Sorry pidge who told you your dog looked awful, the coat is ruined is factual , its not a personal opinion of what some may feel, but as Dawn said, its ok for you to voice your opinion on Show type springer's (not being true springer's) but then get all hissy when you are told castration ruins a coat.

It is not a statement that breeders/showers cling to its a fact,that when you take way essential hormones , something is going to suffer, and one of those things will be the coat.. the reason woody has started to develop a woolly coat is because he has an hormone imbalance, stripping the essential oils from his coat..oils that he needs to keep his coat waterproof..

I am not saying you should not have had him done, but as you have said yourself , your reasons have not worked, in fact you say they have gotten worse.

These issues where and are behavioral, not hormonal, (as you where advised at the time)

No coat change is not always down to castration, but as you have said yourself in this thread, woody's is.. and the future care of the coat will only be cosmetic, and will probably get worse as he get older, the more woolly his coat gets , the less protection he will have against wet weather or water.

This is not always the case though - with proper care - the coat can be maintained to look fantastic. Or else the ones my boss did in Norfolk were all just the exception....(and my gosh did we do a lot!)

Looking fantastic and being a functual protective coat are two different things. .

Living in Norfolk working as Gundogs they managed very well - they were not treated in any special way no coats etc...and the dogs were always fine.

You would not have known the difference between them and an entire one.

Originally Posted by Tassle
This is not always the case though - with proper care - the coat can be maintained to look fantastic

Sorry, thought you just said

So now your saying no care was taken to keep the coats looking fantasitc??

So are you telling me that dogs will only ever have a hormone imbalance if they are or as a result of neutering? Erm, not sure it's necessary to be quite so bitchy.

Welshies are terrible when spayed they grow like sheep. In fact I've trimmed Molly nono (Hope for all those who remember my first ever litter). She was hairy all over and I had to hand strip her legs she was like a chicken.
I think it depends on the coat texture most of the breed with silky long coats like springers usually blow when spayed or castrated and get worse as they get older (in fact most coats get worse with age). I'd invest in a stripping knife if he'll let you.
Rips I can teach you how to hand strip in about an hour on a springer its easy if you have the right tools.

No - I am saying that no extra precautions were taken to ensure the dogs well being (for example putting coats on the dogs as mentioned in my posts) - which I assume would have to happen if the dogs coat was no longer water resistant

What even when they are swimming ??


The dogs were working gundogs for the most part who were dropped in the grooming parlour about once every 3 months - they were given a wash and the coat was stripped and trimmed (mainly around the feet)

I am sorry you misunderstood.

Looking fantastic and being a functional protective coat are two different things.