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Trimming ears

Ciren

Well-known member
i have been thinking about trimming the fur off the end of Peaches ears. They are always getting mucky knotted and covered in dog knows what. i would'nt mind going to a professional but when hubby turned on his clippers the other night she was fighting me to run away scared.

so before i hack away with the scissors has anyone got any tips?
 
hi there, just let her hear the clippers a few times before you clip her ears as the noise is strange to her.
we clip lucys and megans ears but we use scissors and a comb, as megan is ok with the clippers but not around her head area , it scares her a bit to much
 
I trim Toby all over as his fur changed when he was neutered and doesn't grow like the average Cavalier - sort of sticks out, all fluffy.

I wasn't going to have him neutered originally, but he was extremely rampant, jumping on other dogs, and was going to get himself beaten up. My vet said to have him neutered which solved the problem. Strangely, he always mounted male dogs though, and still has a preference for boys, so I think he is a gay Cavalier.

Back to the point. For his ears, I just trim with scissors and a comb to shape at the bottom, and snip the furry bits from the inside of the ear too to keep them clear. It took a while for him to get used to it but he's fine now. So far, I haven't trimmed Rufus' ears as I love them long, but I do brush both dogs ears every night as otherwise they get in a right old tangle.
 
Hi
Its a strange doggy world Rosie who is 1 still mounts Poppy who is 2 1/2 and both are girls and have both been spayed .I think i will have a serious Father and Daughter talk with them one evening .:confused:
 
i brush her every day as well but her ear fur is getting very manky.

i doubt i will try and get her used to the clippers as she is obviously terrified of the noise.

thanks for all the advice tho :D
 
I use electric clippers and only trim around the outside of the ear to give her ears a better chance to dry. I've done this as a pup and have had no problems. I used the same clipper to trim the hair in between her paws.
 
Mounting other dogs

This thread seems to be moving away from ears to the other end! So I'll add my pennyworth on one of my soapbox subjects! Oliver is not neutered but has never been used at stud; what he gets really excited over (and behaves like a real pain!) is not girls but other males who have been neutered before they are physically mature. As well as possibly causing physical problems, this can really mess up their hormones - as far as Oliver is concerned they obviously smell like a bitch in season and he really pesters them if he's running free (I put him on lead, of course, as soon as I realise what's happening). There's a good body of scientific evidence about the problems caused by early neutering, so why do vets still routinely suggest it to every new puppy owner? If you can't keep your dog safe from running after bitches (the standard justification for neutering) until it's old enough to be neutered safely, perhaps you shouldn't have a dog...

Kate and a competely unrepentant Oliver!
 
well in regards to the ears, we take Louis to be professionally trimmed once or twice a year, but in the meantime we are guilty of the odd bit of DIY work!!

I find its best to trim them wet, just after a bath !!! You can fee with your fingers where the actual ears end and the fur begins, so you can just follow the line. Louis tends to get all kinds of stuff matted in there when then are left to grow long!!!

And i can definately recommend professional grooming too - he looks so handsome after a shampoo and trim !!!
 
Kate, I strongly disagree: there isn't any huge body of scientific evidence that opposes neutering. It also doesn't mess up hormones (my boys act completely like boys and have never been harangued by intact males trying to mount them -- though Jaspar seems to be everybody's favourite dog despite being generally uninterested in them!). And males cannot smell like a bitch in season! More likely your male just likes haranguing other males -- it is far, far more common for intact males to mount MALES than it is for them to try and mount females, as females are only of real interest when in heat. For some intact males, ANY male is of interest to push around. A good citizen will control an intact male from behaving like this (eg it is a training issue -- taking him away on a lead is just intervening after the fact and isn't addressing that he feels he can start initiating this behaviour in the first place). The reason he doesn't try this with other intact males is they are a lot more likely to rip his head off for even trying and he knows it! That is one reason people neuter in the first place -- it helps prevent fights between intact males challenging each other in this way.

If you look at the studies, all they indicate is tiny levels of increased risk, for conditions that are a tiny risk to start with. Contrast that with the prostate problems I have had in a couple of intact older male rescue dogs -- I have never ever had a serious health problem in a rescue boy except things related directly to them not having been neutered (a cancerous testicle and prostrate problems).

What in your view is neutering 'young'? For females there are clear health benefits to being spayed before a first heat vs again, tiny increments of risk for other conditions spread over a lifetime. For males, waiting to neuter risks setting behaviours that are amongst the top listed problem behaviours for why people hand their dogs into rescue or the pound. Indoor marking is one of the top reasons the males get dumped, followed closely by unwanted humping behaviour.

Then there's the increased levels of roaming, fighting, and in many areas, theft of intact dogs. I worked with general rescue going into the major pounds in Dublin for a while and the pound population is almost entirely intact males -- probably about 70% of dogs. Rarely a neutered male comes through and rarely a spayed female. Often the males are found in packs bullying some sad little in heat bitch that someone hasn't spayed.

For many families, intact dogs are too difficult to manage and they are a social pain as well. There are many around here who routinely escape and then roam around outside the buildings in which someone owns an in-heat female and they are a nuisance and are at regular risk of being hit by cars.

The recent review of literature on health risk also strangely fails to weight actual risk as opposed to just listing studies on one side or another. If as one study cited in that review noted cavalier females have around a 40% risk of pyometra -- which is often fatal for the pet owner who doesn't recognise it as quickly as some breeders -- that is a very high risk of death set against say a .01% increase in risk of a type of cancer. But the study doesn't do these kinds of overall risk weightings.
 
I have issues trying to trim my puppy at all...she's only 5 months, but she's a wiggle worm!! We do trim her ears, though. She's so picky and won't drink her water if her ears fall into the dish. Good luck trimming your baby!
 
I tried some thinning scissors with my old dog Becky, but didn't get on very well with them. I seemed to have to pull at the fur to get it to cut. Did I just have a duff pair, or was I lacking the technique?

I agree that with normal scissors you get a blunt look, so perhaps I'll have another go with thinning scissors if somebody can give me some tips.
 
she currently looks very blunt :eek: but at least she isnt getting them covered in gunk anymore
 
I tried one of those Spaniel bowls that come in at the top - the ears are supposed to fall to the outside to stop them getting wet. Neither Toby or Rufus would drink out of it - no idea why! So gone back to the normal one and soggy ears.
 
I tried some thinning scissors with my old dog Becky, but didn't get on very well with them. I seemed to have to pull at the fur to get it to cut. Did I just have a duff pair, or was I lacking the technique?

I agree that with normal scissors you get a blunt look, so perhaps I'll have another go with thinning scissors if somebody can give me some tips.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xF20TGF3Srw

Scroll forward to 1.40mins and you will see you do pull the scissors through the hair or chop and pull the cut hair out. My daughter is a hairdresser and I use her thinning scissors, I would expect to pay £20 for thinning scissors, they go up into the hundreds, and I personally would get human ones.
 
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