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Franzi Corman 30243 S.W. Heater Rd. Sherwood Or. 97140 503 625 6588 |
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ON GROOMING NORFOLK TERRIERS |
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Let me start with the disclaimers. This is not about grooming your Norfolk Terrier for the show ring. It is NOT about how to properly hand strip your Norfolk Terrier. There |
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I am not a professional terrier groomer, and have no training in Pet Dog grooming in general. I fear that in writing this I will offend both breeders and groomers. It is with reservation that I am presenting these tips for how to keep your pet Norfolk looking remotely like the dog you went to great lengths to acquire. It is in response to the puppy buyers who have bought Landmark puppies in the past 16 years....who do not live in my area....who have asked me for help. |
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In the years that I have raised and sold puppies, and seen both my pups and other
Then there is the group that are taken to pet grooming parlors, and come home looking like a Westie, a Schnauzer, or a Bichon...or just plain bald. They may be neat and clean but they do not look like Norfolk Terriers. I do not believe that this is because Norfolk owners just love their dogs and don’t really care if their dogs are representative of the breed. I think they do care, but have no idea how to deal with grooming effectively. So this is an attempt to provide some kind of guidelines to pet Following are 2 possible approaches to grooming your pet Norfolk Terrier ............. |
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Option 1... There is a new tool available that makes stripping a Terrier a real possibility for anyone. It is called the MARS COAT KING . This is a little rake that pulls out some of the coat and allows it to grow back. The advantage of this tool is the ease with which it pulls hair and the dogs actually seem to enjoy it. You can groom your dog with the Mars every week or two, taking care not to take too much out each time, but take enough to keep it at a reasonable length. It makes keeping a coarse, appropriate length coat on your Norfolk a real possibility. The disadvantage is that it pulls not only the longest hairs, but any hair it grabs. Therefore the end result is not the neat “show” coat that breeders want....but it does allow your Norfolk to look like a scruffy terrier with a coarse, dark coat. |
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Therefore you will have to get yourself some good quality thinning shears as well as good quality straight scissors, and learn to trim around the head and ears, tail and feet with scissors. I will now be run out of town on a rail by Norfolk breeders and groomers, because everyone knows that you NEVER scissor a Norfolk. Well, if you can’t pull, you’ll have to scissor. The trick now is to study pictures of well groomed Norfolks and try to develop an eye for the “pattern”....Note that Norfolks never have hair on or around their ears. The top of the head is relatively short....not puffy standing up, or long, laying down over their eyes. There is a little ridge that stands up across and above the eyes. The cheeks are not stripped of hair, leaving only hair on the muzzle as with a schnauzer and |
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are other better and more professional resources for that kind of information. If you can do it, learn it, or get someone to do it for you....great! That is clearly the best choice. The Norfolk Terriers you see in the show ring have coats that are pulled (stripped) frequently. The longest hairs are pulled out, and new hair grows in, providing a coarse and thick coat. This is hard to duplicate by any other means. At best we can compromise and at least have the dogs look like Norfolk Terriers.
breeders’ dogs in pictures and in person, it is clear that very few of these dogs actually look much like the breed their owners fell in love with. Most often they are not groomed at all, except for brushing and bathing.....and they carry an abundance of coat which is both unattractive and unhealthy. They look more like a Lhasa or a Yorkie, or just plain scruffy.
Norfolk owners who do not live in the vicinity of Breeders or Terrier groomers, who do not know how to hand strip or do not wish to learn, and would like some practical compromise and guidelines for how to manage their Norfolk’s coat.
The other disadvantage is that it works very well with coarse hair on the body of the dog ( called the jacket) but does not do well at all on the head and legs, under the neck and around the tail. So if that’s all you do, your Norfolk may look like this...............
many other terriers. With thinning shears you want to shorten the hair in a smooth line from behind the ear to under the chin, not too short or too long. I often cut vertically as well as horizontally as my hair stylist does to make a scruffy look...less smooth. With the leg furnishings, divide the hair in quarters, lengthwise, trimming carefully and a little at a time to give the legs about an inch of hair all around. Around and under the tail you keep the hair fairly short ....leaving it longer as you move down to meet the thigh and leg hair. Cut with the contour of the dog. Using straight scissors, lift the feet and trim the bottoms and edges of the feet so they are neat and clean. Norfolk Terriers should not have “skirts” or “ruffs”...but rather they should have a coat that is approximately 1” to 2” long all over their bodies. The clean-up phase of scissoring can be done less often than using the rake. The hair on legs and face grows more slowly than hair on their body. |
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Now if you can do this without a grooming table and grooming arm....you’re better than I am. So the other issue is the need to equip yourself properly. So here is what you will need to groom your dog at home..: A grooming table A grooming arm to hold your dog on the table. (NEVER leave your dog when he is on the table.) A pair of thinning shears A pair of straight scissors A metal comb A MARS COAT KING to pull the coat
I also recommend a McClellan stripping knife. I use this to rake out some of the soft undercoat which can accumulate over time. If you get yourself a rubber thumb at an office supply, this is also a good tool to learn the technique of stripping. Also pictured is a Dr. Scholls callous remover.....with a strip of duct tape...another great tool for beginning to learn stripping. You may want to practice. |
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You are not likely to find these supplies at your local pet store. You can order some of them from a Catalog of Dog Supplies: Doctors Foster Smith 1 800 826-7206 Care-A-Lot Pet Supplies 1 800 343 7680 Or you can contact the people I get my supplies from, who are familiar with what I use:
The MARS COAT KING is available on line from www.groomersmall.com http://www.groomersmall.com/coat-king.htm#Guide I use a size #20 for the Norfolks.
The McClellan is available also directly from the manufacturer: Robert McClellan P.O. Box 254 Upland California 91786 They come in coarse (yellow handle) and fine (red handle) Order the coarse. cost - $14.00 each. |
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USING ELECTRIC CLIPPERS ON YOUR PET NORFOLK TERRIER Some people prefer the efficiency of using clippers on their Norfolk Terrier. The advantage is that it is fast and clean, and you can likely find a Pet Grooming Parlor that will agree to consider using these guidelines, so your Norfolk will be representative of his breed. The disadvantage is that as you clipper the coat, it will get softer and more blonde. Your Norfolk will not be a scruffy, red, coarse coated dog. I have developed a method of doing this that pleases me...and that I think allows them to look more like a Norfolk and possibly have a somewhat coarser coat. This varies from individual to individual.
Instead of taking a regular cutting blade and shaving close to the skin....(see Fig. A) |
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I use a #30 blade with a plastic comb attached. I then cut against the grain of the hair. This results in a coat that is rougher and a bit longer. It certainly is not as neat and perfect, but then I don’t think Norfolks were meant to look smooth and neat. After clippering what I can, I use the scissors and thinning shears to finish them in exactly the same way as I have just outlined above. Pictured here is a dog that has been recently clipped using this system.
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If you bring directions and pictures to your groomer, and your dog does not look like this.......don’t go back there. Dog groomers are like hairdressers.
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Many are too opinionated to listen to what you want, and think they know best and you’ll love it (or put up with it) when you get used to it. Be assertive. You are paying for it.
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The following is a sketch roughly defining the area on which you will use either the MARS or the electric clippers.......the area that is lined.
The area with checks represents the coat that is usually softer, grows more slowly, and requires more finesse...i.e. hand scissoring and thinning. Keep the bottom of the feet, and under the tail short with straight scissors. Use thinning shears around ears and on top of the ears. If the Mars does not pull the hair on top of the head short, you can carefully use thinning shears to shorten. It is difficult at best to attempt to give instructions like this, but in addition, I have found that Norfolk’s coats vary a great deal from dog to dog. Feel free to contact me with questions.
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