Hand stripping or clipping?

[Iom92]

Hi all, I’d really appreciate some advice. We have a working cocker spaniel. I’ve read that double coated dogs such as spaniels should be hand stripped and scissor clipped and never shaved with clippers. She was spayed last year and her coat has changed (a lot more fluffy and less shine). We want to get her trimmed and groomed. I’ve contacted 3 groomers. One is busy until October, one hasn’t got back to me and the 3rd has availability but has said that because she’s spayed she’s not suitable for hand stripping and can only be shaved. I know this will permanently alter the coat and so want some advice before booking anything. Is this groomer correct? Or should I look elsewhere? Thanks.

I hand strip our dog, she is a wirehair pointer. Quite different from a spaniel but a lot closer than a doodle that needs clipping. Loads of different ways to do it, when you find what suits you and your dog it is quite easy. The nice thing about hand stripping is you can just do a bit at a time (keeping things symmetrical obviously).

This lady has what seems sensible advice. thecotswoldspaniels.com/2017/09/18/how-to-groom-a-spaniel

I think if the dogs coat has changed after spaying, as in got softer and fluffier, then I think the groomer is correct actually and she can’t be hand stripped.

Clipping the cocker coat is believed to cause the coat to change and become ‘wooly’ and so too is spaying, I have heard cocker owners call it ‘spay coat’ but whether the dogs would have gone on anyway, without spaying, to develop a fluffy coat later on I don’t know.

All the cockers we had while I was growing up, including the spayed bitch, were always hand stripped. My mother did them at home, just doing 10 or 20 minutes in the evening a couple of times a week. They always had beautiful coats (except when they'd been swimming/ through undergrowth and brambles/ rolling in dead fox). So never, actually, but they were very healthy!

Thanks everyone. I’m going to order a Mars king brush as advised on the cotswold spaniels link and go from there I think!

I’m a dog groomer and your groomer is correct in that they might not be able to be stripped. A coat king for fine coats and blending with thinners can achieve a similar look but can be just as time consuming so if you ask a groomer they might charge the same as a strip. When I was first learning this video was very useful to me

If you do your spaniel yourself, make sure you know how to clip their pads and sanitary area safely. They are very easy to mess up and cause injury so look up some videos. We use wahl arco clippers in the salon for that, I would pop the setting on three when you start and go very slowly, we do ours on the two setting though. You can also use scissors but I find the clippers easier to get in the tight spots.

A good alternative is to tell a groomer that you only want a bath and brush and that you do the grooming at home, most groomers will do a sanitary and pads clip (including nail cutting) included in this so just ask.

That’s very helpful, thank you.