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English Springer Spaniel Willow's Story :)


Willowlane
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Some photos of my clip job on top of her head and the back of her neck. Also a photo of how her hairy legs are growing, I love how the brown hair is growing out horizontally from her legs lol

Poocow the clippers are WHAL Arco SE 5 blades in 1

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Ok did your breeders show you how to clip?

For my breed (Field) I have a pair of heiniger clippers with a 7f blade - you clip against the grain so you don't get lines (clipper marks). I generally clip mid week so it's not got that fresh look come the weekend.

For feet I use straights on pads and thinners to shape and on the hocks.

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I was shown by a groomer, I would love to learn how to do it properly.

Depending on the groomers knowledge on how to do show dogs i would tread with caution .

Clipping the top of the head can change the colour & alter the head shape & given your dog is still very young there is no need to clip ,one MAY do it as an adult to do so smart grooming to fix/hide an issue but its a smart groomer that does this & knows how to blend the whole picture .

Your easiest method as to buy a slick N easy stone which most horse people have used on there horses .

This is great for the head & legs,feet ,trimming the hocks is again about enhancing hiding faults but at this age the coat won't blend through but don't trim of but that stuf sticking up just pull with your fingers or use the stone .

The more you clip that you shouldn't the harder it becomes,there is no short cut to grooming but short cuts can make grooming harder & a big regret later on .

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I was shown by a groomer, I would love to learn how to do it properly.Depending on the groomers knowledge on how to do show dogs i would tread with caution .Clipping the top of the head can change the colour & alter the head shape & given your dog is still very young there is no need to clip ,one MAY do it as an adult to do so smart grooming to fix/hide an issue but its a smart groomer that does this & knows how to blend the whole picture .Your easiest method as to buy a slick N easy stone which most horse people have used on there horses .This is great for the head & legs,feet ,trimming the hocks is again about enhancing hiding faults but at this age the coat won't blend through but don't trim of but that stuf sticking up just pull with your fingers or use the stone .The more you clip that you shouldn't the harder it becomes,there is no short cut to grooming but short cuts can make grooming harder & a big regret later on .

Thankyou very much for the information show dog I have one of the bricks but I decided to hand pluck her legs, I just did the dark hairs. I have attached a picture of one of her back legs. It looks like there is a line but it is less noticeable when she is standing. How far up the leg do I thin the coat?post-53328-0-49463000-1439369669_thumb.jpg

She was so good while I was doing it, she just stood there not caring at all.

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So in that photo you would just strip the short coat on the front of the hocks & the toes.

So the long hair you pilled looks so much better the stone can be used in that same area that short white hair is often full of dead coat so a light work over keeps that sparkling & nice.

You can stone the face as well.

The key to remember is your pup is young so i prefer to groom to the what i have at the moment plan because once an adult & in good coat you can create anything but you can rarely grow back what you took off as a pup in a hurry unless you have an awesome coat growing dog .

The key is little steps .always groom with a mirror & understand what your dog looks like wet .You can take more off but you can't stick it back on .

For shows i groom every wednesday so i keep it blended & less work .

If you at shows look at how the Setters,Cockers & even american Cockers are groomed the basics are very similiar & generally the good groomers withing these breeds are happy to give tips ,keep in mind every one may have a different view or idea or style they groom too so its important to groom to what you think is right & what suits your dog .

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  • 2 weeks later...

Big update time!

So its been a while since I last updated and lots has happened. First we went to Canberra for the ladies KC Championships and didnt have the greatest show, well I mean she was a good girl but I didnt handle her well. Apparently I was everywhere, not looking at my dog etc etc :( we didnt get a look in for either sweep stakes, she placed 2nd to her sister on the Saturday in the baby puppy bitch class and then won it on the Sunday but she was the only one in it that day and there was only 2 in it on the Sunday.

I just didnt feel right, we had a great talk to her breeders parents on the Saturday and they were lots of help and Sunday felt better but I think it was just one of those shows :(

Scroll forward to this past weekend and it was a completely different story. It was my first time attending a show by myself and silly me decided not to take my gazebo thinking of yes its so nice and sunny on Saturday but by sunday at 6am I woke up to rain on the roof top. 1hr30mins and a trip to my parents home I had the gazebo and it wasnt raining at Erskine Park go figure...

I decided not to put it up, my next silly mistake as it then proceeded to start raining while I was in the ring to which the most lovely lady came to my rescue actually a few lovely ladies offered their gazebos to house Willow and I. I struck up a great friendship and am going back out to the spring fair to say hi to my saviour this weekend. As I mentioned to her I have met more people going by myself than I have in 5 shows of going with my mum/husband!

Anyway as you might of guessed I have a fear of trying to put up the gazebo by myself, it just so huge, cumbersome and heavy and this is not forgetting that once you put it up you have to pull it back down again :o.

So onto the actual show we had a smasher!! First off was Sweepstakes and she worked a treat, I made sure to watch her the whole way around the ring this time and steady myself so I didnt run her out of pace and I was thrilled to be called into the top 5 then out for a very very close 3rd place and top gundog. The judge made a point of stating that it was very very very close between the top 3 placegetters! I was stoked :D

Next was her baby puppy class, there were 4 of us, the equal biggest class I have been in and we WON it!!! She again work amazingly and the judge was so positive about her with her comments.

Great day, great people, not so great weather...bring on Hillsbrouogh next weekend!

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Its amazing how much a dog can change your life and help in the darkest of moments.

The last few days have been truly horrible for me as my dear pony Carny whom I have owned for the last 15years and is now 28years old has finally given in to old age and is being put to sleep tomorrow morning :(. He has lived an amazing and very healthy life not needing a vet for the 10years of his retired life and only falling sick the last 2 days. Unfortunately it is kidney disease and cancer so there is nothing we can do for him but at least we know we have given him a life of love and kindness and we let him go to a better place full of carrots, molasses and endless red slushies his favourite thing after a hard days winning.

What has become apparent to me is how much strength I draw from the other animals around me especially my dogs Willie, Maple and Holly. Having them close to me gives me a sense of comfort although it is also hard as the sense of ending is also close for my stunning Welsh Springer Spaniel Holly who is now 14yrs old :( I just pray she can hold on for a little longer as I am not ready to let go of her yet!!!!

With all this talk my thoughts turn to insurance. How many of you have insurance on your dogs? How does it work because it seems to be different to that of horse insurance which I am use to. I have heard that its for the whole of there life or they are insured for their life time? How does this work? Is it incredibly expensive? What is covered and what company is best?

Today my husband and I got away from reality for an hour or two and took the girls for a walk and went to Simon's Cafe for coffee and cake, the girls got sausages. It was a nice family outing. Willie was her perfect self as always xxx

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  • 2 weeks later...

We had Hillsborough this weekend, well the last 2 and a bit days and although we didnt receive any jaw dropping results it gave me yet another chance to get into the ring and practice the craft, get exposure and just have some fun. I will admit I get down heartened when we repeatedly dont win but all you can do is brush yourself off and get ready for the next class.

Im still too slow with my stacking and dont get her stacked right a fair bit of the time..well I have good and bad days. Im also too slow at going from the stack to starting my triangle or up and back so lots still to practice and improved on. She's also started to occasionally pace in the walk so I have to nip that in the bud now and shes a bit lazy when she runs out so we need to find some more incentive or up-and-go to get her really on the job and striding out with purpose. I have not quite figured out how im going to do this yet but I will figure it out!! If there are any suggestions I would love to hear them!

One great thing was she was very responsive to my voice at this show - for the first time. When I spoke to her around the ring the lifted her head and her eyes followed me, getting her to lift her head has been one of our big problems so this was a big step forward. I was also super happy to get some positive feedback from her breeders. They felt I had improved which was very rewarding as compliments dont come easy.

Im also watching her more as I run her which was one of my big stumbling blocks so thats been a big focus of mine the past 2 shows and I feel its paying off!

So next weekend is another away show, this time in Gunnedah. It will be her last event in Baby Puppy before going to minor which is kind of fitting considering her first event was at Gunnedah also.

Wish us luck

WL :D

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Your girls looks beautiful :)

I am SO sorry about Carny .

losing a best friend horse is one of the hardest things .I will be thinking of you ..and imagining him, freed from this tired old body - kicking up his heels as he heads for the slushie bucket over the rainbow bridge ;)

:hug:

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