How to groom your Flatcoated Retriever
Coat- Dense, of fine to medium texture and good quality, as flat as possible. Legs and tail well feathered. Full furnishings on maturity.
Tail- Short, straight well set on.
Feet- Round and strong with toes close and well arched; strong hocks.
Ears- Small, neat and well set on, close to head.
Neck- Reasonably long and free from throatiness.
Bathing
I use Doreen Paige inesctaway with lemongrass shampoo as it leaves the dogs squeaky clean. Mix the shampoo with warm water and apply to the coat, rub in well and rinse then repeat. Use neat on ears and throat area to ensure free from grease. The coat should squeak when finished or do a third wash. Baby shampoo is fine for face or a facial cleaner Paw Natural. There are other excellent products available. You could condition if feathering needs it. Bath a couple of days before a show to allow the coat to settle.
Drying
Dry thoroughly the areas that need to be trimmed, feet, ears, throat. A flattening mesh coat or similar can be put on a damp dog to prevent waviness. If the coat is too thick, a banded comb (a metal comb with an elastic band wound round the teeth) can be used to remove undercoat. This can also be used ifn the dog has been neutered to remove other fluffy coat and on the ears and neck. I use Doreen Paige mink oil extra sprayed onto the coat and featherings but very sparingly there are a number of good finishing sprays available.
Trimming
Feet are trimmed to give a neat round appearance. The nails should be cut short or done with a Dremel they shouldn't be visible after trimming the foot. The hair under the foot should be trimmed level with the pads. The feathering between the toes can be brushed up and trimmed level with the toes or pushed down and trimmed level with the pads. The pastern should be trimmed but not up as high as the stopper pad and not too close. The hocks are trimmed or tidied to that they look straight and strong and blend in with the feathering.
The end of the tail should be trimmed short. You can hold the tip and twist before cutting then blend slightly, the tail should reach the hock, I like natural feathering but can be trimmed to balance the dog.
The ears should be small and neat and sit close to the head. Thin under the ears with thinning scissors, I use single sided 48 teeth ones with or against the grain only and close to the skin quite a lot of hair can come off here. Pluck hair from surface of ear and sides to get the ear shape, use finger condoms or a handstripping knife. The hair that needs to be removed will be of a slightly different colour and texture. Keep checking so as not to make ear sore or bald. You can use thinning scissors is nessecary, but it will grow back thicker and quicker and then won't handstrip.
Thinning scissors can be used to neaten the throat, on the continent some people trim out the whole neck and chest.
Lynette Irwin
Tail- Short, straight well set on.
Feet- Round and strong with toes close and well arched; strong hocks.
Ears- Small, neat and well set on, close to head.
Neck- Reasonably long and free from throatiness.
Bathing
I use Doreen Paige inesctaway with lemongrass shampoo as it leaves the dogs squeaky clean. Mix the shampoo with warm water and apply to the coat, rub in well and rinse then repeat. Use neat on ears and throat area to ensure free from grease. The coat should squeak when finished or do a third wash. Baby shampoo is fine for face or a facial cleaner Paw Natural. There are other excellent products available. You could condition if feathering needs it. Bath a couple of days before a show to allow the coat to settle.
Drying
Dry thoroughly the areas that need to be trimmed, feet, ears, throat. A flattening mesh coat or similar can be put on a damp dog to prevent waviness. If the coat is too thick, a banded comb (a metal comb with an elastic band wound round the teeth) can be used to remove undercoat. This can also be used ifn the dog has been neutered to remove other fluffy coat and on the ears and neck. I use Doreen Paige mink oil extra sprayed onto the coat and featherings but very sparingly there are a number of good finishing sprays available.
Trimming
Feet are trimmed to give a neat round appearance. The nails should be cut short or done with a Dremel they shouldn't be visible after trimming the foot. The hair under the foot should be trimmed level with the pads. The feathering between the toes can be brushed up and trimmed level with the toes or pushed down and trimmed level with the pads. The pastern should be trimmed but not up as high as the stopper pad and not too close. The hocks are trimmed or tidied to that they look straight and strong and blend in with the feathering.
The end of the tail should be trimmed short. You can hold the tip and twist before cutting then blend slightly, the tail should reach the hock, I like natural feathering but can be trimmed to balance the dog.
The ears should be small and neat and sit close to the head. Thin under the ears with thinning scissors, I use single sided 48 teeth ones with or against the grain only and close to the skin quite a lot of hair can come off here. Pluck hair from surface of ear and sides to get the ear shape, use finger condoms or a handstripping knife. The hair that needs to be removed will be of a slightly different colour and texture. Keep checking so as not to make ear sore or bald. You can use thinning scissors is nessecary, but it will grow back thicker and quicker and then won't handstrip.
Thinning scissors can be used to neaten the throat, on the continent some people trim out the whole neck and chest.
Lynette Irwin