Clipping a Sheltie?

Cherry Blossom

So my mum is insisting I get Teddy clipped or she's threatening to throw him out. She says he's leaving hair all over the house. I don't see it to be honest and I dont see how clipping him would help anyway. He is brushed down twice a day and a lot of hair ends up on the brush. Would clipping him completely ruin his coat? He has very profuse fine hair anyway since he was neutered, would clipping make this worse? I've never seen a sheltie clipped before.

peasant

Clipping doesn't change the number of hairs shed, just their length ...which makes it more difficult to pick/brush/hoover them up

VonVix

Do you use a rake on him? I have shelties and they hardly shed at all really! Their coats are too thick for the hair to drop much at all. I've had more hair on me from a French Bulldog than a sheltie lol!

You're never supposed to clip a sheltie anyway, their double coat protects them from the elements/helps regulate their temperature. Plus a shaved sheltie looks quite silly...!

Cherry Blossom

Thanks for the replies, everytime he shakes himself my mum gives out about 'hairs flying', i think it's all in her head myself. I'm the one that does all the cleaning and I'm not finding dog hair, horse hair yes! but not dog hair. Vonvix, I use a wide tooth metal comb on him as well as a slicker brush and a soft boar bristle brush. He did have a small bit of matting around his ears before which got clipped out and he did look terrible for a while until it grew back. I'm quite tempted to call her bluff and see what happens.

Knine

God no don't ever clip a Sheltie. His coat will be ruined & take a long time to look decent again if ever. All that would be clipped off is the rough outer coat leaving him in his undercoat.. As he is a pet dog you could use a coat king or a furminator to rake out the dead coat. Bath him too.

Cherry Blossom

Thanks knine, i have used a coat king on my westie but never even considered using it on the sheltie. Will see if that works as a compromise of sorts.

VonVix

Personally I wouldn't use a coat king on a sheltie, their coats aren't designed for it. Furminator cuts the guard hairs as well as pull on the hair which can be quite sore, I only ever use one on one of my sheltie's thighs/bloomers, can't use it on the other boy as it hurts him. A rake is your best bet, a double headed rake would be even better.

DBB

Undercoat rakes rock!
If you were feeling flush, a grooming blaster drier is a great job for shifting loose hair. A quick blast after each walk gets rid of excess moisture, sand, mud, and hair!

Knine

VonVix wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't use a coat king on a sheltie, their coats aren't designed for it. Furminator cuts the guard hairs as well as pull on the hair which can be quite sore, I only ever use one on one of my sheltie's thighs/bloomers, can't use it on the other boy as it hurts him. A rake is your best bet, a double headed rake would be even better.

Both much better options then clipping a Sheltie & I regularly groom various breeds of dogs! A coat king will actually rake out the dead coat. I have used them on Borders & Spinoni with excessive undercoat & never damaged the top coat. If I had a damaged top coat they would not win!

Blasters are great. Expensive but fab. The room it is used in will look like a Sheltie Murder Scene afterwards.

VonVix

Knine wrote: »

Both much better options then clipping a Sheltie & I regularly groom various breeds of dogs! A coat king will actually rake out the dead coat. I have used them on Borders & Spinoni with excessive undercoat & never damaged the top coat. If I had a damaged top coat they would not win!

Blasters are great. Expensive but fab. The room it is used in will look like a Sheltie Murder Scene afterwards.

I would have thought a coat king would cut the hair, at least the one I used in the past looked sharp enough!

Cherry Blossom

Teddy's not very happy with a normal hairdryer on a low setting. I think he might lose his life if I tried to use a blaster on him.

Knine

No not if you are careful & particularly useful if the dog is shedding. You would break coat or even hurt skin if used roughly. I much prefer the coat king to the furminator. Lots of those rakes you can buy are really just cheaper versions of the coat king. My friend shows Rough Collies so when they are dropping coat she would rake out as much of the undercoat as she can & this encourages new coat. Even so the dogs could be out of the show ring for a while. She uses a Blaster too.

I have one Border who I would use it mainly on as he has an awful lot of undercoat & I have a dog allergy.