Bedlington-L

Several of our members have supplied grooming tips for Bedlington Terriers. Enjoy!

Please send additions and corrections to: JRBreslin (jrbreslin@aol.com)

Some Grooming Tips for Bedlingtons1. American Grooming Tips:One thing I think we can all agree on is that Bedlingtons aredifficult dogs to groom and any help we can get in perfecting our ownmethods would be appreciated.  I personally know two women who do anexcellent job.  I have observed both of them and both have differenttechniques, yet great results.  My point is this.  Who's to say whois the best groomer or which technique is best.  Perhaps doing avideo on Bedlington grooming is beyond the scope of this discussiongroup, but that is not to say if someone went off and did one, wewould probably all want to buy a copy.  I just think it's going to bedifficult to get a consensus as to who is the best person to do thevideo.  In the meantime, maybe members of the list could share someof the grooming tips they have picked up from the experts they haveobserved.When I moved 100 miles away from my breeder/groomer friend and foundlocal groomers trimming my dogs like poodles, I took a night- schoolcourse in grooming.  To my surprise the woman teaching it was able togroom a Bedlington  properly.  I highly recommend anyone who hasn'ttaken even a most basic course do so.Here are some really basic tips--some of you may already know--nomatter what breed of dog you have:1.  Always brush the dog before shampooing or the matts will beworse.2.  Never use human shampoo or cream rinse on the dog, always thosemade for dogs (with the exception of baby shampoo for the head &ears).3.  Brush the hair in downward strokes, then use the comb in upwardstrokes.4.  Place a cotton ball in each ear to keep out the water--rememberto remove them when done.5.  Wash the head and ears first, before the body, in case your doghas fleas--that way, the fleas won't run and hide out in the ears andeyes of your dog.6.  The night-school groomer shaves the armpit hair of every breed ofdog because she feels it is a place that's difficult to comb out andit is one area that always seems to get tatted--especially on Bedlingtons--it sounds weird but it works.Some of the things I have observed  my  breeder/groomerfriend while grooming  Bedlingtons (she has produced many Canadian and U.S. champion Bedlingtons by the way).1.  She parts the hair on the head from the top of the head  to thetip of the dog's nose, then cuts each parted side in a straight line from thedirection of the nose to the top of the head.  She then combs the twosides back together and just touches up the edge where the two sidesmeet with the scissors.  To control the dog's head while doing thisshe seems to hold on to the skin of the dog's cheek.  (It doesn'thurt by the way!)2.  She parts the hair on the dog's front and back  paws and cuts each side ina straight line from the paw towards the dog's body.  When the hairis combed back together it's amazing how even the legs looks on bothsides.3.  The razor is used to shave the neck from the point where you canfeel the breast bone at the front of the chest.4.  While trimming ears with the razor, she says to keep the ear asflat as possible in your hand.5.  Be sure and turn the razor off every now and again and combanother part of the dog, as the razor gets hot to the touch.6. Another grooming tip which I learned from the nightschool course and was so greatfull to have been told.  Have you everscissored the body of your Bedlington only to comb it and see obviousstraigh line scissor marks?  That's because you scissored the dog 'shair vertically--i.e. with the tip of the scissors pointing towardsthe head or the tale.  If you scissor the hair with the tips of thescissors always pointing to the ceiling, there is a remarkabledifference.Some of these things may be old hat for many of you--but hope theyare helpful to some.Happy groomingMary, Mickey and MacDuff (just groomed yesterday and looking great!)Mary MacPhersonmarmac@ptbo.igs.netTammy Vranich has a wonderful picture of herself and one of her Bedlington's(Oliver) and her groomers profile on the Pet Groomers pages.  2. English Grooming Tips:All I've got to go on is the Bedlingtons I saw at Crufts last weekand pictures of American dogs I've seen in books (and on the net).My impression is that the English trim is much shorter, especiallyon the legs, which follow the natural shape and are not fluffed outso much. The tail is shaved except right at the top (I think this is thesame). The neck and lower jaw are shaved and also the cheeks  almostup to the base of the eye. Although the hair goes from the nose up tothe topknot this is also a lot shorter than in some of the picturesof American dogs I have seen, the eyes are not hidden at all and thehair in the "topknot" does not seem to be much more than an inchlong. The ears are shaved with a tuft at the end, but this is notfluffed out - it's just long hair in a sort of diamond shape not a"tassel". The feet are supposed to look pointed and apparently thisis different from the American trim where they are allowed to lookrounded (in England this is a fault called "cat foot"!). All theEnglish Bedlingtons at Crufts were on the small side compared to somepictures I have seen of dogs in other countries. They all had a lightbuild like a whippet.Please don't quote me on any of this, I'm not any sort of an expert -this is just my general impressions. With my own Bedlington I justcomb her out as much as possible and then trim to a roughapproximation of what I think she should look like. I don't do anyshaving - I'd be afraid of hurting her. Also her skin is a lot palerthan most of the other Bedlingtons I've seen, so I don't think she'dlook very nice shaved.Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me on this list (i.e. most ofyou!) could add more information or correct me if I've got any ofthis wrong - I won't be offended!Best wishes to Bedlington people everywhereNancy Bostonsaznmb@szn1.agric.nottingham.ac.uk

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