What a joy to behold this
flash, red fellow with his big gait, driving smoothly from the
rear with that vision of length and strength from hip to hock.
His is a glamorous silhouette and a good one presented beautifully,
is darned hard to go past in the show ring. The Irish Setter takes
a bit of understanding for his best grooming and a decided effort
to put in the hard yard between shows.
Your Irish is a bit of
a busy dog and because of his exuberance tends to end up messier
than most, gathering up bits of the yard like a moving compost
heap. The secret is to keep the coat oiled and shaded to prevent
damage.
Between the shows I recommend
oiling his coat with the Plush
Puppy Seabreeze Oil at a ratio of 1 tbspn to 1 gallon/4
litres water. Work this well into the coat with a sponge or carefully
pour over and squish well through. Then use the oil straight from
the spray or applied undiluted to the areas around where they
pee. This is a bad area for breakage. Keeping it oiled will help
to prevent the coat getting brittle or tangled and will dissuade
the accumulation of debris from the yard.
This is a super oil as
it is water soluble and won’t build up or be nasty to live
with. It is also all naturally derived and there is nothing quite
like it. I like the depth of colour it tends to add to the coat
and the wonderful healthy vigour that goes with continued use.
I also recommend using
the Plush Puppy Sunshade
every couple of days to keep the coat from burning. Reds are a
nightmare to keep from fading in the sun and despite best efforts,
if you have an outdoors woodsman as your canine friend, it’s
going to be a tough call otherwise. I like to spray enough onto
the hand and spread between your hands over the top of the head
and topline.
Now for the show grooming
and your standard calls for the coat and feathering to be as straight
and free as possible from curl or wave. It also states that the
texture be fine and silky, so, after bathing with the Plush Puppy All Purpose Shampoo which
is the shampoo for high shine and particularly wonderful on reds,
(at a ratio of 3:1 i.e. 3 parts water to one part shampoo) you
then condition with the Plush
Puppy Silk Protein Conditioner diluted at the same ratio
as the shampoo. You can dilute both further but I like the intensity
of the shine from the shampoo at this dilution and the silkiness
of the conditioner for the show occasion.
Okay here’s where
the harder stuff begins. In order to get that soft draping fall
to the lengths without wave, I use Plush
Puppy Swishy Coat. There are those who like to apply it
undiluted but I always recommend dilution as you have a large
dog and it is easier to get it evenly applied and just right this
way. Dilute at a ratio of 1 tbspn to 3 cups water depending on
the texture of the coat. You can dilute further or less. Sponge
or pour thoroughly through the coat ensuring even distribution.
Squeeze out excess and blow dry.
I always use my Plush Puppy Oval Pin Cushion
Brush for this as you don’t want to rip the coat
or overstretch at this point. When ¾ dry, switch to an
oval ½ bristle ½ plastic brush such as the Plush Puppy Porcupine Brush
. This will give you that smoother, straighter and glossier finish
to your drying that the pin brush won’t do. I also like to
get in under the lengths with the brush and gently bend the ends
around the curve of the brush. I never entirely dry with a top
brushing action only. I find this just flicks the short pieces
in the coat outwards and gives that fly away look to the coat.
We are after a polished professional look that once you have mastered,
is just breathtaking.
Should you have a coat
that is too full which is fairly rare in this breed, you can add
a tbspn of Plush Puppy Blow
Dry Cream to the Swishy
Coat mix as this will further flatten the coat.
The trimming is relatively
easy but does need attention and time. There are those who are
the purists and don’t like a trimmed neater look and those
that do. Whatever is your preference and whether as in the AKC
standard which does stipulate trimming is required or the ANKC
standard where it doesn’t mention it at all and does not
therefore penalise you for doing it, it is up to your conscience
if and how much you do it.
The standard states an
emphasis on the lean head and clean neck. I suggest a #10 blade
on an Oster clipper for the neck to a V at the top of the sternum
in front of the neck and around the sides. The nape of the neck
ought to be hand stripped in concert with a stripping knife. All
whiskers should come right off to emphasise that long and lean
head. Some like to get in with the blade of the clipper and emphasise
this further along the whisker area, with long strokes stroking
back and upwards.
The topline ought to sit
flat and should need relatively little stripping. The ears some
like to take almost right off and others just the top 1/3 off
depending on which standard is applicable.
The featherings seem to
be the point of contention. How about a compromise? Rather than
going gungho with the scissors and sculpting a sharp curve or
doing nothing at all, why not use the thinning shears and following
the desired arc, gently shape that edge for a softer effect giving
a fairly natural look to the curve. The end result is still to
shape the dog to his best without looking totally contrived.
All excess feathering is
to be removed from the feet but I am advised by an expert that
the rear hock looks just wonderful if when trimmed, you angle
the line slightly outwards as you go upwards and then angle downwards
from the top of the hock to meet the upward line already created.
This gives the illusion of a really long line from the hip to
the hock. enforcing the requirements of the standard.
He may not be in Ireland
and you may not be Irish but the dog now will at least look the
essence of an Irish Setter. I do like this breed and I hope you
all present them as they ought to be, glamorous and magnificent.
