• If you're a past member of the board, but can't recall your password any more, you don't need to set up a new account (unless you wish to). As long as you recall your old login name, you can log in with that user name then select 'forgot password' and the board will email you at your registration email, to let you reset your password.

plenty of fur - should i get her trimmed???

emmawright

Well-known member
hello - another question !!

Bluebell has A LOT of fur and i am wondering if i should get her fur clipped off for summer? Does anyone here do this? would it grow back the same? Bluebell will be so hot in Summer with her fur, plus even though ibrush her every day she gets a lot of matts they take a lot of time to get rid of. i have seen a few cavaliers out and about that have been clipped.
 
If you liked the look of the clipped cavaliers you have seen and her coat is a lot of work, maybe you could get her clipped too. I am considering trimming the feathers on Dylan's front legs with thinning scissors as he keeps peeing on these. You know me though, I like things natural and I've put it off for ages! :rolleyes:
 
It's so hard to see their beautiful coats clipped but harder to see them uncomfortable in the heat and threatening to the very young and the old. Annie,b/t, has an appointment in 2 wks to have a summer cut. At age 7, with our heat and humidity, I feel she will be much more able to tolerate the weather and it will always grow back.
 
I am gutted my 13 yr old thought it would be a good idea to trim Titch the other day :(

She did it with all good intentions but his tail is now semi-professionally layered! :eek:

Im so upset his helicopter tail has been hacked :(

Now I have to heartbreakingly find a good groomer who can tidy him up....reminds me of that yellow pages advert where the botched hair job hubby has to search for a good hairdresser for his niece super quick lol

My advise is,if you have the choice,keep her au naturelle.CKC are meant to be feathered ;)
 
I think it depends on the age and health of the cavalier.If I had a young healthy cavalier I wouldn't trim at all,but my sister has an 8 year old with a heart murmur so her vet recommended that she be trimmed to make her more comfortable before summer starts.
If you think you might regret trimming her then maybe it's best not to,it may take literally ages to grow back.
Sins
 
My Rudee had a heart murmer and from about age eight, I had her trimmed tight during the summer because she would pant a LOT. She spent a lot of time in the sea so it was easier to dry her and she was much more comfy with a short coat.

Even at age ten, people would quite often say "Oh, look at the puppy!"
I know a LOT of people frown at the idea of trimming a cavalier but I believe thet you have to do what is BEST for the dog and anyway, it all grows back again in time for winter.
 
I used to trim Honey's fur lightly all year round when she got older. She didn't like the heat very much so it kept her cool and also she was a bit wobbly on her legs and would end up getting dirty and smelly at her rear end. So it was much more comfortable for her :luv:.

If you're confident of trimming Bluebell yourself you could start of by giving a light trim and go shorter until the fur is at a length that you like or if she is going to the groomers you need to be very certain of what you want and don't want or Bluebell could come out bald :eek:. This has happened to me and it's the reason why I groom my dogs myself now.
 
Trimming

Hi

I groom one of my three cavaliers. He was clipped bald in rescue and his hair grew back like a mad professors so I regularly groom him now - He still has long ears, his tail, his feathers on the front legs and wings on the rear legs but just long enough to keep him pretty and then his back, chest, tummy all nice and short. he looks beautiful but this is because he looks so awful and scruffy otherwise. He is a tri by the way.

My other two have never been clipped but I trim paws, ears, tail and rear end just to keep them neat and tidy. their coats are different though not wild and nowhere near as thick and heavy as the tris - these two are blenheims.

Yesterday I groomed a black and tan as practice (I've done a two day grooming course and start a city and guilds course in September) his coat was very very thick - he had been clipped short in the past so at some point I think will need clipping again - I just trimmed though because I felt his coat was just long enough to be pretty but not wild.

Maxine
 
To be honest I have serious doubts on advice to trim dogs to keep them cool.

Cavaliers don't even have undercoats to start with -- that is the insulating layer that cold weather breeds have that keep them warm. Second, this is a native breed to the British Isles and believe me 'hot' here is not like real hot climates. In addition, as people who live in warm climates know, layers of LONG covering clothing are generally far more comfortable than exposing more skin to the sun. Shaving coats removes a protective insulating layer against harsh sunshine and also exposes skin to more direct rays and as a pink-skinned breed, that has a cancer risk.

And I'll say it again -- I grew up with a full coated Great Pyreness in summers where it routinely hit 90-100 almost every day in summer (a day in the low 30s was a cool summer day). We never shaved her, and our vet -- which was basically the vets at what is considered the best vet school in the world, UC Davis -- never ever said she needed her coat shaved to be more comfortabe or because she might suffer health effects. And that is a dog with a heavy insulated coat for snow!! But it also is an insulating coat against direct exposure to heat, too. (y)

Summers here are so mild over here and given that most people do not exercise their dogs unduly I cannot imagine it matters a jot if they are shaved or not. Basically, shave them if you like the look but the British and Irish climate would never require a dog be shaved for comfort for the summer. It does damage the coat's appearance for life though, according to show breeders.

On a grumpy note, it is ironic how many people worry about whether neutering will affect their dog's coat, then they regularly shave and trim the coat anyway! :sl*p:
 
trimming

Oh Karlin I hope that head hitting wasnt aimed at me!

I agree that they shouldnt need clipping for the heat though - I had a Hungarian Puli with a full coat and he was fine in the heat here so I'm sure a Cavalier is....

Like you say it is how you are happy with their look...
 
I went to training classes with a man whose tri was trimmed all over and afterwards her coat was very curly. One of my Izzy's litter brothers had his coat cut short, a few years back, and his coat grew in very thickly, so he was like a bottle brush, making the problem , worse.
 
Dylan had a tiny bit shaved off his tummy for hygiene and that still hasn't grown back after a year and it's very different from the rest of his hair. it's coarser and frizzy. Thankfully it was only a tiny area and doesn't show.
 
Both of mine are trimmed but not shaved. Both have had areas shaved for surgeries and the hair grew back just fine. My understanding is that the best way to keep them cool is to wet their paws and keep them hydrated. If it's really warm here (today was up around 94!!) I'll pop them in the shower and let them run around wet for a while.
 
The plastic cool mats (The type that you fill with water, just once) are very good. I bought one, during a hot spell, when Izzy's heart was bad and he actaully chose to sleep on it in cooler weather, too. Unfortuneately mine developed a split, in the side seam, which rapidly spread, making repair with gel impossible.
 
I honestly don't know if this is true or not, but the breeder of Sonny & Beau are of the belief that their hair insulates them from the heat in summer. Certainly I know that bald men or those with thinning hair feel the heat on their head much more than those with a thick head of hair.

Interestingly enough Sonny & Beau seemed un-troubled by our very hot Australian Summer whereas Sam the Boxer (very short hair) gets really floored by the summer heat.
 
I don't know if it helps in the heat...

but I just had my tri clipped because we were going to the beach for the weekend and there are always sandspurs that hurt and get stuck in her hair. Trust me, she was still hot but had a great time and the prickers didn't stick to her like they would had she had all of her feathers.

I've had her trimmed before and everything grows right back as if it never happened.
 
I think trimming does help my Cav tremendously in the summer. He has a thick wooly black coat (from neutering) and is shaved 6 months a year. His coat hasn't changed/been permanently damaged from the shaving imho. I think there's a big difference between a white coated dog and a black coated dog as far as heat goes.

Additionally, shaving them doesn't mean you have to make them bald and expose their skin to the sun. I also think it's easier to deal with romps and swims with a short coat. If you think your dog does better with a trimmed coat in the summer, then trim/clip it. If your dog is still hot, let the fur grow back in. No harm done unless you are showing your pup!
 
I've just bought some clippers and I do intend to clip Cailean for the summer, on the vet's advice, because he tends to overheat with his MVD.

Barbara, where do you get those mats from? It would make a nice change from the bathroom floor for Cailean, which is his place of choice when it's warm. :)
 
Try googling for canine cooler, the place I got mine from doesn seem to exist. Mine also split along the seam but it had the decency to wait until I was lifting it to clean all Arnes stuff.

I think I may have seen them on Amazon
 
Back
Top