Information on Grooming Your Newfoundland

What you need:

Never bathe a dog that is matted! Your dog must be completely brushed out prior to any bathing. Never trim a dirty or wet dog.

Bathing:

Show dogs must be bathed a day before every show and in between shows; every 15-20 days for black and brown dogs and every 10-15 days for Landseers. Frequent bathing removes oil from the coat, so the products used must be of good quality. Prepare diluted shampoo and conditioner. Put your dog in the tub and wet him thoroughly with warm water. Massage diluted shampoo into the coat, including the muzzle, between the eyes and under the ears. Be careful around these sensitive parts of the body! Rinse all shampoo out thoroughly. If the coat is very dirty you can repeat the shampoo. Apply the diluted conditioner, wait a few minutes and rinse.

Dry your dog with towels and put it on the grooming table.

Start by brushing the entire coat, then comb it thoroughly. Your dog should never have mats!! Start combing from the lower part of the hindquarters. Lift the coat upwards with one hand, and comb the coat below your hand down to the skin proceeding towards the tail. Comb the second leg, then between the legs (carefully!) and the tail from tip to base. Next comb the back from the croup to the neck, and flanks from belly to back. Remember to comb carefully under the armpits, the forequarters, neck, under and behind the ears and the head. Cut the nails and clean the ears.

\You can start to groom your dog when it is completely dry, perhaps the next day. If this is your first time grooming your dog, don't do it before a show. Incorrectly groomed coats need time to grow out. The most important rule: it is better to cut less than too much! Good quality scissors are very important. Remember to comb out the entire coat carefully before grooming.

Newfoundlands, must have medium length coat, without over-long and wispy bits of hairs. Groomed dogs MUST still have a natural appearance; be careful and don't leave visible cut marks!

Start with the front paws. Beginning under the paw, cut the coat that grows between the pads

Lift the coat between the toes, combing upwards, and cut using straight scissors. Your goal is a nicely rounded foot; be careful not to cut too much. Nails shouldn't be visible. If you do cut too much, don't worry, the coat grows quickly on the feet. On the rear part of foot the coat must touch the ground with a gentle upward curve.

Cut the hind paws in the same manner.

We will now use the thinning shears, and from now use only them and the comb. Cut only in direction of the coat, never upwards - comb the coat in the part you are working on and cut, comb and cut.

Forequarters

First even out the feathering. Begin on the back part of the leg, next the outside, then the inside. Cut the inside of the leg more if your dog has a narrow chest, but don't exaggerate!

The front legs should prolong the line of the shoulder/upper legs. Do not leave any long coat - especially on the elbows! Trim all indesiderable wisps of coat on the shoulders and upper arms to make "clean" lines.

Hindquarters

Look from behind and trim the coat downwards from croup to feet. Cut more on the inside leg if your dog moves close behind, less if moves correctly.

Looking from the side note the angulations, cutting excess coat under knees and hocks. Because Newfoundlands must have short heels trim coat starting from the hocks downward at a 45° angle, and the lower part vertically (see illustration).

Chest

Coat on the chest often grows too long and needs to be trimmed quite a bit. Be especially careful trimming the throat. If coat below the breast-bone is too long it gives the illusion of short forelegs, so trim to a soft curve. Trim excess coat on the sides downwards from ears to the breast.

Underline

Start from the back going towards the front, left flank, then right flank. Trim coat on the belly and breast starting from the hindquarters towards the armpits. Don't cut too much or it will give the impression of legs that are too long or too short.

Lift the foreleg and trim under the armpit blending the line of the chest with the underline. Repeat with the second foreleg.

Now examine body of your dog from the rear. The shape of the underline must be rounded to the flanks, it is insufficient to trim only the underline.

Trim more behind the armpits, or when moving the coat here will appear to be too long.

Topline

Sometimes the topline doesn't need trimming. If coat on the neck and croup is very thick so it looks as if your dog has a mane and is too high in the croup, use a dematting comb to remove the excess undercoat.

Tail

Trimming the tail is only necessary if it looks like a flag.

Head

Start from the ears. Trim coat so it doesn't project past the edge of the ear, always combing downward. The tips of the ears must be rounded not pointed.

Trim under the ears. Trim any greasy coat growing under the ears, and coat on the cheek at the base of the ear.

Often behind the ears the coat is soft and over-long, damaging the shape of head. Trim it downward from the earset.

Comb coat on top of the head upward and trm to obtain a rounded shape.

Stand the dog on the ground and ask somebody to show move it for you. You will see any areas that need corrections. Show dogs need to be trimmed once every 2-3 weeks.

This page has been provided by: Iwonna Salak of Logrus Newfoundlands