# Field Coat Maintenance



## Mattiaci

In any undercoat, burrs can attach. They're easy to pick out.

My show dogs in various states of coat, run in the field & go swimming most nights. Matting and burrs aren't that big a problem, and we do have knapweed, houndstooth etc. 

My Cavaliers even go along, which are low to the ground and the males have long coats. Either I pick out the occasional burrs or they do. 

Getting wet on a daily basis, sometimes the pants or tail fathering will start to stick together to form a mat, but it would take not grooming them ever for it to turn into thin stringy mats.

Florence


----------



## Jige

BaWaaJige is field bred and I dont have any troubles with getting thistles and burs out of his coat. I hardly ever use a comb I just work them out with my fingers. Jiges goes swimming alot too and I dont have any matts from his coat being wet. I do comb him 3-4 times a week more if he is shedding but usually this is enough.


----------



## tippykayak

It really depends on the coat type. The wavy coat dogs, in my experience, pick up a lot less burrs than the straight coat dogs, particularly the dogs with the longer straight coats. I'd give Comet (my more show-influenced, straight coated dog) a 9/10 on the wash-and-wear scale because he occasionally gets burrs that have to be picked out, and I give Jax (my wavy-coated, hunting-background dog) a 10/10 because he never seems to get them, even though he has plenty of coat.


----------



## Megora

I think the best answer to your question is - if you own a golden retriever, you should use a wire slicker brush on them at least once a week if you want their coats to be healthy and clean. 

As far as burrs go - I don't care how wavy, curly, straight, thick, thin, silky, coarse, whatever your golden retriever's coat is... they will still go swimming through every sticky weed and burr bush available and come out loaded. And you DO have to groom them to keep those burrs from irritating your dog's skin, causing hot spots, or becoming matted around the burr. 

Or, as generally what happens with our dogs - if they think nobody is going to pick/brush the burrs out, they will sit down and try tearing the burrs out themselves. And you have a golden retriever with a ratty coat. >.<

Are they as high maintenance as cockers? NOPE. 

Are they as low maintenance as dobies? NOPE.

Do you absolutely for the sake of sanity have to trim your dog's coat like you did with the cocker? NOPE. 

Should you do some trimming up (ears and toes specifically) to prevent matts and keep your dog from looking shabby? Yeah probably. Use straight scissors to cut the long fur back to the outline of your dog's paw. Use thinning sheers to remove the fluff around the ears. 

Do you have to groom every day? NOPE.

Every week? NOPE.

2-3 times a month? YES. 

Unless it's fall and you have a loaded property as far as burrs - then you will be sitting down and brushing your dog out every time he goes outside. 

As far as the coats matting if wet or something? My Danny had a coat like that. I absolutely HATED it. When he got up in age and his coat changed, it literally would take 1-2 days to dry completely after swimming or baths. 

When I give Jacks a bath, he's dry within an hour. That's the different in coat type, even when you have conformation line goldens. 

When you are talking about cleaning up the dogs after they've gone swimming or been bathed, the main concern is hotspots if they don't dry completely fast enough.


----------



## RShea

The other day penny got away from me chasing squirels/rabbits in a field when she got back she had probably 100 burs in her coat and I picked some of them out she picked a good bit of them out her self and then when she got done all I had to oick out was her ear hair... Needed to trim that anyway it was just a reminder.


----------



## Millie'sMom

I do not believe my goldens have any field blood in them. I do know that when they go exploring at the cottage or the provincial park, they bring home burrs. I found that if I use Show Sheen on their coats, they either do not pick up burrs or they burrs are much easier to remove because they just slide out.


----------



## sterregold

My field coated dogs pick up very little in the way of burrs, and what they do get is mainly in the more feathered areas--bum, mane, tail. Even when they do get one tangled up good a little bit of silicone shine spray (like Show Sheen, Cowboy Magic, or even the human stuff from the haircare aisle) and a slicker brush work it out in short order. Frankly I have to do very little with my dogs from more working line breeding, grooming-wise. It is mostly nail trims, and tidying uyp their feet.

My dogs with more show lines are more work. My Ch SH boy can pick up burrs like there is no tomorrow because of his longer furnishings. I spent hours pulling the nasty little triangular green burrs out of his coat one night after we had been pheasant hunting. I pretreat his coat with the sprays before he hunts to try to minimize it.


----------



## Altairss

My field coat GR seldom gets anything in his coat it sheds water like a duck and almost never gets any tangles. Sparkles has the show coat and we brush her a lot more and she gets some tangles but by far she is still easier to keep brushed out then the cocker with a show style coat that I had as a teen. Crissy got tons of tangles and if there was a stick or leaf etc within a 100 yards she would end up with it her coat.


----------



## Megora

@Altairs - 

1. Our collie's coat is EXACTLY like that. Every time he comes back in from outside, we have to pick leaves out of his coat or else they will become impossibly tangled and then matted. 

2. That is the reason why I have said that if I ever buy that American style cocker spaniel like I've been thinking about, the first thing I'd do is learn how to keep the coat clipped short. I train with people in obedience who have cockers with the full show skirts, and I can't imagine how uncomfortable those dogs are.


----------



## Tayla's Mom

Tayla has a field coat, but I know nothing about her past except she more than likely came from a backyard breeder. I've been told her ears are too long for standard and she has bad hips so quality breeding probably was not part of her line. She came from TN and is my big red girl. I LOVE her coat. Wavy and it drys in about an hour with only a little towel drying. She still does not have her full adult coat (11 months), but I'll take her coat over my other Golden's coat any day. Takes me 40 mintues of brushing and a high capacity dryer to get Jesse dry. I just put Tayla in her crate and in an hour bring her out and brush her. 10 minutes I'm done.


----------



## Wyatt's mommy

Altairss;1825199[B said:


> ]My field coat GR seldom gets anything in his coat it sheds water like a duck and almost never gets any tangles. Sparkles has the show coat and we brush her a lot more and she gets some tangles [/B]but by far she is still easier to keep brushed out then the cocker with a show style coat that I had as a teen. Crissy got tons of tangles and if there was a stick or leaf etc within a 100 yards she would end up with it her coat.


This decribes both my boys to the tee. It does depend on the coat and my field bred Wyatt is so much easier to maintain than my show bred Cody was.


----------

