Despite being a regal dog, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel doesn’t need excessive grooming sessions. The breed’s single, medium-length coat makes this dog relatively low maintenance. Still, to keep your Charles Spaniel tangle-free, what are your dog’s grooming requirements? And should you ever take your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to a professional groomer?
In this article, we’ll dispel all you need to know about maintaining your King Charles Spaniel.
Yes, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels need regular haircuts, whether done professionally or at home. The breed is known for its iconic long coat, and its hair grows fast. If you let it grow unkempt, your Cavalier King Charles will quickly experience impaired vision and may start tripping all over the place.
Another good reason to give them a haircut is because Cavalier King Charles pups shed quite a bit throughout the year. Although the breed does not experience a shedding season like other dogs, it does shed daily, and, as an owner, you’ll have to get used to finding dog hair lying around. The only way you can reduce the amount your dog’s coat sheds is to brush their hair regularly and never miss a haircut.
Typically, a Cavalier’s coat will need trimming once every six weeks. However, for those who like to keep their pup’s coat as well-kept as possible, you could clip your Cavalier’s coat once every month.
There are several different haircut styles you could give your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, including:
If you’d like to prepare your dog for summer but still want to maintain its iconic look, opt for giving its body a trim while leaving the dog’s ears and face at normal length. This way, you’re keeping your dog cool with a short body coat but keeping its long, silky face.
If you’d like your Cavalier looking extra tidy, or if you live in a particularly hot climate, clipping your dog’s hair all over would be a good idea. You should leave lengthy hair on your face to keep your eyes shaded and protected from the sun.
This haircut will allow your pup to feel cool without its long, fluffy ears weighing it down.
What most dog owners opt for is just a standard tidy-up. This sees the pup getting trimmed to a shorter length all over once every 6 weeks, keeping their coats looking just as they should.
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Given how frequently you have to cut a Cavalier King Charles pup’s hair, why not save money on professional groomers by learning how to clean and trim your dog at home?
When bathing and trimming your Cavalier, follow these steps:
A grooming session should start with a good brush down. To make both bathing and trimming hair easier, it’s important to get all of the knotted hair straightened out first. The best tool to use would be a slicker brush, pin brush, or medium bristle brush. Try to remove as much dead hair as possible.
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are small enough that you could bathe them in the sink if you wanted to. However, for optimum cleaning, bathe them in a regular bath on a regular bathing mat. Take your shower hose and rinse them from their tail-end up towards the dog’s neck; nice and gentle with lukewarm water!
Whenever you’re washing them near the ears, be sure to cover them to avoid getting any water trapped inside. Be cautious of the ears as you lather pet shampoo and conditioner into their coats.
Dry your dog thoroughly using a dog-drying towel. Keep the drying process gentle but thorough so the hair remains nice and soft. Hair dryers are good for speed but sometimes can dry your Cavalier’s hair out and cause irritation to the dog’s skin.
Once adequately dry, start giving your dog a puppy cut. The most important thing to remember is to always clip downwards and exert extra caution around the puppy’s chest area. Use animal clippers to give your dog’s body a slight shortening. It’s best to do this in small stages rather than taking off too much at once.
Around the feet, use bull-nosed scissors to cut around the paws and regular scissors to trim around the tail at the back of the legs. Once satisfied with the dog’s hair length, you can go over the body once more with thinning scissors.
Use either pet wipes or cotton wool to clean out your dog’s ears and remove wax build-up near the outside. Don’t use cotton buds, as this could damage them.
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On top of bathing and trimming your dog’s hair once a month, there are several other grooming requirements you should aim to meet. These include:
Nail clipping is a part of the grooming process that should never be skipped to prevent your Cavalier from scratching people and objects, as well as ensuring they don’t get seriously hurt.
The best time to cut your Cavalier King’s nails is straight after bath time. The water makes their nails soft and comfortable to clip. Using nail clippers, cut small bits off at a 45-degree angle and make sure not to knick the quick, which is the sensitive cuticle that contains blood vessels and nerves.
Trimming your dog’s nails helps the quick recede, which makes it less likely for your dog to ever damage it and prevents terrible pain and a lot of bleeding.
As soon as you hear the dog’s nails making noise along the floor, you should clip their nails. They could be causing them discomfort when walking. Otherwise, you should aim to clip their nails once per month.
Maintaining your dog’s oral hygiene is about so much more than keeping their breath smelling fresh. The health of your dog’s teeth can directly impact their overall health. So, here is how to best look after their chompers.
Using a toothbrush and toothpaste designed for dogs, brush your Cavalier King’s teeth just as you would your own teeth.
Preferably, you should brush your dog’s teeth daily!
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Let your Cavalier puppy settle into their new home before commencing a grooming routine. We’d recommend giving them a week to feel comfortable in their surroundings.
You should bathe your Cavalier dog once per month, preferably, and once every 6 weeks at the absolute minimum.
You could opt to get your Cavalier dog professionally groomed; however, considering how many times a year you’d need to go, it may be more cost-effective to do it yourself.
Cavaliers do not shed their winter coats the same way other dogs do, so it would be a good idea to shorten them for the summer months. However, you shouldn’t shave a Cavalier’s coat totally, as they will have no protection from the sun.
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Each Cavalier King Charles Spaniel comes with a beautiful coat that you need to maintain through regular brushing and bathing. You should also brush their teeth daily while keeping an eye on their nails and clipping when appropriate.
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