Hi, I have a 20 month old rescue Irish Setter and am looking for someone in spalding or surrounding area that may be able to help in trimming him. I have taken off a load of excess hair but need help with the finishing touches. I have done his feet & hocks which are okay (not brilliant), you can actually see his ears now but I am not confident enough to trim all the way and I need his neck doing as well. I would like to take him to a few companion shows and have some fun. I did take him to a local show recently just to see if there was anyone who could help but the lady with the Irish setter that I spoke to, just took one look at him and told me not to bother as 1) he was far too big & was more great dane size then irish setter & 2) out of all proportion & I would be wasting my money. He does look a bit on the big side I admit but a lot of it is because he was so thin (he had worms) now he is putting on weight he looks much better of course. Despite what the woman said I would still like to take him to a few shows. If he doesn't do anything in the pedigree I can take him in the crossbreed class as a cross irish setter / great dane
Such a shame that I relocated recently from Boston...I would have trimmed him up for you, and given you an honest opinion as I used to show my Irish. Can you post a photo of him, I would love to see what he looks like My suggestion is to get a good pair of thinning scissors, if he will let you then just take a small amount at a time off, make sure you keep brushing the hair down after each cut so you can see what you are doing. You need to thin the hair out on the front of the throat down toward the chest, I will see if I can find a photo for you to show you if you are unsure. Whatever you do, don't touch the hair on the back of the neck as it will go all curly and you'll never get it back to normal again. Welcome to Dogsey, by the way
That's a shame but believe it or not I recently relocated from Berkshire right next to Buckinghamshire.:?
Awww, such a pity :-( Ok, heres a photo of a trimmed English Setter, you need to achieve the same sort of appearance on the throat, neck and shoulders but it mustn't look like you've trimmed it, you need to make it look as natural as possible, hence the thinning scissors: And here's my Alfie, he's fully trimmed but it looks more natural as I always leave more hair on the Irish ears than the English: I hope these help
wow gulp, Thanks I'll have a go. Alfie actually looks like my Frankie face wise. Will try and do it for a show next weekend at Grantham, I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for all your help, I'll wear the pictures out as I will be constantly studying them. Val
Hi Muppy, I think we've met on another forum. Were the contacts I gave you not able to help you? Did you have a look for Dee Milligan-Bott's grooming DVD? How about going to a few dog shows, not companion shows but Open Shows. You could take a closer look at the Irish Setters and speak to the exhibitors, they would advise I'm sure. Also you could check out these websites, they are breed specific and there a lots of links to breeders websites and hundreds of photos. www.irishsetter.org.uk www.bardonhill.com www.irishsetters.ning.com Hope you find someone to help soon, pity you're not near me, I'm in Northumberland. Dawn R.
Hi Dawn, Thank you for your help on the other site (thought I would just try again). I did contact a couple of breeders in the area but unfortunately they were unable to help. One said she did not trim rescue dogs only show dogs and to be truthful although the other lady was helpful she was just too expensive (I know they have to make a living and I certainly did not expect it to be done for nothing) but I was surprised at the price. I haven't got hold of the video mentioned but I have done a more and taking a bit off at a time, also invested in a new pair of scissors which helped. I don't think he will be ready for the show on sunday (and I never took him to the other one I was going to in the end) but I think I am getting there. Many thanks again. Val
Just a quick update on the trimming of Frankie. I looked closely at the pictures and took the plunge. I did his neck and took more from his ears. Not perfect but a lot better. We finally went to a show last weekend and I put him in the sporting which to my great surprise he won and then went Reserve Best in Show. He also came 2nd in Handsome dog. Still needs to put on a bit more weight but we're getting there. Now where did I put those scissors.
Woo Hoo, that's fantastic, well done you two. I bet you're all fired up for the next one now. Keep going, and enjoy yourself. Congratulations. Dawn R.
