# Cavalier VERY messy full coat??



## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

How does one keep a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in full coat and in good condition?

Truffles used to be kept in full coat but it's always filthy with all sorts of things stuck into it. Especially the ears. Also she looked like a fat blob of messy hair although she gets brushed everyday.

We've resorted to grooming it really short which in my opinion doesn't look good but at least it keeps her clean..

I personally like any breed of dog in its show/full coat. And if it's possible we want to keep Truffles in one as well.

Any ideas on how to maintain a good full coat? Anyone have Cavs in full coat and have pictures?


Full coat. Messy and Truffs looks very chunky.









Trimmed. Looks better and cleaner but so short!


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

that pic of her in full coat doesn't look messy to me


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Keechak said:


> that pic of her in full coat doesn't look messy to me


It's not that good of a pic but it really is pretty bad. When she stands up tons of leaves/dirt/dust is stuck to the bottom of her coat and her feet/leg feathering and ears. It also starts to smell pretty bad after 2-3 days. It also gets sticky and mats a bit as well.


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## MoosMom (Sep 15, 2009)

Brush the coat everyday. It will keep it tangle free and also help to loosen the dirt out of it.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

MoosMom said:


> Brush the coat everyday. It will keep it tangle free and also help to loosen the dirt out of it.


I DO brush it everyday. In my original post I said I brush it everyday..but it's still so dirty.


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

My first idea is ask some Cav show people how they keep up their dogs' coats. When it comes to grooming, they're usually the ones who obssess over getting the best possible results. Sometimes show-grooming techniques are not feasible for everyday regular owners to do, but you might get some useful tips.


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## animalcraker (Nov 9, 2006)

You need to get rid of the extra undercoat if you want her coat to lay flat and be so puffy. I assume she's spayed, if so she probably has a thicker coat than most show dogs as well. 

Here's my routine for my boy. I roll the coat after his bath, I never brush a dry coat and always moisten it with a spray in conditioner, and I card his coat every 2-3 weeks. Gracco can explain how to do all that much better than I can, so hopefully she'll be on soon to explain it. 

You may also want to go to a dog show and have some of the handlers show you how they groom their dogs. That's what I did when my boy finally grew his full adult coat. All the pro-handlers were more than happy to give me tips and show me how I could groom and present my boy better.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

A cav in full untrimmed coat (which is breed standard) is messy, yes. The "slippers" on the feet drag in all kinds of leaves, grass, etc. along with the long feathers, and the ears are usually a mess too. Most of the cavs I groom have owners who can't deal with all that mess too.  You can have her groomed, and have her feet trimmed, whether you leave short slippers or more tidy "cat" paws. Sanitary areas are shaved out, and I usually shave alot of the inside of the ears, around the ear canals and some on the leather. I use thinners to tidy up the cheek under the ears, and thin out behind the ears..that will help immensly with matting. I have a few cav's that I "cap" the ears on too...which is taking the top outside of the ears short, like a cocker spaniel. That will help alot with matting too, and still let you keep long ears. I groom many cav's and only one whose owner wants him kept "natural" but we still shorten up slippers, thin under and around ears, and pants areas, and trim all other furnishings off the ground.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Thank you animalcracker! 

I thought Cavaliers have single coats?? Do they have an undercoat?

I really know nothing about grooming Cavs lol. Truffles isn't my dog and not a breed that I picked so I'm not really familiar with the grooming requirements. 

I spray water or a mixture of conditioner and water when I brush Nia so I guess I should tell my aunt to do that for Truffs too.

I hope Graco can explain to me what it means to card the coat and how to roll the coat after a bath..

Do you blow dry your boy? (is that part of rolling???) We can never blow dry Truffs because she's scared of the blow dryer and will bark at it. Is that part of the reason why her coat is so messy?


Edit: Thanks Graco! Can you explain to me how to card and roll the coat?

I think we probably will keep her coat short and her ears trimmed then if it's that much work to keep it in good condition and untrimmed. My aunt doesn't have as much time as me to groom the dogs and her 2 kids sure mess it all up pretty quick! She only does a quick brush through everyday. 

If I move back to London anytime in the future I will try and grow out her coat.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

I think AnimalCracker (correct me if I'm wrong) means that she "towels" the coat after his bath, rather than rolling? By "toweling" you take a wet dog, and put a towel over their backs. You clip it snug at the throat, and snug under the belly, and snug under the tail. I use horse blanket clips for it. It helps to train the coat to lay flat and not stick out. If thats not what you mean, sorry..there are so many words for that technique, everyone calls it something different. 

Carding is done on a dry coat. Can be done on a dirty or clean coat, before or after bathing/dry. After brushing and combing, you use a tool (the best is a stripping knife, wouldn't recommend a Furminator on a cav coat..too long to be very effective). Using the stripping knife, you "rake" over the body coat to remove the undercoat. I have seen some cav's with undercoat in excess, and some with very little...but I have yet to see one that did not have any at all..there is always something shedding in there.  I would use a Classic brand, fine knife or the medium/fine Master Grooming Tools knives. Below is one of my youtube videos that shows how to card out undercoat. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6vy4NnsrTQ


Animal, if you meant "rolling" the only use of that term I am familiar with is when you roll a coat on a terrier...handstripping out the longest layers every week or so, so a new coat will grow in. While I do some plucking on a cav (those really long wiry hairs that get out of control..lol) I wouldn't say their coat is one that could truly be rolled-as in like a terrier coat. Maybe we are just using different terms..lol As all groomers know..there are very few universal terms..and everyone calls things different names..Can be very confusing! 


Oh, forgot to add..I'm sure Cavs are considered single coated, just too lazy to look it up for sure..but single coated coats can still benefit from carding and get coat out. Flat coated retrievers are single coated too..but you can card coat out of them as well.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

I use the Furminator on Max, who could be a 38 pound Cavvie with incorrect color and short ears, to finish sometimes. It helps in a subtle way. My main undercoat removal tool is a metal flea comb. Works a treat and preserves his precious top coat. If the stripping knife is a bit much I use a pumice stone as well. He hates the knife on his legs. 

With the undercoat out the coat stays a lot cleaner. He used to avoid weedy fields as the clean up annoyed both of us so. Now the few that stick come out much easier. Last winter the few times we had rain I left the high velocity dryer in the garage and blew the dirt and water off the dogs. Wouldn't want to do that daily but it sure was easy and worked much better than towels.

I did experiment with leaving slipper feet but one tiny grass seed having to be teased out of a large mat changed my mind. Unless you can figure a way to take the soft stuff from between the toes and not the guard hairs there will be mats. I sort of doubt there ARE guard hairs between the toes anyway.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Thanks Graco for the tips and explanations! I wish we could keep Truffles in show coat...


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## animalcraker (Nov 9, 2006)

I don't towel my boy any more because it didn't have long term results. Alot of Cav people do towel and it works well for them, but my boy has a thicker coat that I have to train to lay flat. For me toweling worked great to dry the coat in place, but as soon as he got wet again his hair would pop right back up. 

What I mean by rolling is where you use a pin brush and blow dryer to train the hair how to lay. You blow dry the hair towards the dogs rear and at the same time you use the pin brush to lift the hair with a rolling motion from the head to the rear. Typically Setters are groomed this way. Gracco if you know the method I'm trying to describe and can explain it better please do so. It may be refered to as something else, but I've always heard it reffered to as rolling.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

animalcraker said:


> I don't towel my boy any more because it didn't have long term results. Alot of Cav people do towel and it works well for them, but my boy has a thicker coat that I have to train to lay flat. For me toweling worked great to dry the coat in place, but as soon as he got wet again his hair would pop right back up.
> 
> What I mean by rolling is where you use a pin brush and blow dryer to train the hair how to lay. You blow dry the hair towards the dogs rear and at the same time you use the pin brush to lift the hair with a rolling motion from the head to the rear. Typically Setters are groomed this way. Gracco if you know the method I'm trying to describe and can explain it better please do so. It may be refered to as something else, but I've always heard it reffered to as rolling.


I got ya Animal. I have never heard that term used for drying that way. I guess I just assume that when someone is drying a coat that should lay flat, that you dry blowing the coat down and in the direction you want it to go. I have never really used a brush to do it though..usually a flat nozzle on the dryer helps..but I find the towel/snuggie method to be effective on most I have needed to dry that way. The setter breeders I have worked with always used the "towel" method too..One makes a really cool "swimsuit" for her English Setters..she uses stretchy swimsuit material, and sews a "coat" basically..with the neck very long and tight..then we pin under the tail, and under the belly. It works really well. A golden breeder I know drys like you describe above, on her goldens, with an HV dryer. I think alot is genetics, and condition of the coat. A good coat will just always lay flat on its own...and sometimes a bad coat won't lay flat no matter how hard you try! LOL


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Ok, thanks both of you for the advice! I will try the towel method because we can't get anywhere near Truffles with a blow-dryer. She hates that thing so much.


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