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Irish Water Spaniel Grooming.
Informtion on how to groom your Irish Water Spaniel
DBT highly recommends the How To Professionally Groom Your Dog At Home ebook when learning to groom your dog or pet.
The Irish water spaniel has also been called the Whiptail, the Rat tail spaniel, the Bog dog, and the Shannon tail.
It has two thick coats of long curling locks of hair. It is a very high maintenance dog when it comes to grooming needs.
Regular brushing is one of the most important things you can do to make your pet healthy and happy and the Irish water spaniel needs brushing every few days.
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
. Early detection of fleas, ticks, eczema, infection and smells
that may notify you of sickness
Tools: Slicker and wide-toothed steel comb
The Irish water spaniel needs brushing out with a slicker every few days to prevent matting and tangling.
Brushing this dog makes the hair very bushy so either let it go for a swim or bathe it afterwards to regain proper curl shape.
Behind the ears is the problem area.
Never cut out a mat. It will leave a hole very difficult to hide. If necessary, use thinning shears to "bite" into and separate strands.
It also needs a down-to-the-skin combing once a week.
In addition, the Irish water spaniel has to have an all-over trim once a month.
If you'd like to try this intensive trim, there is information at the end of this article.
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 ears once a week.
Your dogs ears should be pink and healthy inside. If not, don't do anything to them until you see a vet. Keeping your dogs' 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 are solutions 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.
Teeth: Regularly.
Brush your Irish water 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, no matter what its behavior to get it used to grooming.
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.
Then introduce the brush. Clean a few teeth at a time and soon you will have a routine that takes just minutes.
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 your 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 Irish water 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 play with your dog'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 farther up on the leg that works like a thumb. It is better to clip your dog's nails frequently as this encourages 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.
Tools: Small, blunt scissors, slicker brush or comb.
The Irish water spaniel has hair that grows between its pads. This hair can mat and trap bacteria, besides becoming painful to walk on.
Pick up paw and trim hair level with pads.
Hygienic trimming: 2 to 4 weeks.
Tools: Blunt-nosed scissors, Thinning Shears
Trimming 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 (when your dog drags its bottom along the floor or carpet).
There is no risk of overly expressing these glands so it's best to get accustomed to doing it regularly as 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
Tools: Non-slip mat, sprayer hose, dog shampoo, 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 and never use human shampoo.
If you choose to bathe your Irish water 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.
Rinse and squeeze off excess water by running your hands along its body and pressing down gently.
Dry with a towel.
The Salon Treatment:
Tools: Slicker, Wide-toothed steel comb, Thinning shears, Straight scissors, Electric clippers, clipper wash, #10 clipper blade
Step back and check your work often.
To start brush your Irish water spaniel's whole coat with a slicker, working out tangles.
Never cut out a mat. You won't be able to disguise the hole it will leave.
If necessary, use thinning shears to "bite" into the mat to help separate strands.
When brushing go against the grain. For instance, brush the topknot back and the leg hairs upward, a little at a time from tip to root until you get to skin.
When you've finished you'll have a very poofy dog.
You're going to go over the whole dog with your comb, thinning shears and straight scissors to give it the proper shape.
Clipper face with #10 blade starting at nose tip along muzzle to ear opening.
Take one strand at a time of the topknot and snip the frizzy or sun burnt ends, just enough to keep the hair out of the eyes. Do not simply cut straight across.
Blend the back of the topknot into the hair of the neck and the sides of the topknot into the ears.
Hold each ear up and forward. Cut behind and under the ear very short.
Let the ear down and neaten the edges. Do not cut curls off the bottom of the ear.
Never touch the beard or sideburns.
Trim the hair on the throat very short and smooth so that it forms a V.
Trim all the frizzy and sun burnt ends off the body making the length even. Go flat on the sides but round out the rear.
Trim around the feet as if cutting a pattern out around them then hold your scissors tip down and snip around.
Trim the ends off the top of the feet slightly. Turn the scissors inward at a slant to give the smallest hint of an ankle and giving the front of the foot more poof.
Forelegs are kept full. Blend with chest hair.
Hind legs: short and smooth on front below hocks. Trim back to blend with body.
Don't lose curve of leg.
Side: blend leg to shoulder.
Don't trim insides of legs too much. If long-legged leave chest hair longer. If short legged trim chest up.
This dog is not supposed to have a tapered waist but angling the underline a tiny bit towards butt will make chest look broader.
