Border Collie Coat Grooming

[Shara]

Well I dont know what I am doing wrong, but I bath Tigger at least once a week. I started blow drying him and everything to get his coat to kinda fluff up and look nice, but all it does is go flat and he has a wierd wavy coat going on, I dont know what I am doing wrong. I brush it out, blow dry....everything to get his coat to be kinda fluffy and look nice, but then it just looks like I havent touched him in weeks within a days time.
He is a medium rough coat, not a full rough coat so I know not to expect him to look like the AKC pictures of a Border Collie...but all this work on him and he looks so 'tacky' Maybe thats the way he is ment to be...=\
Any advice? Maybe I am doing something wrong.

[cockermom93]

I would bath him a little less maybe like every two weeks... just because you can really dry out the skin that way. As far as his coat goes that just may be the way he is. :)

[Shara]

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752793

The middle one is the one I am thinking about getting, maybe this will help? I have been using just a normal 'human' brush so far seems to work but maybe ...need this?

[Warwickshire_Flyball]

We're still getting used to all the coat on our new BC as our other is a smooth coat and looks lovely with almost no grooming at all! So, I'm no expert at all but the moment we use a fairly soft slicker brush on our him and a comb where needed. I also put conditioner on his tail and the backs of his legs when he gets a bath which is helping, although I have to say we don't bath him very often!

[Shara]

So is yours a medium or a rough coat?
I really wanted a full rough coat, but I couldnt contain myself when I met Tigger, had to have him even though he is medium coat...its long but yet, lays flat and is kinda wavy...mmm....maybe its the way his coat is suppose to be, just looks tacky like I dont try to groom him, and its just the opposite!

[cockermom93]

I think your money would be better spent on a regular slicker brush than the palm brush you have picked out. You also should get a greyhound comb.

[Shara]

I was looking up the greyhound combs, they are ultra expensive for a comb, what is so special about them? Why wouldnt a normal human comb work?

And I think I have what you are calling a slicker brush, the wires come out of the head of the brush, and then bend at an angle at the tip. None of my dogs like this brush lol.

[cockermom93]

The grey hound comb will get all the way through your dogs top and undercoat, a human comb will break to easily and won't penetrate the undercoat. As for the brush you just have to be careful, it is for the fur not the skin. :)

[k9mania]

I use a slicker brush for my full coat border. Actually I use it on all of them. I don't think you should wash so much. It truly will dry the coat out. If the coat is dull, it may mean you need a different food. The undercoat is really easy to get out with the softer slicker. I got the one that cleans itself out with a button because Opie has tons of undercoat. I try and keep all of them brushed up for those times when they get into stressful unknown situations because of how badly BC blow coat. Good luck

[Furbilator]

Dogs need the oils from their skin to keep their coats shiny and healthy, not to mention the skin needs those oils too. You are stripping away those oils every time you wash your dog. If dirt is a problem consider using a damp towel just to clean off the surface of the coat or a water only bath (no shampoo or products used). If odour is an issue, it can be due to their environment, meaning their bedding needs to be washed more frequently; I wash Cassie's weekly.

If after several months of this your dog still has a dry coat then consider the food. Is he getting high quality protein in his food, or maybe consider adding fish oil, omega3 oils or vitamin E to his diet to improve the skin and coat. Cassie gets a vitamin E supplement every day because she is in and out of the water swimming and it can be irritating to her skin after a time.

Basically, your overwashing your dog and it can lead to skin problems. Once a month is the max any dog should be washed, at least while using products.

The last time Cassie was 'washed' was when she did a free dive into some muddy water at the puppy park and she was only washed with shampoo because I'm sure that mud wasn't the only thing in the muddy water. LOL

[Shara]

Tiggers coat is awful, he looks like he has cow licks all over his coat. I am considering taking him to a groomer to see what they can do...I been givign him fishoil for a while now, it look shiney and pretty but getting it to lay down and look nice is another thing...it looks AWFULL

[Shara]

HIS COAT IS DRIVING ME NUTZ!!!

I took a 3 week break from giving him a bath...and his coat looks retarded...when I blow dry it it looks funny, all fluffy and stuff, and then when it drys and I am brushing him the whole time till it drys with hair dryers it has COW LICKS EVERYWHERE.

I try to wet it down, totally soak it and then brush, they still stand up...my parents think he look dumb!!! Nothing I try works ...maybe I should get some hair gel??? Geeze I have no clue...should I take him to a proffessional groomer one time, maybe she can straighten out his coat...then he will be okay???

I hope this is not the way his coat is going to be...he looks really silly with cow licks all on his fur....

[Shara]

I have been feeding him high quality dog food and I give him fish oil in his food every morning, his coat is glossy and shiney, just it has cow licks in it...


I emailed my trainer to see what she has to say...she has a show bc, but its a diffrent coat than Tigger.

[JessicaR]

some bc's have a naturaly wavey coat that is impossible to work with! does he have his adult coat yet? sometimes when they are going from puppy coat to adult coat they can look pretty funny! I use a pin brush and greyhound comb for the body, slicker for the area by the ears and a shedding rake for shedding seasons! I also bath 1 a month unless they get really dirty.

[Shara]

He is 6 months old, I emailed my trainer she said he still has his puppy coat? It is wavy on top, but the sides are slick and pretty, the top and rump are cow licks!

I thought by now he would have his adult coat...I hope this is not his finnal coat, its quite ugly... I might shave him!!!!

[eeyore]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo:eek:
please do not shave him, the coat could grow back worse.
he is still young and will take a while to get his adult coat though, which will be a different texture to the puppy coat.
use a slicker brush and a grey hound comb. dont bath him so much also.
dont worry to much about what he looks like, as said he is still a pup and pups are supposed to be messy :)
i find that puppy cost is always lighter and fluffier than adult coat and that is why it doesnt lay right.
have you any pics we can see of him?

[Shara]

There are tons posted on the site of him, but doesnt do his cow licks justics, I would have to get a over shot over his back of him standing up or something....
My trainer says he still has his puppy coat and to take him to the groomers. And she is going to get me some special coat spray for him....

This is frustrating me to no end...

[Shara]

P.S. My fav character is Eeyore!! My moms is Tigger (she has Tigger everything, and why I named my BC Tigger...)!!! :)

My mom says Im always grumpy and as a kid I had alot of eeyore stuff.


Oh crap I got off subject on my own post...someone plz get on to me. =kidding=

[eeyore]

P.S. My fav character is Eeyore!! My moms is Tigger (she has Tigger everything, and why I named my BC Tigger...)!!! :)

My mom says Im always grumpy and as a kid I had alot of eeyore stuff.


Oh crap I got off subject on my own post...someone plz get on to me. =kidding=

LOL. you are hijacking your own thread.
cant find any pics of tigger, did try looking.

[Shara]

http://www.k9mania.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9199&highlight=tigger+picture

[Shara]

OH and this thread

http://www.k9mania.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9182&highlight=tayla

[eeyore]

Aww bless how could i have missed such gorgeous dogs!
i can see what you mean on his back end, but most young BCs i have seen are like that and it will settle down as he gets older :)

[Shara]

Aww bless how could i have missed such gorgeous dogs!
i can see what you mean on his back end, but most young BCs i have seen are like that and it will settle down as he gets older :)


Hehe, well his whole 'spine' of hair is like that now, cow licks so he looks rediclous when he moves and it all shifts at the same time...LOL hard to explain...

Maybe ill calm down, do you think I should take him to the groomers, I dont really like ours, and he looks so fluffy and pretty when I am done with him then it lays down, so I think thats whats gonna happen when I take him...I throughrly wash and blow dry him, he is a poofball when im done, but in a day his hair isback to laying down flat with the cow licks...crazy...

THank you for your complements on the crew ^.^ <3 <3 <3

[eeyore]

i dont really think that the groomers will do much different than you are doing, unless they start cutting away at his coat and i think that will be a BIG mistake.
i know it looks scruffy now but give it time and it will get better.

My sis has an american cocker that has just turned 1 and his coat is only just starting to settle down.

[Shara]

OH MY GOSH...My mentor took a oster comb and a furminator to Tigger last night, she got like SO MUCH HAIR off him!!!! After all that bathing she like...got so much stuff off him!!!

She said he will have a curly coat...I am kinda sad =\ I dont like it really. I like straight neat clean slick coats, his parents had that straight type...she said maybe his grandparents had curly coat...

I will be grooming Tigger tonight with one...I cant belive that that much fur was there!!!!

[eeyore]

furminators are good but be careful you dont over do it as you will end up with a bald pup (mind you he wont have any curls then LOL)

[Shells_k]

Shara, Jessie has a coat just like Tigger (down to that wavy stripe down his back I see ;) ).
Jessie's hair was a bit more curly when she was a pup, she has pefectly straight hair now excpt for the one wave down the middle of her back. (If I dont groom behind her ears she tends to get some curling back there too I guess when it gets too long & scraggly)

I cant believe I somehow missed your recent pics you posted last month, I was waiting patiently! !!!! My gosh do you have a cute pack, & you know I am big softie for Tigger especially! :D

[taybear]

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752793

The middle one is the one I am thinking about getting, maybe this will help? I have been using just a normal 'human' brush so far seems to work but maybe ...need this?

I was just at a seminar this weekend and actually had a demo on this problem..... Jodi said that the way she works the waves out is with the dryer going from tail to neck from side to side then from neck to tail side to side (usually 2 or 3 times) the wave is broken also just before they are totally dry (so as not to over dry the hair and skin) you put a towel on them while you start to dry and work on the feet this way the towel keeps the hair from going in all directions.

Hope this helps :)

I have yet to try this on my Aussi but then again his fur is not giving me this problem.

[Shara]

Thank you so much for the advice! Hehe, when I blowdry him he fluffs up and is SUPER soft...then somehow over a few hrs it turns back into a coarse wavy mess...

Everyone who sees him is like awwww he has a curly coat...and Im like :( Me dont like!:( His parents did not have this coat, they were smooth straight coats...my trainer says his grandparents or parents could have been carrying the gene as a dormint gean or something...either way his fur isnt as wild as it used to be, flipping up and out, its still wavy as ever though!

I gotta get some recent pics of him...he is up to 50lbs and is 7months now! :eek: