Here, too! 
And boy do the girls love them.
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I had one that wouldn’t touch a fresher poop ball, but in the winter, those frozen ones were right tasty to her. Fortunately she wasn’t much of a kisser.
Ziva, English Cocker pup who turns 1 year old in 4 days, still has her puppy coat to go with her puppy brain. She will be showing once she’s a little more mentally mature so clipping is out.
Grooming happens in 10 minute blocks, because that’s about as long as she’ll stand still for. Initially I was worried that she has the same sensitive skin as our other girl, Zoe, who is a maternal half sister to Ziva’s mum. Zoe tolerates clipping and trimming but despises being brushed, so we keep her short. Happily Ziva seems to be made of sturdier stuff - she’s just still a baby.
I’m about to flamethrower every pine tree in the neighborhood, though. If it’s not the needles that all three Engies bring in, it’s Ziva and her obsession with stripping pine cones. Nothing like stepping on one of those damn things with bare feet.
Pine cones better than pine sap on a show dog. Ask me how I know.
(Lost a pine tree in my fenced yard so my handyman cut it at the base (ground level). My dogs laid on the freshly cut stump because there was a rabbit nest just on the other side of the fence. Their chest hair was stuck to their skin for weeks.)
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The CC pin brush and Ice on Ice arrived this week.
The Ice on Ice is… ok. For the price, I’m not sure it’s markedly better than anything else.
The pin brush is a no go. She hates it. It looks like the comb and rake with wiggly pins are still the best.
Although doofy puppy landed herself in the hospital for the weekend and could use some jingles. Partial obstruction, looks like a piece of a plastic bag on x-ray. 
OMG yikes! Hopefully it will pass unassisted! Keep us posted.
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Please keep us posted. I’ve been reading through this because I was smitten with her picture. Wishing her a quick recovery.
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She’s still at the hospital. Good news is they did more rads and the object is moving in the right direction. Bad news is she is still obstructed. They started conservatively refeeding her to see if a) she can hold it down and b) it helps speed up moving the object out. There’s a chance she might be discharged tonight (in the middle of a snowstorm) or they might need to keep her another day.
The cats are loving her absence.
This was her right before I left yesterday.
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Sending rapid plastic pooping vibes your pups way.
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She’s home! Still feeling puny. But hopefully on the mend with no complications.
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Poor baby!
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Hope she’s feeling a little brighter now.
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She is! This morning she was back to her spunky self.
I still haven’t recovered the foreign body but she’s eating, drinking, and pooping. So… 
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Oh my! So scary. I am SO glad she’s feeling better.
That’s one of my main fears with my little one, she’s a hoover for any bits she finds on the ground, and DH is not very good at picking up whatever he drops ( such as, bits of plastic when opening packages…).
Gah.
I’m kind of stumped because she never passed any foreign bodies that I saw.
Seeing as how she’s a farm dog, as soon as she was feeling better it was hard to keep her leashed or contained and maintain both of our sanities. So I know I haven’t seen every poop pile. But I have diligently inspected what I have seen and nothing. She’s back to normal feces, no worse for wear.
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Ever feel like a failure of a dog mom?
Rainbow’s current status:
If you happen to recall, the groomer where I took her for puppy classes told me “don’t have her groomed until her adult coat comes in.” I thought that seemed odd, but I foolishly listened.
Since posting this thread, I finally found a brush that Rainbow likes which has made her coat maintenance much easier. Burrs and whatnot are still a problem, but our daily brushing sessions are much more pleasant when she isn’t trying to bolt.
But fast forward to last weekend: I take Rainbow for her first appointment with that same groomer. Now that it is getting warmer, I wanted to get her clipped and I don’t have a flipping clue what to do with all this hair.
Groomer comes out, and Rainbow uncharacteristically growls at her. She has never growled at anyone. Ever. I know everyone probably says that, but it’s true. Plus, this is the same facility where she was attending obedience classes up until last fall.
Groomer says nope, I won’t do an aggressive dog.
Okay.
I find another highly rated groomer in the area, explain the situation, and they are happy to take her on. Get an appointment for today. Spend the entire week socializing the heck out of my dog and she’s great. We go to playgrounds, parks, stores, etc. Has half the western world greet her with no issue. Started her on famotidine just in case her belly was the culprit.
I gave her a small dose of trazodone today just to up our chances of success.
She is happy as a clam as we arrive at the salon. Perfectly content to go back with the groomer.
About and hour later I get the call that she started off great for her bath, blow out, brushing, and they clipper her body… but she went berserk when they tried to do her legs, neck, and head. Not aggressive, just panicking and they could not restrain her even with multiple people. They couldn’t finish the cut.
Sigh.
So I guess my reason for posting all this: explain to me like I’m 5 how to cut my sheepdog-looking mutt’s hair so she doesn’t look awful.
Thanks in advance!
Awwwwwww poor bubs 
Going to the groomer can be so scary
Especially with a bad experience under her belt, I’d not expect to get this done asap. Just treat her like a baby horse that needs to learn about the clippers. Have her assume whatever position you use for grooming–lie her down, or up on a grooming table, or whatever–and just work on getting her used to the sound and vibration with a boat load of praise. Clipping her down isn’t much different than a body clip on a horse! Looks like they used a pretty decent guard.
If going to the groomer is in the cards in the future, picking up a grooming table and getting her used to that whole thing could be a good idea, too (if you’re not already using one.) It’s kind of a scary thing all on it’s own, being up like that in a grooming noose. Especially when you’re a big girl!
This is nbd! She’ll get there 
Thanks!
At this point after two strikeouts, I feel like I just need to learn to do it myself.
If you can afford the time and expense I would suggest MORE groomer trips. Take her back in a couple weeks for another try and see if they’ll give her treats and try to scissor her face and head up a bit. Take her back a couple weeks after that and do toenails and some brushing, etc. I’d try breaking the grooming tasks down into smaller bits and doing it more often so that it becomes more routine to her, then see if she can get a full grooming done at once eventually.
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So I take my heeler/ schnauzer mix to get groomed. She used to dislike strangers and it took 5 visits to get her whole body trimmed when I first got her. Now she drags me to the groomers and is fantastic. I send her with her favorite treats, but still.
Have faith if you want to go that route.
You clip like a horse no different, add a guard if you want longer. Get a grooming table, they are amazing even if for just brushing.
If he’s reacting to clippers, either a lick mat or other pair of hands feeding treats while clipping is so helpful. You can also use an electric toothbrush to stimulate the vibration but quieter and easier to manage.
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