# Grooming



## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

I know there are certain ways to trim a Golden, I just don't know how to do it. My 15 year old Golden was never a show quality dog, so I just trimed her feet and her back leg feathering as needed. I usually did a horrible job. Our 11 month old Tayla is more along the field lines and very wavy, but her coat is not heavy so I've not had to do anything with her either. Sorry, but there are plenty of knowledgable people who should be coming along to post.


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## golden_eclipse (Apr 1, 2011)

Potomac Valley Golden Retriever Club - Grooming A Golden's Ears

This is a great guide to carefully walk you through what are generally acceptable ways of grooming a golden.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Are the $70+ Miller Forge Gold 7 1/2" thinning shears necessary to properly trim the ears? The article says $45, but they're more than that at the sources I just checked.


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## golden_eclipse (Apr 1, 2011)

Those are suggested if you are going to grooming several show dogs every week. 

If you only have one dog, go on ebay and get a cheap pair with a similar number of teeth. They might not hold up quite the same, but the number of teeth will get you more or less the finish you are looking for.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

kdowningxc said:


> Those are suggested if you are going to grooming several show dogs every week.
> 
> If you only have one dog, go on ebay and get a cheap pair with a similar number of teeth. They might not hold up quite the same, but the number of teeth will get you more or less the finish you are looking for.


Thanks. I'll check it out.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I ordered some thinning shears from this company (Absolutely Golden): 

Micro surgical Professional Shears

They sell the Millers Forge Gold, but claim that they changed from 46 to 37 teeth on that model. They like the Micro International better. We'll see. At $28.95, they're $43 less than the Millers Forge.

They also have a peanut butter flavored rope chew toy that I ordered for $5.95. Bella loves peanut butter more than anything. For that price, it's worth a try.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I received the $28.95 shears today, and followed the instructions above, and trimmed Bella's ears. I've never used the more expensive shears for comparison, but these seem to work great! I'm no pro, but I think her ears look pretty good! The hair was getting really bunched up around the back of her ears. If I can do it, anyone can.... 

I did her feet last week. That was a piece of cake. I'll wait a while for the tail.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Here's the finished product. I wish I would have taken a "before" picture.

I don't think she was too thrilled about being woken up for this. LOL.


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Looks good!!! I was waiting for an update because I didn't really want to pay 70 bucks for a pair of shears.. I'm definitely ordering those!


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Vhuynh2 said:


> Looks good!!! I was waiting for an update because I didn't really want to pay 70 bucks for a pair of shears.. I'm definitely ordering those!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


It beats paying $40-50 to a groomer every time. 

One piece of advice. Go slow, and comb it out after every couple of cuts. The outside surface of the ear is tricky. I didn't do a perfect job, but nobody will notice except me. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I'm sure I will get better over time. 


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


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## Golden Lady (Aug 30, 2011)

Great job!! Looks good.


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## love never dies (Jul 31, 2012)

*sweet*

Great job and she is very sweet looking​


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Notice that she's using one of her antlers for a pillow? Gotta love it!


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