Question of the Week

Linda Tilka 

Madeira Beach, Florida

I have Standard Poodles. You bet I cut mine down. BUT we can make them look as beautiful as when they were in full show coat.

Shelley Hennessy

Toledo, Ohio

I normally cut down my powder puff Chinese Cresteds when they retire from the conformation ring. Although I shave their ears while showing, after they are cut down, I leave the ears alone, and most have nice “Papillon-like” ear fringes. I don’t have the time or the energy to keep them all in coat, as they mat easily. I definitely miss the look of a regular long powder-puff coat, however!
My last two puff girls are still in full coat, but I brush one each night while watching TV. I hope I’ll be able to keep them “in coat” for a long while!

Carol Horner 

Bluffton, South Carolina 

As a show breeder with top 10 dogs for nearly 30 years, I do NOT cut my retired champions’ coats.  

In the case of Irish Setters, I believe their beautiful, plush, dark mahogany coats are the “essence” of the breed. As a well-respected breeder of champion Irish, I strived to produce beautiful coats, and lots of it! They are an aristocratic breed who look and feel their best dressed in a fancy mahogany coat as long as they live.  

I have often trimmed feathers to a reasonable length as they age, never losing that “look” of what is considered to be the most beautiful of all breeds!

My current 8-year-old retired champion is in full coat and could be specialed in less than a month when a handler sculpted her coat to compete in the ring. 

Mary and Scott Olund

St. Helena, California

Having Standard Poodles, the day I get confirmation of their AKC championship, they are on the grooming table, cut down and put into a beautiful pet trim. 

Bobbie Wood

Cranford, New Jersey

When I get ready to breed my Lhasa bitches, I do cut them down, as unless you can watch 24/7 it is dangerous to leave a coated bitch with her pups. When I started breeding, I worked in New York City, so I was gone about 12 hours a day. I had to trust that my pups and their mom would be safe all day alone. I found out the hard way I needed to cut the tail shorter when some hair wrapped itself around a puppy’s neck, and as he struggled it got tighter and tighter. Luckily, I was there and heard him screaming and saved him, but I learned that lesson.  

My specials bitch never got shaved down, as I bred her three times but she never had puppies, and I wasn’t going to do it until that first contraction! She eventually won our national specialty at 11½ years of age and was in specials coat when I had to say goodbye to her at 16½ years old.

The boys are usually in a modified trim, as I go on to train them in obedience and rally, and I like them to look like their breed when they compete in those events. I want people to know that they are more than just a glamorous breed, but a smart one also.

Aaron Turnof

Westfield, New Jersey

I cut my Grand Champion Bronze Portuguese Water Dog down to a “working coat.” This means that I take a lot of coat off, but he still maintains the look of a lion cut — much cooler for the summer. It can be grown back in about six weeks or so if I want to selectively show him, as he is semi-retired now after winning breed at Westminster 2023.

Mary-Jo Winters

British Columbia, Canada

I have Standard Poodles. They are cut down into various styles once they have achieved their championship.
 

Pat Keen Fernandes

Knightsen, California

I look at it as a reward to my drop-coated show dogs to cut them down after sometimes years of daily routine grooming, brushing, wrapping, weekly bathing and traveling while keeping them in prime coat and condition to compete. 

I must admit it’s rewarding to me putting them in a nice pet trim to allow them unlimited home life. 

Lhasas are very healthy and long lived, often well into their late teens. Trimming the coat gives them more freedom to just be normal, happy dogs. 

Laura A. Winston

Meadow Vista, California

After our Grand Champion Rosemont Bichons Frises retire from the show ring to head to the whelping box, go out for stud or just become the companions they are meant to be, we put them in a modified pattern. Their body is taken down to be maintained with clippers so it’s not all scissoring. The legs, tail and head are kept in a Bichon pattern, but shorter. It’s easier, faster to bathe and groom, and more pleasant for the Bichon. They look adorable as undeniable Bichons!

We bathe our Bichons weekly, brush them nearly every day, and full groom them every four to five weeks.

Jackie Cavallin

Blythewood, South Carolina 

Here, they are cut down as soon as they retire. They deserve a break from several hours of grooming each week. Their reward is they get to relax and enjoy the coat-free life.

Dina Burke

Augusta, Kentucky

I kept my GCHB girl in coat a while. I just couldn’t make myself do it after all that work, and all the fun we had showing together as Best Opposite Sex at Westminster. She has a great, easy-care coat. Finally, I realized it was silly and extra work. I wasn’t gonna be showing her again — time for her to be in the whelping box. So she is now in a puppy cut, but I did save a lock of her long hair. 

Allan Reznik

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

I have Afghan Hounds and Tibetan Spaniels. My current dogs are an Afghan Hound bitch, nearly 15, and two Tibbies, each eight years of age. All are retired champions. The Afghan is cut down, and it always rejuvenates her. She doesn't miss the weekly baths and grooming sessions, and I love looking at her gorgeous, athletic body. Over the years, I have typically cut down heavier Afghan coats annually on older dogs. I don't bother buzzing down the patterned, lighter coats. I do not cut down the Tibetan Spaniels' coats.

Johnny Shoemaker

Las Vegas, Nevada

I cut them down! Enough of that Poodle coat.

Mark Francis Jaeger

Mason, Michigan

We stop stripping our Schnauzers and Griffons, just clippering their coats after they retire. We do keep our English Toy Spaniels’ feathering, though we will shorten the hair on their ears.

Wyoma Clouss

Meridian, Idaho

Cutting down/clippering a Miniature Schnauzer show coat after they retired was an easy decision for me. Stripping a correct show coat takes a lot of time and work to be done correctly. The shape is the same. Furnishings, eyebrows, and legs are trimmed the same. But lately I’ve started cutting the beard short and easy!

When I finished our Chinese Crested, her puff coat was so easy to maintain compared to the Schnauzers, I couldn’t imagine cutting her pretty coat.  

Betty Abbott

Monterey, Tennessee

My breed is and was Collies, rough and smooth. Since both varieties are double coated, with an undercoat that usually sheds in summer, I never trimmed hair, except that which needed to be "neatened up" for showing. 

An occasional good brushing with a "slicker" brush at shedding time would take care of the loose coat.

Best wishes to all with coats — there comes a time when all that brushing is so very necessary.

Eric Liebes

Peyton, Colorado

We trim or clipper Komondors down when they are done with the show ring. Three inches of cords are more comfortable and will still protect the dog from the cold and the sun.

We never cut down Samoyeds. The double coat is better maintained with brushing and the normal shed cycle.