Old English Sheepdogs

Grooming an Old English Sheepdog can be quite a challenge. They are a large breed, and if you intend to keep them in a full coat, you should be prepared to spend several hours each week brushing, trimming, and de-matting. This time can be less if you plan to keep your OES in a short coat.

From the time your sheepie is a puppy, you should get them used to being groomed. As a puppy, be sure to brush them regularly and get them comfortable with having their ears and eyes cleaned, and their feet touched. You will find the grooming experience much more pleasant (for both of you) if you don't have to fight with your dog. Grooming should not be torture for the dog, so make sure you treat often, and use grooming as a time to bond with your dog.

Before you get started, there are a few essential tools you should have that will make the process easier.

• A good sturdy pin brush


• A slicker brush


• A de-matting rake/undercoat stripper


• A grooming table (This will be a huge lifesaver for your back, as you'll be spending a good amount of time grooming)

Bathing your OES
Bathing a sheepdog can be a time-consuming task. Make sure you've set aside ample time to wash (and dry) your dog. Begin the bath by thoroughly soaking the dog's coat. Since sheepdogs are double coated, make sure you really get in the fur and get everything really nice and wet. It may help to continuously soak the dog as you're shampooing. Squeeze a good amount of shampoo into your hand or directly onto the dog's coat. As you would your own hair, gently massage the shampoo all the way into the coat. I recommend shampooing their whole body with regular shampoo first before using any whitening shampoos. Allow some time for the shampoo to clean the hair. Once the dog has been thoroughly scrubbed, take your hand-held sprayer and rinse out the shampoo. Because of the double coat you'll need to make sure that you really get in there and get all the shampoo out. A good rule of thumb is once you stop seeing soap come from the fur, rinse just once more!

* Make sure you're using a gently shampoo on the dog's face and private areas. Also try to avoid spraying water into your dog's nose.

Drying after bathing
After you've bathed the dog, you'll want to make sure that he/she is thoroughly dry. Leaving the hair wet or moist can cause nasty mats that can become painful to the dog and trap dirt. Give the dog a a good all-over brushing while he's still wet. Then, using a forced air dryer or low-heat hair dryer, you'll want to work the whole body, making sure all the hair is dry. Use a pin brush to lift and separate the hair, and dry from the root out. As the hair dries out, you may want to switch to a smaller pin brush or slicker to add the final "fluff."

For bathing your sheepdog, I highly recommend you have these items on hand:

• Lots of Towels :)


• A hand-held shower sprayer (a garden hose works well too if you plan to bathe your dog outside.)


• Shampoo (I like baby/gentle shampoos)


• Whitening shampoo (for light fur)


• A forced air dryer (or a powerful low-heat hair dryer)