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Grooming for your Shetland Sheepdog

The Shetland Sheepdog is an extremely loyal dog that is responsive and intelligent creature. They tend to be shy around strangers and can stress if put into an environment without their beloved owner. It is best if you would do their upkeep yourself, or start them at a very young age at a groomer so that they are use to the activity. My most beloved pet was a male Shetland named Skipper, he was very shy and if I did not groom him myself he would get sick. They also do not like loud noises, so hair dryers will have to be a slow learning process for adult dogs not use to it.

Shetlands are not hard to maintain if you keep consistent with a routine brushing and slight trim. They have a soft double coat that needs daily brushing to keep mats from forming. Extra care is needed during shedding as they tend to lose large amounts of hair during this time. Use a slicker and pin brush then an undercoat rake. If matts have formed use a splitter comb to break them up and brush out the matt.

Hold the matt from the skin and work the splitter from your fingers moving forward keeping pressure in the back. It will be less painful. After breaking up the matt, use the comb to loosen the cut pieces until the matt is gone.

If possible keep the pads trimmed with clippers, if the noise cannot be handled, at least use scissors to keep the hair out from between the pads. Dirt and items picked up outside getting caught between the pads can cause lameness. Urine and feces being caught up in the fur is best handled by keeping the stomach and rear area cut with a #10 blade. Trim the hocks and hind area neatly to keep the longer hairs from dragging the ground.

To get a sheltie use to the clippers keep them running around the house a few minutes a day to get use to the noise. Slow integrate them into the grooming process by doing a little at a time. Touch them to the pads without clipping, and then extend it to clipping. Never force them to take to a new sound or event, they have great memories and will associate this with unpleasantness each time.

Matting can be worked out with wide tooth metal combs, it will take lots of effort and a splitter comb to achieve it. If you have no choice but to remove the coat from excessive matting, use a #5F blade on your clippers for the body, #10 on the pads and stomach.

Bathing should be done at least once a week after a good brushing. The undercoat is very dense and it will take some finger power to reach the skin. Make sure that all shampoo is thoroughly rinsed out of the dense coat, as it can cause skin infections. A high speed dryer is best used for drying process to help loosen the hair of the undercoat.

A sheltie loves the outdoors and that dense coat can gather a lot of debris. If little sticks and leaves have attached to the fur, comb them out each time or the matting will become worse. In the winter break up the balls of snow with a towel and dry them well after a walk.

Grooming can be a great time for you and your Shetland Sheepdog to bond. It can be a very loving time for you both.

Learn more about this author, Kellea Croft.
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