# Keeping coats short



## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

I have been cutting Mollys coat myself with varying degrees of success ever since I got her and we are both gradually learning together. I have tended to do her around every four weeks and we have been doing the whole routine of bathing, drying and then clipping which takes around 3 hours for the whole thing.

I have gradually been getting shorter and shorter with her cuts to find something low maintenance enough to cope easily with her running through bushes and muddy puddles when we go out and now settled on something which I am sure is probably a fair bit shorter than most.

As her coat is now so short I have been able to give her a good comb through and then a quick trim after a couple of weeks to just maintain the cut - this takes about 10 minutes so is hugely better than the previous time it has taken us - for both her and me.

I understand I probably won't get quite such a good cut by not bathing her first and that it will make the clipper blunt quicker - but is there any other problem with doing it like this?

This is her current style


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

We have never bathed Biscuit before clipping him (and he was quite long this time!). I give him a quick comb all over and then if we find any more matts while clipping, I just work them out and carry on. Seems to work well and certainly cuts down on time. Would be interesting to hear the negatives of this though! x


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## colpa110 (Jul 5, 2011)

I think it just depends on how fussy you are...I think the idea of bathing before is so you can then blow dry the hair straight to make it more even for clipping.
I have always done this with Betty but am tempted to have a go at skipping it because the whole process does take such a long time.


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## Mogdog (Feb 6, 2011)

I've tried both ways ... with bathing first and without.

Definitely a better cut with bathing and easier as the coat is clean/soft and mat-free(ish!) so a more even cut, as Colin says, also less blunting for scissors and clippers. BUT is obviously takes a lot longer.

I usually bath first if there's time, but also sometimes do a quick clip or trim if time is short.

S x


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

Thought that must be the case.  I must admit the first time we did this he did look a bit ragged! However, hubbie goes over the same area a few times with the clippers and this time he looks pretty good......and even a ragged look does soon disappear once their coat starts to grow. Anyway, I am partial to a bit of shabby chic! x


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