Grooming Your English Cocker Spaniel

English Cockers are a coated breed and require quite a bit of grooming. Pet English Cockers are kept in a variety of different trim types including a puppy type cut, a complete shave down, a show type groom and any variation of these grooming styles. The amount of coat that you leave on your English Cocker should be decided by the lifestyle that your family lives and the number of times per week that you plan to comb out your English Cocker. An English Cocker in a show type groom will need to be combed out at least every other day. A shaved down English Cocker will obviously need very minimal combing.

English Cockers should be groomed every 6-8 weeks, even when they are kept in a shaved down or pet hairstyle. The hair around the ears, feet, and muzzle must be groomed every 6-8 weeks in order to prevent health problems such as ear infections and lip fold infections. A dog with a lot of hair around the mouth area will have lip folds which remain constantly wet and provide a perfect environment for yeast and bacteria to grow. The face and ears MUST be kept trimmed in order to prevent health problems. The feet will matt around the toes and in between the pads of the feet if the hair is not trimmed regularly. Matting in and around the feet provides and environment for stickers, burrs, and sometimes yeast and bacteria to build up. Matting around and in between the toes can also be very uncomfortable and sometimes even painful for dogs.

Many owners make the mistake of thinking that just because the hair on their dogs' body is kept trimmed short, that the dog does not need to be groomed. This is completely untrue. Often these dogs will have a huge amount of hair around the ears, face and feet, which needs to be trimmed. Please do not make the mistake of thinking that grooming is a luxury in order to make your dog look "pretty." Grooming is actually a necessity and must be done in order for your English Cocker to remain healthy.

If you decide to add an English Cocker Spaniel to your home, you will need to decide whether you will use a professional groomer or if you will groom your English Cocker yourself. If you decide to groom yourself, please be prepared to pay quite a bit of money in order to purchase the tools you will need in order to groom your dog. You can see a list of the recommended grooming tools to purchase at the bottom of my Puppy Supplies page. If you decide to groom your English cocker yourself, you should also be prepared to spend quite a bit of time on this endeavor. It will take practice before you are going to be pleased with your results. That said, if you have the time and the interest, grooming your dog can be a bonding experience and very fun. If you have the ability to groom yourself, you can also give haircuts more often, allowing your dog to always look his or her best.

English Cocker should have their nails trimmed a minimum of once every two weeks and should have their ears cleaned out every time they are bathed or go swimming. Yeast and bacteria infections in the ear canal are usually caused by moisture building up in the ear. Most ear cleaners are also drying agents and will dry out the ear canal.

If you decide to use a professional groomer, you should be aware that not all groomers are created equal.

Questions To Ask Your Professional Groomer

1.) Do you cage dry or hand dry?

Hand drying a dog with a high velocity dryer is much safer and gives the dog a nicer finished look than cage drying. Cage dryers are associated with over-heating at the groomer and can be dangerous if not monitored properly.

2.) Do you use conditioner?

A surprising number of groomers do not use a conditioner or charge extra for that service. English Cockers need a light conditioner for regular maintenance and may need a heavy conditioner if they develop dry skin or coat. Conditioner is necessary as shampoo strips the coat of some of it's natural oils and conditioner helps to replace those oils. Conditioner also helps to prevent future matting. If you have your English Cocker with any length of coat and do not use a conditioner, you are very likely to see matting occur.

3.) Did you attend grooming school or apprentice under another groomer?

Groomers have different levels of skill and education. Look for a groomer who is friendly and patient with your questions. Look for a clean and well lit facility. Look for a calm atmosphere and a comfortable temperature. Most over heating occurs in a warm and humid environment. If the groomer appears impatient with your dog when you are there, that is a sign that he or she will be even more impatient with your dog once you leave. If the grooming shop has multiple groomers onsite, be sure to go over your instructions for how you would like your dog groomed each time you drop your dog off at the groomers.

4.) Have you had experience grooming English Cocker Spaniels?

Many groomers will not have had experience with this breed as English Cockers are relatively uncommon in the US. You may need to find a groomer who is willing to work with you to learn how to trim this breed correctly.

5.) Do you have a program for puppies?

Many groomers offer a grooming program for puppies which allows for more frequent grooms at a less expensive price until a certain age. Puppies should be groomed by the age of 4 mths in order to allow them to be trained for and socialized properly with the grooming process. Many new puppy owners make the mistake of waiting until their puppies are 7 months old and very hairy before taking them in to be professionally groomed. This is a huge disservice to your dog as grooming should be a part of your puppy's early training and socializing just as much as visiting with children and taking puppy class. In fact, grooming is even more important as an English Cocker MUST be groomed for the rest of his or her life. There is no way to avoid it. So please, find a kind and helpful groomer who is interested in helping to train your puppy to enjoy and be well behaved while being groomed. This is actually in your groomer's best interest, as he or she will then have a happy, well behaved canine client!!

Grooming Instructions

A grooming chart is available online from the ECSCA Store

Grooming Instructions Speak Spaniel Blog Post

A grooming video is available from Kabree