# Best tips for a newbie



## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

I am a professional groomer. My first question is, regarding the fidgityness, are you grooming him on the ground or up on a grooming table? Oftentimes, a dog that is squirmy on the ground will settle down on a table. Since they are up off the ground, they aren't as comfortable with the idea of moving around a lot because they don't want to fall. This doesn't work for every dog (believe me, I've had to catch a lot of dogs who try to go diving off the table), but it does work for most. If he's still squirmy on the table, you can get a second arm for your table so that you can put a loop under his belly so he can't jump off-this also helps to make him stand up. I often use the second arm for senior dogs too, who can't stand up so that they can lean on the loop and take some pressure off their old legs.

As for the scissors, I really like the Fromm 6 1/2 inch curved shears for doing feet. They are really cheap (I think like $30 or so), but I love them. Also, a thinning shears for neatening up the excess hair around the ears. Get the best you can afford-the more teeth, the less choppy it will look. You can also use the thinners around his sanitary area to help with that issue-it will shorten and thin out the hair without looking as choppy-kind of a more natural look. If you want a good grooming tutorial, check out Morningsage Goldens Grooming

As far as nails, I understand your fears. But if you do nails weekly, all you have to do is a slight little nip at the tips and that's it. You don't have to wonder how far to cut because you're only taking off a bit. Nails kept shorter are more comfortable for the dog and less likely to snag and tear on something outside. Get a jar of styptic powder for just in case to stop any bleeding, but if you keep up with trimming just a smidgen every week you shouldn't have to worry about bleeding the nails. 

As far as any other grooming tools, the slicker brush is good. I always start with a slicker. Then I follow that with an undercoat rake. (Note: do NOT use a furminator on a golden-it will cut and damage their coat). I finish with a greyhound comb. Also, if you can afford to invest in a forced air dryer for dogs (a decent one will run about 2-3 hundred +), you will wonder what you ever did without one. In addition to drying the dog quickly (which is important because a damp coat invites hot spots and other skin issues) it will blow out loose undercoat and reduce shedding.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I guess what I suggest first - brush your dog every night. 

Sit cross legged on the floor and get him used to coming over and getting brushed. 

I normally have a set routine - and start with the ears/neck/chest and take a paw one at a time to brush leg feathers from the paw to the elbow. I then have them stand and I brush their backs, sides, leg feathers from the elbows down to the floor, and end with trousers/tail/hocks. 

They dance around a little about getting their trousers/tail brushed, but just be firm and get it done. 

entire routine takes only a minute or so - and you can end with extra brushing on the chests/necks (because they LOVE being brushed there). 

If you do this every night with your dog - he will get like mine and LOVE seeing that brush come out. 

I don't spend more than a few minutes during a grooming session like this. 

I don't trim nails in the same session - because nails are just NEGATIVE and stressful for my dogs and I'd rather that did not bleed into all other grooming.

Table grooming - trimming feet, ears, a little bit of the tail.... I really only need a grooming buddy when doing ears, and even there - last show, I fended for myself with my 6-7 month old. 

This is because for shows - we trim pretty tight along the ears and one wiggle from the pup could get the ear leather snipped. 


Your pup will really only need you to thin out the fluff and excess hair growing under/behind the ears. <= Quite honestly, this depends on your dog and I think is better if you learn hands on from somebody. Ears can get trimmed kinda ugly if you're not sure what you're doing (I've done that! LOL). 

Belly fur - I DO NOT TRIM. 

With my puppy - actually the only trimming in that area is what I will probably do this weekend when I get back home and give baths, but the long "puppy hairs" at the end of his boy thing need to get trimmed. They just collect urine/bacteria at this point. Once they are trimmed, they shouldn't grow back. It's just a puppy thing. 

If you have money to spend - getting a table and a dryer will be lifesavers, probably - if you dog grows a lot of coat.

If he isn't going to be very hairy though or a costly dryer isn't in the tea leaves for a while - you probably could check around your area for either a good quality groomer who knows how to properly groom goldens (somebody who doesn't trim all dogs the same way, doesn't bring out the clippers, and goodness gracious doesn't have a grooming book telling them goldens should be carded!!!!) OR check around for a "U Groom" type of place. Petsmart has some locations where you can groom your own dogs, for example. 

This is to give your dogs baths on a more frequent basis and blow dry them after to get them completely dry (to the skin!) and get all the loose hair out. For healthy coats and healthy skin - monthly baths are actually pretty ideal - especially if your dog does a lot of swimming or rolling around in the backyard. 

A lot of people don't realize how filthy their dogs are... until they see and feel their dogs with clean and blow dried coats. 

That's just because of the expense of buying a table and dryer. You can still do most of the actual grooming at home. 

With my Jacks - his ears needed thinning behind/under them. But the actual ears never got hairy and never needed trimming. A typical grooming session with him was thinning out under/behind his ears, trimming his feet, and trimming the end of his tail. 

Types of tools that I think are bare min =

Conair sells pet shears for $10 which are plenty sharp and worth buying. I'd get the smaller pair for the feet and longer pair for the ears. 

Don't buy shears sold at petstores - the ones that are sold there are cheap and you'll find hair getting folded in the shears vs cut. 

Thinning shears - don't buy what is sold at petstores. They will chew vs cut! You want nice thinning shears. I'd check PetEdge for cheap shears, but plan on spending $50-90 bucks on thinning shears min. <= The ones I have cost me $200 and they stay sharp. 

mars stripper - buy on Amazon for $30

Stripping knife - I think cost about $30? <= I'm looking to buy one for $40-50 which a friend used and is much nicer than my hauptner knife!

Slicker - just normal larger slicker from petstores are fine. Petco has some nice ones for about $15? Big + rubber/ergonomic handles.


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## Otter (Feb 23, 2011)

Couple other tips... I'm not a groomer but I've taken some classes from local breeder/handlers who offer classes from time to time. I forget most of what I've learned though. I just try to keep our Goldens decent looking.

Kate and Goldens&Friesians already mentioned a grooming table. I couldn't imagine not having one. Mine is about 20 years old. Bought it when our first Golden was a puppy. Breeder suggested it at the time. It still works fine but is stupid heavy.

Dancing on the table - one of the tips the breeder told me that we got Barkley, Pebbles, and Giggles from said to put a kitty litter pale under their belly. It keeps them from sitting and they move around less. The pale she gave me is the perfect height. Or, use an upside down kitty litter box. It's not nearly as high but the dogs know there is something there and they don't want to step on it so they move much less. 

Forced air dryers have been mentioned. It's another item I couldn't imagine not having. Mine is a cheapo orange Metro one. Again, it's old, but still works fine. Only complaint is it is really really loud. Which is a problem because the noise makes our youngest, Sandy, nervous and she is already a nervous ninny. A friend has several of those K9 III dryers which are (to me) really expensive but are nice. I've used them a couple times while getting grooming classes from her. Quieter than my little cheapo dryer and the long hose allows it to be further away. Someday I'd like to get one.

Shears and thinning shears. Mine aren't expensive, Geib Gator I think, but they aren't pet store quality. They are also Left Handed which makes them a bit pricier than normal. A tip about scissors is if you are going to get really fussy and try to make the feet look really nice, and you want to trim around the nails, have a short pair of scissors sharpened to a point. This really helps to trim up and over the nail. A tip my friend with the K9 III dryers gave me.

Bath tub. We bought one of these https://www.amazon.com/Booster-Bath-Elevated-Bathing-Large/dp/B005THTCYE?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1 (or similar) years ago. Very very helpful.

If you have any Golden clubs in your area, see if they offer any grooming classes.

Good luck. My problem with grooming is I don't do it often enough.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Here is what I do. Before any real grooming I condition the dog to a brush. I let the dog sniff it and then move the brush along the back using the non-pin side. Treats are offered. I also condition the dog to being touched in different spots. Treats are offered. The paws are tough, dogs generally don't like their paws touched. I condition this, treats are offered. Conditioning goes on for a few days before there is real grooming.


As for nails, I now use a scratch board. Google it to see it.


I am in no way skilled at grooming and am a groomer's nightmare. However my dogs have trimmed nails, shiny coats, and I remove hair that is shed. BTW, I have removed undercoat plucking. First rough up the fur then pluck. That did the best job ever but it is time consuming. 



Good luck!


PS Everything gets conditioned.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> BTW, I have removed undercoat plucking. First rough up the fur then pluck.


Gotta ask.... why are you removing undercoat?

Or are you talking about the loose tufts which get caught up under the top coat????


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Megora said:


> Gotta ask.... why are you removing undercoat?
> 
> Or are you talking about the loose tufts which get caught up under the top coat????



Told you I am a groomer's nightmare.


From Totally Goldens: "...downy undercoat sheds hair often to allow new hair to grow in." That is what is plucked. Roughing up the fur helps dislodge hair that is ready to fall out. Plucking removes that. Try it. Or maybe not. I am a groomer's nightmare.


When I did this I ended up removing all that was going to be shed or it seemed that way. 



Tufts? You mean like what you see in a spay coat? Well no, I do not routinely spay/neuter so I do not see tufts but it is that coat.


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## megthechamp (Jun 14, 2018)

WOW all of this was super helpful, thank you!!

Sounds like two big things I need in addition to the slicker brush is an undercoat rake and thinning shears, both small and large (but good quality). 

Unfortunately we're in a one bedroom apartment currently so do not have the ability to get a table - but yes, I do imagine that could perhaps help his squirming! Especially for the underarm piece....Apollo always ends up sitting down. I do think I'll eventually invest in a good air dryer. He gets a bath about once a month since, like I said, we're swimming and hiking pretty often so he can get pretty dirty. We have a nice oatmeal shampoo that seems to do a great job. But, right now, we towel dry him the best we can and use my regular personal hair dryer (no heat). I am not sure we could use a force air dryer in our tiny apartment bathroom - feel like hair would end up everywhere! But, it's on my list for when we move into our own place....which will hopefully be later this summer (yay house hunting).

Also - thank you for that link to Morningsage grooming, that is so helpful!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

gdgli said:


> Told you I am a groomer's nightmare.
> 
> 
> From Totally Goldens: "...downy undercoat sheds hair often to allow new hair to grow in." That is what is plucked. Roughing up the fur helps dislodge hair that is ready to fall out. Plucking removes that. Try it. Or maybe not. I am a groomer's nightmare.
> ...


LOL - I was just wondering if you were plucking undercoat that's firmly rooted in there, so to speak - or loose stuff.

There's a lot of people who pluck the odd longish wispy stuff that grows on the shoulders/hips especially of old OR spayed dogs. <= I always leave it alone because I think it's precious. In my case, the dogs who got that were intact seniors. :laugh:

The tufts I was talking about - I'm not sure why, but middle-aged to older dogs seem to get this more. Coats more dry - more static???? It's tufts of shedded coat that's clumped under the top coat. <= Jacks was starting to get that a little bit, though not as bad as prior dogs who lived longer than him. 

with those prior dogs, I'd see the tufts while walking them and would be plucking them as we went. 

With my guys - esp right now with them shedding a lot, the dryer is a godsend. It's whiteout conditions with hair flying off. :laugh:


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

I recently bought a "licky mat" that suction-cups to my glass French door or the side of the tub. It's been a life saver in convincing my newly adopted pup to tolerate having his nails clipped and feet trimmed, as well as for tub rinsing (haven't had to bathe him yet, but thanks to this thing he will jump in on command!). I spread it with peanut butter or squeeze cheese and he's happy for at least 10-15 minutes...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DKNN87F/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## megthechamp (Jun 14, 2018)

pawsnpaca said:


> I recently bought a "licky mat" that suction-cups to my glass French door or the side of the tub. It's been a life saver in convincing my newly adopted pup to tolerate having his nails clipped and feet trimmed, as well as for tub rinsing (haven't had to bathe him yet, but thanks to this thing he will jump in on command!). I spread it with peanut butter or squeeze cheese and he's happy for at least 10-15 minutes...
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DKNN87F/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


We've tried something like this but it takes him about a minute flat before he's done with it....he is a SUPER quick eater. But thank you!


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## kardut (May 25, 2017)

megthechamp said:


> We've tried something like this but it takes him about a minute flat before he's done with it....he is a SUPER quick eater. But thank you!




I freeze peanut butter in a little plastic cup, about the size of a large medicine cup but a little wider. Have one person hold it while you work. Takes a bit longer and a lot more work to get every last bit, and gives us enough time to do whatever unpleasant task we need to do (tail brushing is my guy’s nemesis, ever since he got a hotspot there)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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