beside your dog and put your arm around its shoulders if you can so that you are clipping from underneath and at the right angle.
Lift the paw and press on it to expose the claw.
If it has a clear nail you should be able to see the quick: a dark bundle of nerves and blood vessels. Clip from underneath close to the quick but do not cut into it. If you do, your dog will soon let you know. Use Styptic pencil or Kwikstop to staunch the bleeding.
Buff the ragged edge with a file or Dremel.
If it has a dark nail, clip just under the curve of the nail and then you will be able to look inside and see the quick if you look close enough. Clip using tiny snips at a time.
Don't forget to check for dewclaws: an extra claw dogs may have one further up on the leg that works like a thumb.
It is better to clip your dog's nails frequently as this causes the quick to recede farther away from the tip.
Paws: Check daily/Trim every two weeks.
It is very important to Check between your dogs pads for foreign objects that may have wedged there and check the pads themselves for cuts, scrapes and infection.
The Field spaniel in particular is prone to fungal infections due to its webbed feet.
Tools: Small, blunt scissors, slicker brush or comb.
The Field spaniel has hair that grows between its pads. This hair can mat and trap bacteria, besides becoming painful to walk on.
Trim hair around the paws to keep them clean. Only do this when the dog is standing on the paw.
Then, Push the feathers growing on top of the foot down through the toes and trim to pad level.
Lift the paw and from the back, brush out the hair and trim to pad level.
Push feathers back up through the toes and trim from the top.
Hygienic trimming: 2 to 4 weeks.
Tools: Blunt-nosed scissors, Thinning Shears, Electric clippers
Trimming at the front of ears, under the tail and around the privates keeps your dog feeling better as well as keeping it and your house cleaner.
Expressing Glands: Every 2 to 4 weeks
This is a task normally done when you take your dog in for professional grooming. Your dog uses scent glands in the anus to mark its territory.
These glands also excrete when your dog defecates. At times, they may get impacted. Signs of this include: increased doggie odour, excessive licking and chewing of the behind and worst of all, scooting. That's when your dog drags its butt along your carpet.
There is no risk of overly expressing these glands so it's best to get accustomed to doing this regularly. It will lessen dog odour.
Tools: Warm cloth
Lift the dog's tail and hold the cloth against it's behind. Place your fingers at 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock and press inward and squeeze to expel.
Bathing: As needed
Most dogs do not need regular bathing. They have natural oils to moisturize their skin and keep them resistant to dirt and water. Stripping these oils with frequent bathing dries out the skin and prevents you dog from having a healthy coat.
Field spaniels however, because of their long silky hair and outdoor lifestyle are apt to get debris, flea, ticks, tangles and mats that breed infection, and so require more frequent bathing. A bath can help to remove a large amount of hair during shedding season as well.
Tools: Non-slip mat, sprayer hose, dog shampoo, conditioner, leash, towels.
Choose a place where you can block escape routes and expect 1-3 water-spraying shakes.
A leash tied to a higher point than your dog's head will keep it standing and prevent it from escaping. This is highly recommended as it's really difficult to hold a slippery dog.
Never bathe your dog in standing water. A sprayer hose is a must.
Never use human shampoo.
If you choose to bathe your Field spaniel outside, attach the hose to the tap of your kitchen sink for warm water. Grooming salons often offer self-service use of their well-equipped facilities.
Wet your dog using your hand so as to massage and lift the hair to get to the undercoat.
Avoid getting water into the eyes, nose and ears.
Cotton wool can be stuffed into the ear canal to deter water.
Massage lather down to undercoat.
Rinse thoroughly as leftover shampoo can severely dry out and irritate your pet's skin.
Condition the feathers well.
Rinse and squeeze off excess water by running your hands along its body and pressing down gently.
Dry with a towel.
Blow-dry and comb feathers. This dog needs to be completely dry to avoid hotspots. Human hairdriers are too hot and rarely have enough power to accomplish this. The facilities of the grooming salon would be a better bet.
Salon Stuff/Haircuts:
Is your Field spaniel a companion or a show dog?
If you'd like to show your Field spaniel, contact a professional groomer for guidance and instruction.
If you'd like to give your Field spaniel a salon do without the salon, follow the instructions below. This is not a show groom. For a show, and for the cleanest trim, you would have to hand pluck or strip your dog. Judges allow a bit of buzzing with electric clippers on the head and front of the neck.
Hand plucking or stripping is the best way to thin your dog's hair. It is simply grabbing a few hairs at a time and pulling. Dead hair is removed easily. Powder or a rubber glove help you to grasp and stripping knives take the place of your fingers.
Tools:
. A table with a rubber mat
. Slicker
. Medium-toothed steel comb
. Fine-toothed comb
. Thinning shears
. Straight scissors
. Electric Clippers
. #10 Clipper Blade
. Clipper wash
. Spray conditioner
. Fine-toothed stripping knife
Brush and comb your Field spaniel.
Using the #10 blade shave your dog's face going with the growth of the hair.
Shave up to the bone at the top of the skull.
Shave under the brow, cheeks, foreface, around lips and under the chin.
Shave around ears and upper 1/3 of ear. Also shave inside the ear and around the ear canal.
Shave the neck against the direction of hair growth. The chest ruff should be delineated in the form of an upside down V.
Shave or pluck under the tail.
Shave the front of the legs.
Brush out feet hair. Trim feet as explained in paw care. When trimming the top of the foot, cut in direction of hair growth, not across.
Comb out haunches (the feathers on the back legs) and use straight scissors to cut off in a straight line up from the back of the foot.
Comb out and neaten the feathers-line of the hock with the straight scissors.
The back of the neck is the biggest challenge with the Field Spaniel. This hair is supposed to lie flat. The most effective way to accomplish this is through hand plucking and stripping. The Mars stripper is a tool that can work well here. You roll this toothed drum as if you were cutting pizza. Otherwise you can do your best with thinning shears.
Use thinning shears to blend areas and the stripping knife to defuzz.