d you cut your cavs hair?

I just trimmed Fletcher's feet a little. I have a good set of human cutting shears. I used the smaller ones and just clipped the hair around his paws and feet. Since tick season is here and we had a very mild winter I just would rather keep him feet short for now. I've also treated him and our little yard AND I give him a good check nightly. He's only 14 weeks old but he already has feathers coming in so I think he's gonna be a hairy little man. I want to leave his hair alone but if it gets to the point where I can't manage it the way I want I will take him to a groomer....but only after I know the groomer understand what I want and I might even stay there for the first few cuts. I was in a large pet supply store not too long ago where you can see into the grooming area. And someone was shaving a cavalier bald!!!!! We do have our poodle shaved bald tho because when my husband first got him he never brushed him and I have never been able to get him used to brushing. The only time that dogs ever growled or acted aggressively to anyone was me with a brush in my hand. Nevermind, Fletcher will grow up getting brushed daily teeth too.

Melissa

I took Henry in for his first grooming on this past Monday. She did a lovely job. His feet were trimmed and his potty area with trimmed, and his feathers were evened out and trimmed a bit. He looks fantastic. We did specifically tell her not to touch his ears or his back. And made sure to emphasize that he is not a cocker. She is familiar wit Cavs and has several that she grooms. She did say we are as a whole cavalier owners give her the most instruction on how to clip :-D (not meaning it in a bad way). I think it's because we just love out babies so much.

We started taking our Bentley to a groomer when his feet got so feathery. I have recently changed to a different groomer who has a cav of her own and absolutely adores Bentley. When I opened the car door this week he fairly flew to her front door! We've had an unusually warm spring, almost like summer already, and I've had him cut shorter the last 2 times, about 2 months apart. It isn't shaved by any means, but just much shorter and it seems cleaner. It definitely grows back in its original pattern. His back was just as wavy as before after only a few weeks. I had her keep his fluffy tail except for just a slight trim. This shorter coat certainly helps the shedding problem!

For doing feet at home, especially in between paw pads, and to do anything around the head, be sure to get a proper blunt small scissors designed for doing these areas safely on pets. A regular sized scissors and anything with sharp points is dangerous to have around faces and can easily harm feet -- it can even be easy to nip them accidentally with a small blunt trimming scissors between the feet so go carefully! But never ever a normal sharp scissors. You can get a small blunt edged trimming scissors for a just a few dollars/euro/pounds at any good pet shop or online.

Pet shears are actually all blunt edged for safety. A dog can move unexpectedly and suddenly!

Karlin your words were ringing in my ears today as I went in the pet supply store to buy more food and a pair of trimming scissors made for dogs with a blunt end!!! Thanks for the tip. I would have felt awful if I had accidently hurt Fletcher.

Melissa