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It doesn't matter what type of coat your cocker has or that you take your dog to a groomer every week (lol). ALL Cocker Spaniels require maintenance and care. Not taking care of your cocker will show in its attitude and appearance. Although our website has many helpful tips and loads of information you will find a lot of the same information all over the internet.
Start Early: You need to start getting your new family member used to grooming as soon as possible. If you have a puppy it's best you get the puppy familiar with typical groomer tools at a young age so they are not traumatized. For example you can turn on the hair dryer and let them hear the noise or if you have clippers you can turn them on and let puppy feel what the vibrations (let the body of the clippers touch the body of the puppy).
Of course be careful not to scare puppy but you the sooner you start doing these things the better behaved your dog will be for you and/or your groomer. You have to desensitize your dog to these strange noises and feels. Start brushing puppy as soon as possible, even they don't have much hair. Get a soft bristled brush and run it over puppy's body. If you are adopting an older dog hopefully the previous owner had good groomer practicing (I know this isn't the case more of the time), but if not it's really a case by case thing. Some dogs love to be brushed and other hate it regardless.
Coat: If you have hair with any amount of length it has to be brushed often. How often really depends on your dog's hair type, activity level, length of hair and even what kind of shampoo you or your groomer use. Some brushes work better for certain coat types. Most people in the club either use a pin brush, bristle brush, comb (also called a Greyhound comb), slicker brush or all the above.
Ears: The most predominant feature of this breed can also cause it the most problems. If you are new to this breed it's SOOOOO important to learn to keep those ears in tip top shape. You need to clean them often (especially after a bath or swimming). This again is a grey area of how often and what to use.
IMPORTANT: If you smell any odor coming from your dog's ears you need to get to the vet as soon as possible. The quicker you learn to control/prevent those yeast and/or bacterial infections the better off your cocker will be. It will save you lots of heartache and the dog from suffering in the long run too. We can't give advice in place of a vet but a very popular at home remedy for cocker ear infections is the Blue Ear Powder Treatment.
Putting cotton in the cocker's ears before a bath will help protect their ears from getting water down them. Be careful not to push too hard or too far and injure the cocker. Allie girl was also demonstrating this for the webpage.
Other resources:
Ear Care & Disease - Otitis Externa
Skin: Many of us have owned or own a cocker with skin problems. If your dog's skin is flaking, red and/or itchy you need to consider the possibility of allergies. Most people will first try to treat this from the inside out by researching a different food. This is a book within itself but you might want to consider changing shampoos. Some dogs are allergic to most shampoos and everyone reacts differently to them. Oatmeal based shampoos are quite popular. Any doubts talk to your vet or ask on the board what we use.
Nails: Your groomer should do this on every visit, but you can also do it at home. It's best not to let those nails get too long. Not only can they scratch you, but it can cause problems for the dog's paw if left unchecked. You have to be careful when trimming nails to not cut the "quick". The quick is a blood vessel in the dog's nail and is usually the reason some owners are fearful to cut the dog's nails. If the quick is cut, it can cause a lot of bleeding and be painful for the dog. In lighter nails you can see the quick and avoid it. With darker nails it's best to take off a little at a time more often to make sure you don't cut the quick. A good rule of thumb when it's time to cut your cocker's nails is when you hear them clicking on the non-carpet flooring AKA "tap dancing".
Baths: Depending how dirty your dog gets they should get a bath every 2 - 4 weeks with a mild shampoo. This of course is the owner's preference and some go much longer in between giving baths. NEVER bath a dog that is matted. Water will make these mats permanent and you will probably have to cut them out. If you go to a groomer you can still do an in between bath at home. Most owners will put cotton the dog's ears to keep water from going down in there. A cocker's ear canal is shaped like an "L" so water gets trapped in there and causes problems. Also be sure to keep them from catching a chill. A normal human dryer will work to dry them off. Run your hand between the dog's skin and the dryer to make sure it's not getting too hot and burning them. Baths are an excellent time to "comb" over your dog and look for problems such as skin irritations, fleas or ticks.
We've included a little diagram to your left that can better illustrate how to cut your cockers nails. It can be tricky just remember that "less is less" Less nail cut = less problems. It is better to cut less of the nail then to cut more and risk cutting the vein! Don't worry if this happens on accident. A number of things can happen that may result in you accidently cutting too much. If you do expose the vein, you need to stop the bleeding. Your cocker will be in some pain, so it is best to try to console him or her while controlling the bleeding. We recommend keeping a bottle of Kwik Stop handy if you start clipping your cockers nails. It comes in gel or powder form just incase you have an accident. BTW you may hear the dogs vein in the nail commonly referred to as the "Quick". For educational purposes we referred to it as the vein just so you can follow along. =)
More Resources:
Clipping Nails
Nail Diagrams
Nail Clipping Basics
Teeth: It's a good idea to get your dog used to having it's teeth brushed. You can buy tooth brushes and special toothpaste for them. Some suggest brushing the dog's teeth several times a week as a good habit. It is recommended that cockers should have a professional teeth cleaning done at least once a year by your veterinarian. Check with your vet for more info on this. Several pet websites carry products such as this.
Other ways to helps keep your dog's teeth in good shape:
Oral rinses to help keep bacteria down.
Drinking water additives like PetFirst Oral Care Formula help fight tarter and improves breath
Chews like a rope toy, Kong or Nylabone gently remove food debris and tarter when chewed. Rawhide chews also clean teeth but require 100% supervision as dogs have died from choking on them.
Dental treats such as Greenies can help. Again be sure to supervise them.
Other resources:
Trims: Cockers usually will require a trim every 6-8 weeks. If you do it yourself, you may opt to do it more often. This is a good time to check and trim the nails. If you go too long without a trim it can not only cause the cocker to look shaggy, but can be irritating to their skin if there are mats. It's good to keep them trimmed down on their faces, under their ear flaps (to allow more air circulation), under their tail (to keep feces from getting caught in the fur), and the pads of their feet (keeps the hair from harboring water and causing bacterial infections. Also allows the cocker better traction). Many people shave the inside of the cocker's ears since it's not noticeable and helps their ears "breath" better. You may want to think about taking more hair off in the summer time than in the winter to keep their bodies cooler.
Parasites: Depending the your geographical location you may need to take certain precautions against certain bugs that can harm your cocker. Fleas can strike just about anywhere. The most popular forms of preventatives are Frontline (drops or spray), Advantage and BioSpot. Heartworms are a deadly parasite that multiple inside your dogs heart and can be transmitted by mosquito bites. The most popular form of preventative for this is Heartgard Plus or equivalent.
Be sure to ask your vet what he/she recommends for your area. If you live in the Southeast it's imperative to get heartworm preventative!
