grooming

[Giselle]

If your cocker is getting dandruff, chances are his food isn't agreeing with him/not providing him with enough Essential Fatty Acids. To combat this, you should either 1) change his food 2) supplement his diet. Whenever Giselle blows coat, I always add a capsule of Cod Liver Oil into her food once a week. If we have some at hand, I'll also drop a few spoonfuls of Jack Mackerol into her bowl.

Ironically, one of the best ways to combat dandruff is to brush your dog. My personal preferance is to buy a curry comb (you might know what this is if you work with horses) and rub it on your dog in circular motions. This will spread and work her natural skin oils. When Giselle was blowing her track coat, I did this curry comb technique probably once every day.

Though my dogs are not show dogs, I believe in grooming them in that stacked position. It makes it a lot easier and quicker for me to groom them when they're standing like that. A lot of conformation people use Happy Legs or some kind of version of this. I just use bricks I place four bricks on a sturdy table in the position of where my dog's feet should be and place my dog's feet on them. I treat and reward them for standing with all four feet on the bricks. When they try to get off, I gently replace each foot back on the bricks. Because the bricks are elevated, the dog will usually not try to back off because that will throw off his entire balance. Here's a pic:

[Giselle]

Also forgot to add, if you have a friend with you, you can ask him or her to treat the dog while you work. You can even treat your dog with one hand and brush him with the other. He'll probably be too busy trying to keep his balance and eating the treat to notice you're brushing them.