Finally Katie & I have got into a routine with her coat management. Initially, having  very little brushing & handling before she came to me she was rather anxious & uncooperative whenever I tried to tackle her coat.  I learnt from my previous Angora experience never to let the coat get to it’s full length. It’s so difficult to keep on top of & makes grooming time longer which causes more stress all round. So since last summer I have kept Katie’s coat relatively short.

As you can see from comparing the above two photos, the coat is a lot shorter & it’s so much easier to get to her paws now. They are the worst at collecting hay & anything else that is around.  I think she feels better for it too as she can play around for a lot longer before having to stop & cool down.  The routine which seems to be working is to groom twice a week with a little scissor snip here & there & using the paddle brush & rotating pin comb.

To further help with keeping her coat shorter I invested in a dog shaver. I did go for the best I could find as her coat is so thick & I wanted one that was quite quiet.  When I first introduced the shaver to Katie I just left it running at the side of us whilst I groomed with the brush & comb only. After the second session of letting her hear the shaver she felt comfortable with the noise so I decided it was time to give it a go. She did really well with it.

Once again the shaver is a bit of trial & error in finding out which head works the best. I am still at the early stages of getting to grips with the shaver but every time I use it I am making progress & bless Katie, she is so very patient & will tolerate all my grooming. My aim is to be able to go over her coat once a week with the shaver to keep it at the desired length & I am hoping it can tackle those paws better than a comb.  They really do like to get matts on them, & once again I really want to keep those paws a much shorter length.