# Most difficult breed for grooming



## FunkyPuppy (Jan 27, 2011)

IMO, afghans are more of a challenge to groom than a standard. The ones I've met were all very shy, suspiscious, and a bit paranoid. A full coated one takes forever to hand dry, and the ones I've met tend to shrink and slouch on the drying table, away from the dryer. I really like afghans, they just have very different table manners than spoos.


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## neVar (Dec 25, 2009)

It's so hard to say!. I can spend easily 45minutes prepping a aussie for the show ring. EASILY. beardies take longer then that. The Irish water spaniel lady that shows around here takes almost as long as the poodle folks to prep. but unlike the poodle folks her dogs sit/stand the entire time. 

Then there's the hand strip breeds- more prep before the show. 

I spent probably close to an hour scissoring up my show bitch aussie yesterday at work. way more work scissoring then i'd do on a clients dog of the same breed for a regular grooming.


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Not for show but..

Soft Coated Wheaten Terrors


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## Jelena (Aug 20, 2010)

Thanks for sharing your opinions,

I don't do other breeds so I don't have experience,
I got to find some afghan to practice 

Softy? Why? They look 'easy'  .


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## Cameo (Feb 5, 2010)

Fluffyspoos said:


> Not for show but..
> 
> Soft Coated Wheaten Terrors


TERRORS!!! BAhhhhhhaaahhhahahaha :rofl:

Scotties, Westies, and Cairn's are by far, the hardest breeds for ME to groom. However, I do love grooming them BECAUSE they are such a challenge! 

It's been my personal experience, it's not so much coat per se, but personality that makes dogs difficult. That's why it's so important for early socialization, even if you plan on doing much of the grooming yourself, it's just GOOD for the dog to experience as much as possilbe. Get them out, let them become familiar with the world... My Cameo came from a horrible situation... 14 months old, had been bred and had weaned 8 puppies. No socialization, no training, etc. It took me nearly a year to get her comfortable in her own skin and you would never know now what her early years consisted of.


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## creativeparti (Mar 9, 2009)

Any breed can be difficult to groom.. Don't agree with the weaten comment tho... They are just misunderstood lol.. I have 7 on my books and they all have there own issues but when u get to know the breed you forget the bad... My next dog will be a weaten.. But I want a American show type one over here in England they are mostly all English/Irish coats..


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

Actually a show Poodle Coat is very difficult.

Pet Poodle coats though I don't find that hard & I find the majority of Poodles very good. I think one of my top breeds that I dislike for grooming would be the Old English Sheepdog. Not only do they have lots of hair but many of the owners neglect the coat for too long & they are a matted mess BUT the owners always wants them full/fluffy look. I have not had very good luck on Tempers as well of the OES. Wheatens come in a close 2nd for poor tempers, matted up messes that the owners want long. But now that I have my own groom shop I only groom small dogs so that got rid of many dogs that I personally don't get along with. I love the short legged Terriers & don't have issues with them but then again I don't have any issues with the small ones which I why I changed my business strategy to only do the breeds I like to do.


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## lavillerose (Feb 16, 2011)

Fluffyspoos said:


> Soft Coated Wheaten Terrors


Terrors is so true!!

Poodles are up there. Nothing else gets shaved feet, which is definitely a skill that takes more time. I do a Kerry Blue (tomorrow, in fact, urgh) that is a pistol, all fierce terrier attitude. It's an argument just drying and brushing him out.

Bouviers and long coated OES's are hard, just on account of them having a metric ton of thick hair to wash and dry and then trim, and that's if you don't have the de-mat them first (and you almost always do).


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

SCWT's, ugh. I HATE them, they are some of the nastiest tempered dogs around here. The ones from good breeders that go to good homes are fine, I've got several I've worked on, with, or shown. The rest of them... TERRORS is a perfect to put it. I have one I finally had to refuse service to b/c it wasn't worth the 250.00 that the owner offered me to groom him. Yeah you read that right I turned down a $250.00 bath and brush out and occasionally clipper dog. Normally for a clippered type groom the upper price would be 55 and that's for a long coat. This one was clipped short all over and she was willing to pay me that much b/c nobody else in town would groom him either. He jumped out of the tub and went after me once, when I flipped on the dyer. Then he launched off the table AT MY FACE and frankly at that point I could have cared less if he hung himself falling off the table, I backed up in a hurry and he took the whole grooming table down trying to get at me. Another time he managed to get his head out of the noose in a tub and get away from my bather to darted after a client in the waiting area. That was when I started doing him before or after regular business hours for safety. He didn't try and bite her but he rushed up to her and hopped a gate to get to her. Sadly it's a common thing for the breed in my area  They are pretty dogs and like I said the nice ones are nice, but the one from the local petstore and the backyard breeders that have popped up since that store started selling them are just unpleasant to deal with.  This lady begged and pleaded b/c I was the only person who had been able to do a thing at all with him without sedation but seriously, I'm not interested in getting injured.


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## Bella's Momma (Jul 26, 2009)

Wow, Wonderpup. I completely understand your refusal on that one (and what an awkward convo that must have been). 

I have to say I feel awful for the woman who owns that dog. Can you imagine? What is she to do. She has this dog with a horrid personality. Makes me really grateful for the small issues I have with my pup!


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## Jelena (Aug 20, 2010)

Oh that is terrifying! :afraid:

I have worst experiences with BYB maltese they all like to bite and make grooming almost impossible (it's good they are small dogs).

That is why I work mainly with poodles, love them and know how to get them be good on table (with few exceptions).

But comparing coat type and complexity of trims I find grooming poodles to be really handful to learn (show grooming) then other breeds.

Of course big dog, big long fur, makes any breed hard to work...


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## Feathersprings (Jul 15, 2010)

Maybe I can help with the Afghan question. I had that breed as my first show breed a million years ago and still love them. I loved grooming them.. Their coats can be wrapped like any long coated breed. I only wrapped ears. really all they take is careful maintenance. you have to strip out the "Saddle" neatened the neck and face...A lot of people hate them...they aren't for everyone. Mine weren't shy or paranoid, just a bit aloof with strangers. I actually did obedience with one of them. they learn a bit differently. they don't see the sense in doing things over and over LOL! very short training sessions only . They aren't for people that need to feel like their dog needs them but they are there to care for you. Mine were quietly protective, gentle, and would lay on the couch with me all day if they could LOL! when I got older and had children and the last Afghan was gone I decided a new breed would be better suited to a family and we had and showed bearded collies for many years.. Can you tell I love coat! another step down the road and the kids are gone I made switch to a small breed, Pekingese, thinking they would be easier to show. 
As far as the hardest breed to groom.. I think the hardest trim I have done to be a
Bouvier, big dense coat, great dogs though !


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

Bella's Momma said:


> Wow, Wonderpup. I completely understand your refusal on that one (and what an awkward convo that must have been).
> 
> I have to say I feel awful for the woman who owns that dog. Can you imagine? What is she to do. She has this dog with a horrid personality. Makes me really grateful for the small issues I have with my pup!


Agreed, though she doesn't have any issue living with him. Just getting him groomed she says. She says he had a bad experience and is now frightened, but I don't buy that. I'd bet my life that she didn't take him to be groomed until after he was a year old, maybe older and he just doesn't tolerate it. After that she only tried to get him groomed a couple of times a year so there were no chances for good experiences.  He also has no rules. I suggested training but I doubt she ever did it. Oh well. Probably sedation is the best thing for him, thought I hate that for him.


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

*WonderPup- me too with SCWT*

WonderPup- I wonder if your SCWT horror story is a littermate to the one I used to groom. He was the unpredictable horror where any 1 thing could set this dog off & he always went for the face. He had a nice older owner & brought in every 6 wks for a #4 haircut. I usually used an Elizabethan collar on him since the muzzle really set him off & do him always knowing the teeth were going to sink into to me at any given point. His teeth finally got me when he had a basket muzzle on for plucking the ears & he was able to rip off the muzzle & lunge at my face & all I could do was block my face with my arm & he got my forearm. Took his teeth straight through my fatty tissue into the nice flat muscle below. Pretty cool to see the muscle on my arm. Oh, well my arm was fine but the meds they decided to put me on made me have an allergic reaction & I broke out in hives. Yikes ! I think sometimes the cure does more damage. Oh, well I lived though it only to get bitten the same week trying to help another groomer with an OES that had a basket muzzle on & the OES swung to try & bite & my finger slipped right on through the basket muzzle & was bit on the finger. I HATE basket muzzles.

The joys of having ones own business now is that I no longer have to deal with horror dogs.


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## Ann Mc Keon (Feb 9, 2011)

*difficult grooms*

There are a lot of SCWT with problems going around in Ireland too, but as you said if its a good breeder and owner, usually I find them a nice dog, I love the Kerrys, OES are nearly always in a terrible condition, owners want the dulux dog without the work, poodles for pets are easy except the fiddly feet sometimes, Hand strip for show difficult as the coat takes a while to get to the right stage, then it just upkeep, I suppose I show my poodle so upkeep is daily pretty much, but she is changing her coat and its not easy at the moment, Afghans take hours with a full coat, used to own and show two of them ,I think they are harder than the poodle


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## onlypoodles4me (May 18, 2009)

The most uncooperative dogs, that I have been bitten by most has been Scottish Terriers. Second to that, other terriers. I am still healing from a bite from a tiny little norfolk terrier two weeks ago.
Skill level difficulty, I would assume a poodle, as there are so many badly groomed ones out there!


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

I agree that Scotties can be horrible.. but for some reason I love grooming scotties and schnauzers, even though a lot here have at least something they'll bite you for lol, I just love love love doing schnauzer faces. Most of my clients are schnauzers. A few rehab ones that other groomers have turned away.. but you make due..

.. with a muzzle and groomers helper. Snort.


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## onlypoodles4me (May 18, 2009)

I love love love the look of a freshly groomed terrier! When I first started grooming I thought I wanted a Schnauzer. That was before I became comfortable with the thought of owning a poodle.


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