Advice Bearded Collie

[wet noze]

I have a friend coming over with her bearded collie. We are going to groom the dog in my van. I have never done this breed to be honest. I groom mostly small fluffies so I have no experience at all. Can you give me some advice or words of wisdom? A few questions.... Do I trim up the feet or no trimming at all? Should I use Quick Dry on the coat? What products work best? What is the best and most efficient way to dry a coat like this. I want to avoid blowing tangles into it. Any other suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks!

[Doubledogdare]

If it is a show dog and you are trimming it for a show, that is one thing. If it is a pet and you are grooming it to get it clean and tidy, that is another.

Beardies are basically "big fluffies". And the nice thing is, if it is a pet, you can do whatever mom wants you do it. Her dog, her call.

We have one that comes in on a regular basis. We do a standard bath, brush, bevel the feet, clean out under the eyes and ears, do a sanitary and take off the whispies.

Nothing fancy. Just plain, common sense grooming for a big, hairy dog.

If mom puts out a little elbow grease and keeps the dog brushed out, it should be a fairly simple procedure. If she doesn't touch the dog at all, it might be a knotted mess and you'll have to move to Plan B - shave it down and start over.

[RudyRoo]

Giggles, I've only done one BC, and they wanted it in a #3 all over. Customers that came to pick up their dog while the BC was there were all asking the breed, I told them it was a giant Shih Tzu! (LOL,,,,,,, Sometimes I can't help but be a little evil.) Thats the closet thing I can compare it to, a giant Shih in full coat. Seriously tho, Notes says to line comb & brush coat. Shave pads and round feet, light sani, clear eyes with thinners or clippers. Hope it's not matted! Have fun & good luck.

[Dawn125]

I only do one and it is in full coat. The mom just has me do pads, sanitary, a little thinning at eye corners and a shaggy visor so she can see. Feet are left natural. Hopefully your owner likes to keep the dog brushed because they can be matted messes. The one I do usually isn't too bad except for around the neck and chest because mom puts a harness on her.

[ManicMutts]

I do 2 full-coat beardies. They come in every three weeks for bath, brush-out and trim. They are pets, not show. Both owners "try" to brush in between, but they don't do a great job, therefore the 3 week schedule. Both usually have knots, but nothing terrible on this schedule. They can have a tough coat to manage.

I use show season amino flex in the bath, and the stuff before blow drying and brushing. I brush with my T-brush while hv-ing to avoid tangling. They both get trimmed- shave pads, bevelled feet, neaten up the underline, and brazilian to keep clean by owner request. One gets the eye corners clipped and the top pulled up, the other the hair in the corners has never been cut, and it goes up into a topknot. I love these girls, I always buy them special holiday hair bows at the dollar store to pull their hair up!

[MamaTiff]

My #1 client is a BC named Zorba. I only clip him down (I say clip him down, but really I leave him an inch and a half all over. ) once a year in June. All year long I go to their house and brush him out once a week. I use a comb, rake, coat king, and pin brush. The slicker I have noticed over the years breaks his hair too much. Makes him very frizzy looking. So I only use that if I absolutely have to. When he comes into the salon to be groomed I wash, condition, straight dry and only round his feet, shave out his armpits and sani, sometimes up his tummy when there is a lot of snow, and the corner of his eyes and slightly over them too. But like the others said it all depends on what the owners want.

Here is a picture of him last year. His coat has improved a lot this past 6 months or so because they changed his food. Here he not as frizzy looking now. Much more managable as well. This is about halfway through his coat growing out after his cut.

[Debbiedogs]

Beardies are easy

Beardies are easy if the owner has handled them and kept them brushed out. Like Shih Tzus, their coats can be quite variable. They are supposed to have rather harsh coats that are easy to keep, but sometimes you see soft, thick, cottony, coats that are hellish to keep.

So if it's a bath and tidy, it's fairly easy, and honestly, I can probably dry a Beardie faster than a Bichon with less effort!! If it's a nice day, walk the dog outside for 10 minutes after the bath. Don't HV if the coat is long - do what you would do to keep a fairly long-coat Maltese or Shih Tzu.

Yes, you can use the quick-dry products. Yes, you usually scissor the feet (using thinning shears looks best, but is not necessary if the dog isn't being shown).

<sigh> I love a nice Beardie!!

[wet noze]

Thank you all sooooooo much! What would I do without you??? You are all a tremendous help. I appreciate it!

[Arrooh]

I do a couple

in full coat. It's a pain but hey look so beautiful flowing around the yard that it's almost worth it. I do scissor around the feet and under. That's it for trimming. They are matted. The best tool I use is a double rake, not razor, and after basically de matted I run that all over. It pulls out so much fuzzy undercoat. I am always amazed.

[wet noze]

I'm doing it today! I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe I can take a picture.

[windywaycavaliers]

I have a full coated Beardie that is a regular--you can pm me if you like- especially about product and tools. No trimming on a full coat except the feet beveled just a little and sani,,but it is different depending on the owners. Pin brushes and combs, no slickers. You can pm me, they are one of my favorite breeds!

[Bgolden86]

I have two new clients and they are Bearded Collies. The owner keeps them brushed out and wants to show one of them. Can anyone please tell me what shampoo works best and maybe conditioner and a quick dry. I'm not familiar with this breed.

[123Linda]

We do bearded collies in full coat. I would use the Quadruped scented or unscented ALL IN ONE conditioners and it is an excellent quick dry as well. One of my favorite products, saves time works well, dries fast.

[wild4westies]

My favorite for a Beardie show coat (where maintaining texture is essential) is Crown Royale Biovitae #3 shampoo, conditioner, and their Magic Touch #3 grooming spray. Of course that’s jmo, there are many great show lines available.