Border Collie and Aussie Shepherd
Border Collies and Aussie Shepherds vary in size and coat type. The guard coat should by shiny and hang flowing and soft. It provides a waterproof layer that ensures the dog can shake off after a swim and dry relatively quickly. It should not be cut to attempt to de-bulk the dog as if this happens it may forever be damaged, and regrowth can be spikey, dull and wiry.
The undercoat is a different texture and sometimes a different colour. It naturally keeps the dog insulated from hot and cold. Therefore, with changing seasons the dog sheds the undercoat. As part of our grooming schedule we use products that open the hair follicle to blow out the loose undercoat so that instead of it coming out all over your house over a number of weeks, we remove it painlessly during the groom. We also check the dog all over, trim nails, clean out paw pads, ears and tidy feather and tail. The process is usually enjoyable for the dogs and comparable to an itch finally being scratched.
How long to book for the appointment
On average a Border Collie or an Aussie Shepherd groom takes 2 hours.
Occasionally with small females that have thinner fur we can complete everything in 1.5 hours. Dogs that come on a 4 weekly schedule can be completed within the same time.
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The thing to be mindful about is that both Border Collies and Aussie Shepherds have a huge amount of fur for their size and weight. They don't fall into the same weight-as-a-guide deshed categories as other breeds. They have thick undercoat, their back end has an awesome amount of thick unruly fur and most notably, a large proportion of dogs are in some way reactive to being brushed and groomed.
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We are highly experienced at grooming them. We never mind anxious or aggressive dogs coming to us and have helped many many learn to trust again.
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What is necessary, is to add on time to ensure their complex and unique needs are met within the grooming time. Please dont use weight alone as your guide to booking the groom as this will likely direct you to a 1.5 hour groom which is not likely to be enough.
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The deshed process and why enough time is crucial - ​
To fully deshed we blow dry the hair under pressure and the more dry the fur after deshed treatment, the more undercoat comes out. A dog whose coat is matted, thick or dreadlocked will take a long time to dry. A dog that is very big and whose surface area is greater than normal cannot be completed in the same time as a smaller dog. A dog that is easily frightened and that requires a quieter, less forceful blow dryer, will take longer to dry. All these factors determine the groom time required to get the entire process performed satisfactorily. If a full deshed is not completed because too short a groom was booked; then over time, the coat of the dog becomes worse and worse.​
We often reach the point that the only humane way to remove severe matting from a dog is to clip individual clumps out as they are often bound tightly to skin. In extreme cases we have to clip sections or all of the dog and this in turn affects the regrowth of the coat and future prospects for managing the coat.