I'm about to start showing my CKCS & have been told I need to learn how to trim his feet feathering & his ears

Is this right I know how to trim the hair under the feet, but don't know where to start on the feet feathering & ears

Bobbi

Hi Bobbi

I'll apologize up-front but CKCS is not my breed but my understanding was that they shouldn';t be trimmed at all - possibly just the smallest bit of tidying up any straggly hair under the feet etc but that's it. I'm sure others will correct me if this is wrong - lol.

Have you had a word with the breeder. If you have a show quality dog then I presume the breeder is a show person so they should be a really good pointer for what you need to do.

Good luck - hth

Pam n the Cocker boys - who need an awful lot of trimming

Hi!!

The breed standard for the CKCS states that the breed should be totally free from trimming, that they should be shown in as natural a state as possible. The only part of my Cavaliers that i have ever trimmed before a show is the underside of the feet to stop mud being tracked through the house, and also to give them a better grip on the usually highly polished floors of the sports halls etc where shows are held. I also snip off the long straggly eyebrow's if they are heading towards the eye's. In a pet Cavalier you can simply trim all the excess feathering from around the feet, this is always fairly obvious if your dog has profuse feathering on his feet, however you should find that if your dog is being exercised on a regular basis on roads and footpaths (Important for building up muscle!) that the foot feathering will wear naturally. If you HAVE to trim this feathering then follow the natural outline of the foot and don't cut it too short or it will be obvious what you have done, also use a bluntish pair of scissors as this will leave a more natural finish than a sharp pair!

Ears now!! Again I usually don't trim ears unless they have been badly chewed by a bedtime companion or have gotten very badly knotted. Sometimes ears will come in at all different lengths and you may need to trim them back to a similar length to make them appear presentable, again a blunt pair of scissors will leave a more natural finish. You will find that levelling off ears can sometimes help them to grow thicker and fuller.

If you have to trim your Cavalier then do it at least five or six weeks before a show so that the coat has a chance to lose that "just trimmed" look!!

This is just a quick guide, but to be honest with you Cavaliers should NOT be trimmed in any way shape or form and just shown in as close to a natural form as possible, as per the breed standard. It is becoming very popular in the US to strip and sculpt Cavaliers, this should not be done!!

Welcome to the forum Cathryn Leigh

Thank You Leigh, I hope I can help folks a bit from my OWN experiences!!)

Cathryn