Trimming & Grooming

The Glen of Imaal is a hairy dog. Trimming is not difficult but does need doing whether the animal is a potential Best of Breed winner or the goalkeeper in the local park football team.
Preparation for showing is minimal. The breed standard says that the coat "may be tidied to present a neat outline;. you will, however, see Glens in the show ring that are more "tidied" than others! Don't worry.The hair grows to around three to four inches in length
On average a Glen needs stripping every nine to twelve months. Once stripped it is a case of waiting for the new coat to come in. Having said all this, it is not necessary to strip your Glen if you don't want to there is no real need unless you want to show them.

A typically hairy Glen

follow the link to Grooming

PUPPY COAT
If the Glen is to be a pet it is not so essential to remove the puppy coat but a potential show dog needs it removing by twelve weeks approximately to allow the new coat through. When a puppy coat starts to "stand up " gently pull it out with the finger and thumb. On wheaten Glens it is easy to judge the correct time as the new deeper coloured adult coat can be seen but coloured Glens are more difficult as they seem to keep their puppy coats longer and it is also difficult to see the new colour. Take all the hair from the neck, back and down the sides as far as the elbows on the body. Don't upset the puppy by doing too much at once but you certainly need to start by twelve weeks if you hope to have the dog in the show ring- Scissor round the ears and tail once a week; it won't need it but it will get the dog used to the sound of scissors near the ear. Also start to pluck the inside of the ear, it is a lot easier to get a 10 lb. pup to co-operate than a 35lb. adult

SECOND COAT
This coat is easy to look after and the Glen takes little effort to groom as the leg and body feathers have not yet grown much and the head hair is not much longer than the body hair. Continue to scissor the ears and tail regularly and, if possible, persuade the dog to lie on its side so you can comb under its legs. Its legs will probably not need much attention at this stage but having a dog that will roll over to be groomed is worth hours when dealing with a fully coated mature animal. When this coat " blows " ( stands up and looks tatty ) the decision has to be made to what degree you are going to look after the adult coat Here you either book a six month appointment at the local dog parlour, decide you will go for the "au natural " look and attack it regularly with the kitchen scissors or buy a stripping knife and decide you will attempt to make an effort. The really brave decide that they are going to totally hand strip and buy a giant box of plasters to protect their blisters.

ADULT COAT
This is a profuse coat and unless taken care of, will quickly hide all the body lines of the dog. For the show ring you trim to show the animals best features. so start logically. Put the dog on the table and look at it, so many forget this first basic step. A Glen should have a nice neck, good body and well muscled hindquarters, these can't be seen when covered with long hair so get rid of it! They should have broad skulls and not a narrow muzzle, hair can help in this department so remove accordingly. Glens have excellent bone so take more off the legs of a dog with heavy bone than you do with lighter bone.

N.B. You will need to look after the ears carefully - a Glen does grow hair down its ear channels.

Basic thoughts but so often forgotten...

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