Whenever I
mention that my dog has a blog, my friends laugh at me. I then explain how I
take my duty to share my knowledge of ChiSpaniels very seriously. When we first got Nyota, I had never had a
small dog in my life. I grew up with varieties of snow dogs and German
shepherds. My first dog was an Alaskan Malamute, then I had a white German
Shepherd (a brilliant dog!), and then I had a Siberian Husky. All of my dogs shed, but never needed shaved.
I’d take them to the groomers, but they didn’t need their nails clipped. Nyota
was a very, very new awakening into small-dog hood for me.
Nyota needs
her nails trimmed every two months. If I don’t take her, she inadvertently
scratches us, she puts holes in my clothes, and I’m sure it feels uncomfortable
for her.
"Messing my head fur up only annoys me, FurParent."
The fur is a
whole new issue. Basically, Every other month, Nyota gets hygiene shaves, every
four months, she gets her fur clipped, and once a year, I have her shaved
completely. Inbetween that time, I have
professional clippers. Don’t skimp and buy the cheap ones, they break and can
painfully pull at your pet’s fur. If you can’t afford at least the ‘better’
clippers for around $100, you will end up taking your dog to the groomer’s. My trips to the groomers are $20 or less.
This was a big surprise to me because my large dogs can be upwards of $50 per
session. But, it makes sense…smaller
dog, less fur…less grooming time/ work! Also, with so much fur, the options are unlimited as to the fur-do's you can give your ChiSpaniel.
The groomer called this a "Field Cut" - naked on top, tripped on the bottom.
If you’ve
lucked out and been blessed with the fuzzy variety of ChiSpaniel, you will know
that the Cocker-like fur takes a lot of upkeep to prevent problems. Fur mats
are inevitable. Sometimes my dog does this squiggling on her back thing that
instantly dreadlocks parts of her fur together. I will wait until she’s calm,
and pet her until she’s nearly asleep, and then carefully snip the mats out
with scissors. However, this will only work part of the time, for some of the
areas.
Pre-shave and super fuzzy...sitting on top of the table while we are trying to do schoolwork!
Mats can bind
up in your clippers. I purchased a small, hand-held, mini-clipper for areas
around her ears, but they were useless and I threw them away. Scissors work
best for mats in easy to reach places like on the back of her legs. Around her
ears is a different story. This summer, the groomer told me that the skin
around the ears is so delicate that you have to be careful because it will just
peel back when you are clipping it (HORROR! I was mortified! I nearly took my
dog and ran out of there!) So…I err in the side of a professional and simply
take Nyota to the groomer. I might get
an extra week or two between grooming if I clip here or there, but overall, she’s
taken somewhere at least every other month.
It just keeps growing...and growing...and growing...
When I have
to do more than just simple snipping on Nyota and require actually using my
clippers or nail snips, I place a non-slip backed rug on top of my dryer,
connect Nyota’s harness to a short leash, and secure it somewhere so she can’t jump off, but mainly
so she knows she’s tethered and won’t pull away as I try to clip her. I turn
the clippers on and just set them down, safely out of the way, so she gets use
to the sound, and I give her a treat. This method works best for me because it
secures her at a high level so that I can do my job, yet not risk having her
jump from the height or slip off and fall while I’m handling her.
This is
Nyota’s grooming schedule:
She looks like a mini-pit bull when they shave her head/ face!
April: full
body shave! I take my dog to the groomer’s near me. I call him the Nazi groomer
because when I say he shaves everything, I mean E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. He shaves
her face! Her privates! Her tail (buh-bye white tuft at the end of her tail!),
Her whiskers! Her eyelashes! Her ears! It all GOES! When this happens, Nyota
transforms into a different dog both visually and personality wise. My sister
sent me this meme which perfectly describes her:
Naked Nyota
is humble, passive, and meek…and she looks like a rat! I travel with a blanket
for her and put her hoodie on her when it’s cold or at night!
Full-on Fur
Nyota will cut a bitch in an alley. As
her fur grows back, the transformation is slow, but sure. She’s mid-fur length
now (August), and she’s snippy sometimes, and sweet the other times.
Naked Nyota
Not even a whisker! :(
Not even a whisker! :(
June: The
vet gives her a hygiene shave and clips her nails. I utilize the vet because it’s
cheap and fast. Groomers like to take appointments where they cut, shave, and
bathe when I just want her butt shaved and her nails trimmed, so I take her to
the vet’s…plus, the longest I usually wait for the vet tech to have an opening
is a week. Some groomers schedule months in advance.
September:
Vet’s for a hygiene shave, nails clipped, and her feet clipped around her
nails. (The pom-pom feet are back!)
Pom-Pom feet!!!
November: It’s
time for the annual groomer’s fur-do. I take her to a friendly groomer who will bathe, clip, get rid of any mats,
give her a hygiene shave, and do her nails. We do not go to the Nazi groomer
because he will shave her face every chance he gets and it’s holiday photo
time.
January:
Back to the vet’s for a hygiene shave and her nails clipped. I wait until as
late in January as I can because after this, I will hold off until her annual
shearing with the Nazi groomer in April.
I waited until after her Easter Bunny photos to have her shaved!
Fur products
I use:
I use a
variety of brushes on Nyota simply because she loves being brushed so much that
switching the type of brush seems to make her happy.
I use the
flea brush on her head:
The therapy
brush on her ears, legs and belly:
And a
regular hairbrush on her back.
Her fur is exceptionally fine on her ears and legs. It is where the mats most commonly occur. I also used fur detangler, but it doesn’t work that well. It smells great, so I keep it in my bathroom and use it as an air freshener. The other product I use is fur hygiene wipes. I only mention these because poop WILL get caught in your ChiSpaniel’s fur and if it’s on her fur, it will get on your FURniture. No one wants that, so wiping is necessary so much less frequently if you keep their bum fur shaved. Nyota actually comes to me when she needs her butt wiped now! She will tap me with her paw and cautiously sniff her butt.
Adorbs.
In
conclusion, my advice is to keep after your ChiSpaniel’s fur. Daily brushing,
snipping out mats, and periodic grooming will keep them healthy and happy. Now,
when my friends laugh about my ChiSpaniel blog, I say, “I write it to help
people. I wish I had known when I got Nyota that I’d need to shave her bum
every other month!”
"She shaves my butt...oh, the shame of it!"
