Grooming a long hair doxie?

[Melisande]

Hi everyone! I'm still not sure if we are going to get a smoothie or a long haired dog. I'm wondering what are the daily/weekly/monthly grooming requirements for the LH?

Thanks!

[Schatz's Mom]

Kipper is my LH and he requires a bath more often than Schatz and more brushing to keep the tangles down around his ears. Once the hair starts growing out you will also need to clip the hair between the pads on the paws. We also try to keep his little bum clippered to we don't have dingleberries hanging! :blush:

[SleepiTune]

I'm curious to see the answers to this question. I got a longhaired puppy a couple weeks ago and I've already been grooming him quite a bit and he doesn't have much hair yet! Mainly I'm just trying to get him used to it for when he's older, but I've even had to trim between his pads a couple times because of little sticky stuff that got in there. But I think it's fun!

[Me&DappledDuo]

Dutch does get baths more than the smoothies- but, not often, by any means. He would LOVE to be brushed more than I really have to- he does tend to get matted behind the ears if I go too long. His paws and bootie DO need trims fairly often- and his undercoat needs to be stripped, or he turns into a fuzzball (chocolate LHs tend to be fuzzier than silky for some reason or another).

Really, long haireds don't require much more attention than smooth coats do. Wires have the most high maintenance coats, weird long-wire crosses, like Geisha, being the real pain in the rear.

[maddoxies]

Valentin requires a bit more brushing than Heidi, to keep his hair from tangling. I use a good conditioner when I do bath him and I find that helps a lot. I find I need to trim his paws and ears more than anything. His feet get shaggy pretty quickly and his ears dangle in the dinner bowl, the water bowl, unless I keep the fur trimmed to about the length of the actual ears.

His bum is fine, the base of his ears tangles pretty quickly. I use feathering scissors to trim around the ears, regular scissors for the paws.

Still, it is a lot less grooming than a golden retriever !!! LH's don't require major attention on a frequent basis.

[Melisande]

Thats no where near the work I was expecting to hear about.

Thanks everyone for answering!

[dutchman]

A lot of good information. For my LH boys Frank and Tanner I find a fine flea comb ideally about once a week will keep the matts out Tanners coat picks up more grass and twigs, burs than Frank so he sometimes requires an additional comb. I trim foot hairs top feathers bottom pads each time I trim nails. I also hand pluck the feathers that develop around Franks ankles. Nothing difficult or fancy here.

[dachsie_luv]

:) The most time consuming part of grooming my LH Willy is keeping his feet trimmed (between toes, bottom of feet, around nails, & blending it with thinning shears). It is just so tedious, & takes 45 minutes -- not his fault - he just lays there, & tolerates it.

[Annie's Mom]

Annie is a longhair, but doesn't have a luxurious show dog coat, so she looks a lot better if she's trimmed pretty closely. She also feels much nicer to pet -- smooth and silky that way.

She herself really seems to prefer being trimmed, although she's not crazy about getting haircuts. If I leave her long in the winter, she quickly collects iceballs in her armpits and between her toes, and then stands there looking miserable. When she's trimmed, she can scamper through the snow and dig through drifts and seems much happier. The cold doesn't seem to bother her at all. Even in summer, she chews at her toes like crazy if I let the hair get long.

We clipper her body and shorten up the feathers on her legs, and trim the toe hair until her feet are neat and cat-like. Her bum gets a nice trim as well. We leave the surface tops of the ear leathers long, but shorten the hair at the ends close to the leather, so her ears don't drag on the plates she licks and get all crusty and disgusting.

The overall effect is "little girl with pigtails." Really cute that way, and doesn't she know it.

She gets a bath and a trim once a month, but if she's gotten filthy digging for chipmunks in between times, I plunk her into the kitchen sink and rinse her off with the spray.

[Melisande]

I really like the look to the LH, but my fiance needs some convincing.

But then, I do love the smoothes too. Theyre all so cute!

[fdcutee]

So far, my boys haven't required a lot of work. They just get an occasional bath when they get dirty or smelly... usually I just rinse them off with water though (Joey has allergies, so I try not to aggravate things). I use a beard trimmer to trim between their toes every few weeks... it used to take me longer, but now it takes about a minute for Joey and about five minutes for Toby (he's furrier, heh). Other than that, I just brush them occasionally which they love. I clean their ears every few weeks too, but that takes 30 seconds. Trimming their nails takes a little longer, but you have to do that no matter if they're long, smooth, or wire haired. I love all dachsies, but longhaired puppers are just so pretty.... just something about them. :hearts:

[Christena]

I too brush on a regular basis and find that Josh does get tangled easily around the ears if I don't keep on top of that. He doesn't require a bath often. A good rinse and brushing after swimming. I leave the feet hairs alone. He visits schools and once a 4 year old child asked why he was wearing fuzzy slippers. It doesn't bother him and he doesn't seem to get stuff stuck in that fur so we just let it grow! We do keep the bottom trimmed and trim him close all over in summer as it is very hot here and he does like to swim in rivers, lakes and the ocean, anywhere he can get wet, when we camp. Our smooth haired dapple requires very little maintainance- just lots of petting every day and he is good to go!

[mtnlaura]

I, myself, like to be low-maintenance, so I try to keep Heinzie that way!! She *should* be brushed more often than I do, but really, I brush her very infrequently. I've been taking her to the groomer's maybe once every 7-8 weeks and have her cut very short (I don't show her, so no reason to keep the long coat) and she looks very cute!! I think the short cut is good for the summer, too. Keeps her cooler.

Like everyone else said, the paws are the biggest "problem" but are not too bad. Ears and tail need to be brushed, but, again, I don't consider Heinzie to be high-maintenance. And she is just a beautiful dog!! (of course, I'm biased :D )

[FourOrchards]

Ok here's my blurb on this LH vs Smoothies....
We had a Sheltie for 12 years before we got Ally (btw...she's a smoothie) and I groomed her myself before we had kids. As the children came I found myself having less and less time to groom her. I would take her to the groomer and would try to do my best in between....boy was that alot of work...not to mention how expensive it was and the hassle of taking/picking her up. I had to pick up long hairs from the dog all the time too. I said if we ever got another dog it would be a low maintainance one. Trust me Ally is very low maintainance! And I mean LOW! She is truly a wash-n-wear dog in every way. Now....I am in NO way trying to sway you onedirection or another...just giving you some things to consider... if it helps make your decision. You have gotten plenty so far....so good luck! :hug2:

[Daley]

I have a sneaky suspicion that Dale is 1/2 mini LH (his father's side because I have the info on that line) and 1/2 standard SH. He's inbetween sizes and his hair is long but not too long. I have never found a need to trim his hair anywhere but in bwtn the padding of his feet! I give him a bath once in a while and brush him out (now a little more since he's shedding for summer) but all in all he doesn't shed much and doesn't need much trimming. We'll see if that changes as he gets older...but I think he's perfect!!

[stacicakes]

This is a little off the subject but... I have a smoothie and a Bichon and the difference in coat upkeep is insane! Maggie is such high maintenance, brushing and combing everyday, professional groomer every five weeks:pullhair:. Well, you get the picture. Molly on the other hand...just wash and go:D . She is the easiest dog I have ever had to keep groomed! I love them both dearly but have already decided later in life, when they are both gone and I am old and gray,:hugs1: a mini smoothie will be by my side