Grooming

chadsbritt

chadsbritt

New member
I have a Brittany, and he needs to get groomed. I'm getting tired of taking him to the groomer and spending $40 each time he goes. Do any of you groom your own dogs? I borrowed my buddies clippers one time and did it myself. My dog looked good but the clippers were so bad, it took way too long to do.

If any of you have experience grooming, what is a good set of clippers you recommend buying? I'm willing to do it myself, but want to have the right tools to get the job done effectively.
 
Funny you mention this I just got back from hunting out back , got a couple bird and realized I need to clip Ladybirds hair. So Iam about to start. I ran into the same cost factor, so I went out and got my own. It can be a crap shoot it seems with those darn things. First I got a cordless wahl and it did not last real long, then a corded one, not sure on the modle # but that one worked well, It was yellow is all I can remember. I droped it and broke the case so I went back to get the same on and they didn't have it. So I bought the heavy duty one they had with the ajustable blade on it. It worked well except it would pinch some once and a while so check that out first. I use them on my bierd and stuff first to check for that. So I switched the blades with the yellow ones blades and no trouble works great. So that is part of the crap shoot deal. If you get one and it pinches you may want to return it and try to find one that doesnt. It does goe prety easy doing it and saves doe. This one is the Wahl pcmc-2 and It works. If I knew of a better one though I would buy it, I think there is room for improvement. Just don't do what I did and cut the dogs hair too short and go hunting hard right after that. It made the dogs skin raw all over and her hair always grew back fuzzy after that, I felt like an ass. I use the 1/4" comb on everything but get real short inside the ears and toe areas. Saves on deburing. Not sure on some of the other brands but I would be willing to get a better one if someone knows of a realy great product. Maybe a person could get better info from a groomer on a realy nice one but I just went to Fleet and got these.
 
I never had to groom or trim a Brittany until I got Mattie, my 6 year old female. She has the fuzziest coat I've ever seen on a Britt. So I bought a clippers to trim her up a couple times a year. I bought a Wahl but I looked and they don't make theh model I have any more. All I can say is if you are going to buy your own is to spend the money and get a good one. Expect to pay upwards of $100 or more. The cheap ones just don't work real well. Make sure it is "gear driven" and not an Electromagnetic or vibrating type. You will quick recover the money spent versus taking him to a groomer. What's that run you each time?

The first time you trim your dog he will probably look like hell. All chopped up, etc. Don't worry, it will grow back and even out in a few weeks and you will get better with experience. I usually like to get the dog up on something so I don't have to bend over and I also like to have my wife help by holding and steadying the dog.

My 1 year old Britt will never need grooming. She has a real short coat as do her parents. My breeder breeds his dogs to have short coats so there is less maintenance.
 
Zeb where did you find the gear driven ones, I have only found the others you talked about. They are all around 30-45$ and like I said room for improvement but do work. I just think like any man more power and faster would be nice.
:D
 
I use the same Wahl as FC does. PCMC-2. It is Black and Silver, I got it at Petsmart for around $40. But I have learned use the guides that come with the clippers. It is slower, but I can do a better job. I use the NO.1 guide for taking it down close for summer. He is usually pretty grown out by August so I take the NO.2 guide and clip him again. I don't clip his neck, chest and all the underparts at all. I even take his leg hackles off to keep the burr pulling down in the August clip. The weeds wear those areas down so bad as is, he will get bloody sores at times. Thus the chest protector.......Bob
 
I just personally think the rotary motor or gear driven clippers do a better job than the vibrating kind. Maybe someone else can offer an opinion.

There are various rotary or gear driven clippers out there if you look around. Cabelas has an Andis clipper set for $79 that I believe is a rotary motor. With Cabelas you can try it and if it doesn't work well send it back.
 
chadsbritt said:
I have a Brittany, and he needs to get groomed. I'm getting tired of taking him to the groomer and spending $40 each time he goes. Do any of you groom your own dogs? I borrowed my buddies clippers one time and did it myself. My dog looked good but the clippers were so bad, it took way too long to do.

If any of you have experience grooming, what is a good set of clippers you recommend buying? I'm willing to do it myself, but want to have the right tools to get the job done effectively.
Click to expand...

When I had Springers I sprung for and used both Andis and Oster. Both did a great job. Don't go buy the $49.00 model at the discount store. I did that before buying the professional models and wound up throwing them away when they stopped working. I spent roughly $150.00-$170.00. If you are only doing your dog any of the professional models will do a great job for a lifetime. I wound up offereing my services to friends at no charge and did several neighborhood dogs over the years and had no problems.
 
phird05 said:
When I had Springers I sprung for and used both Andis and Oster. Both did a great job. Don't go buy the $49.00 model at the discount store. I did that before buying the professional models and wound up throwing them away when they stopped working. I spent roughly $150.00-$170.00. If you are only doing your dog any of the professional models will do a great job for a lifetime. I wound up offereing my services to friends at no charge and did several neighborhood dogs over the years and had no problems.
Click to expand...

If you had to choose one of those which one would you like best?
 
FCSpringer said:
If you had to choose one of those which one would you like best?
Click to expand...

For some reason, I don't know why, I wound up keeping the Oster and used it for roughly 20 years. I didn't have a sharpening shop nearby so I would by new clipper heads. I can't tell you what iit would cost to sharpen the heads, but for me it was easier to just buy new ones when needed.

Hope this helps.

Paul
 
OK I asked him and the one he has is Paws brand, but they are all the same I guess, one might be slightly better then the other. They are called dematting combs. Petedge.com has everything includeing all the clippers. I am ordering a new clipper and a comb.
:thumbsup:
 
Oops I think the comb thing was on the other post for field grooming. Anyway I took the advice and went out and got a more expensive clipper the rottery kind. I got a conair and it did not work any better then my cheapy, so I went back to fleet and exchanged it for the Andis AGC supper 2 speed they had in the horse section , and put a #10 blade on it,and a comb, which sold seperately, and it should be called the super duper super 2 speed hair destroyer.:thumbsup: It works great. 139$, this is also the one the local dog groomer recomended.
 
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I called the groomer to thank her and told her what I did, and she said to use the blade it came with, so I tried it and it worked great without a comb, just the right length without scalping the dog. It is a t-84 extra wide blade. This thing has the blades that you can just push a button and change the blades in a second, and clean it easy that way too. It was 139$ At Mills Fleet. With three to do at 40$ a pop it pays for itself in about one use. heck If I realy think, 4-5 cuts a year,120x5=600$ per year x 4-5 years= a new Ceasar Gurini or a Kimber.:thumbsup:
 
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