Care for the English Spring Spaniel’s fur

Principles of quality coat and the overall condition of the dog:

Dog needs to get used to regularity since puppy age

1) regular combing

2) regular bathing

3) regular trimming

4) dog must be fed with quality food not waste

5) give the dog vitamins for its fur

6) take care of worms /4x a year/

7) regular vaccinations /1x a year/

8) protect it from external parasites – ticks, fleas

9) regularly check and clean the ears  

Whoever has the English Spring Spaniel must know that he/she will have to expand some effort, spend time and money to make sure his/her dog looks good.

An owner who keeps the dog in an apartment or in a house, where the dog spends time inside, considers care for its fur and bathing a commonplace. But a dog stabled in a hutch outside must be given the very same care.

If you want to trim your dog yourself, you should consider if this is something you can really do on your own. It is not possible to trim any dog according to the instructions. If you don’t have the courage, turn to one of the dog salons where they will trim your dog. There is though always the risk that the dog will be trimmed with a machine in places where scissors or a trimming knife was supposed to be used.

Dog must be bathed before trimming. You must use a quality shampoo; there are many different types on the market today. We must wet the dog thoroughly and shampoo it – be careful about the eyes and ears. It is better not to let the dog dry because all dogs dry themselves by wiping on a mat and that’s an easy way to catch more dirt which might blunt the cutting machine.

It’s good to look at the groomed dog and think about what the cut parts will look like. Each dog is differently built so it’s good to think about it before trimming. A quality trim might even hide some small shortcomings and glitches. It is highly recommended to trim the dog regularly because then the trimming itself is easier and the area of the ear suspension will not get sweaty each time it gets wet (effective prevention from inflammation of the ear canal)

1. Vertex:

If there is overgrown hair on the vertex it is usually good enough to trim it with a trimming knife, if that does not work we can use a machine with a high cut or we can use scissors. But the head must never be shaved too short.

2. Upper part of an ear:

Ears must be brushed carefully. They should be cut from the root to about 1/3 of the length of an ear. We can cut using a 3mm adapter from the bottom of the ear towards the root. It is better to cut slowly and less, the final look can be finished later rather than make a bad cut and wait for at least 3 months before the hair grows back.  

3. Bottom part of an ear:

 Groom the ear again and use scissors to trim the jagged or heterogeneously long hair to give it a compact egg shaped look. If the hair is too thick you can slightly cut it with thinning scissors.

4. Inner part of an ear:

Hair around the ear hole and on the inner part of the ear is again cut to about 1/3 of its length. That way we ensure airflow around the ear canal and many times we uncover an overgrown tattoo.

5. Top part of a neck and a shoulder:

These parts need to be brushed properly using your thumb and index finger – it’s best to use rubber gloves – dead hair needs to be pulled out. If the hair is too thick we can use thickening scissors and then smooth it out with a trimming knife. But be careful though if the dog has a big white collar around his shoulders, in that case it’s better not to do anything because the white hair might later start to curl as a result of using a trimming knife.

6. Bottom part of a neck from the chin down to the sternum:

You must be careful about this area. Not every dog has the ideal so called dry skin on its neck. If the skin is looser hair on the neck must be a little longer. This area should be cut at least 14 days before the show with an electric machine from the sternum all the way to the jaw line. The sides of this cut must be smoothed carefully using the thinning scissors so that there is no visible jump between the cut and not cut part. If you do all of this correctly the noble head should stand out on the masculine and elegant neck.

7. Chest:

The chest should be well coated all around. We should brush it regularly and pull out the dead hair. If the tips are jagged we can cut them with scissors into the required shape. 

8. Back and hips:

If these parts are brushed regularly there should be no dead hair. If this happens nevertheless, we should remove it by long-term combing with a thick metal comb into which we can add a rubber band for better results or we can pull out the dead hair using our fingers in rubber gloves same as with the back and shoulders.

9. Tail:

If it is docked, which is now a day less and less popular; it should create a smooth extension of the back line. The tail should be combed carefully and cut to the cone shape. Hair on the bottom part and around the anal hole should be cut short, see the picture. It will visually shorten the dog and it will prevent these parts from getting dirty. We never shave the tail with a machine real short. Dogs with long tails should have long hair on them, it is called the flag and the shape is like with a setter. Again you may cut the jagged hair on the tail with scissors into the required shape.

10. Thighs, belly, and front legs:

Streamers on the legs need to be brushed regularly, hair by the mat can be cut adequately but the dog must have a compact look. On the rear part of the belly and groins the hair can be shortened adequately and by doing this we will make the chest look deeper. But be careful because a long dog will look even longer after this.

11. Hock:

On the hind legs hair should be brushed from the bottom to the top and then it can be cut with scissors into a compact shape. This area should never be cut short with a machine because it makes the hock look broken.

12. Paws:

Those should be cut into a closed shape called the cat paw. Using scissors we cut the hair on the bottom part between the finger pads, and then we cut around the paw. Use a brush to brush the hair on the top part of the paw and then carefully cut the redundant hair on the top part.

13. Rear part of the wrists on the front legs:

Hair in this part is cut from the finger pad of the paw all the way to the wrist joint /top finger pad/ so that we create a smooth jump between the short and long hair part on the front legs. All the dead hair on the front legs needs to be removed using your fingers and rubber gloves or eventually we can smooth it down using a trimming knife.

ass-uprava-srsti-obr---angl.pdf