Brushing Your Bear:
Grooming should be fun/relaxing for you both. Start early with your puppy, get them used to being brushed and make it a pleasant experience for them. You can do this as often as you want, but I would say do not leave it more than a week. If you do, it can lead to matting which then makes grooming more painful for them (remember when your mum used to brush your hair?) and makes them less keen to cooperate.
Slickers, rakes and coat kings will become your new best friends
Slickers, rakes and coat kings will become your new best friends
Problem areas:
Newfs have an alarming propensity to developing what I like to refer to as ' armpit rastas'. These are the areas right in the folds of their front and back legs that experience a lot of friction. They can matt quite literally in a nano second. I am sure that there are scientists at the CERN laboratory puzzled at the fact that they seem to develop quicker than they can fire an atom and if left untended, can actually restrict their movement and cause a lot of pain.
I don't show, so I have a very practical solution to the problem, I keep them trimmed short in that area and I check it regularly. You can't see it from the outside and it solves a lot of misunderstandings with your faithful friend when he/she, quite rightly, is somewhat irritated that you appear to be attempting a waxing session on their most sensitive parts.
Chest:
The chest hair equally, especially if you put a collar on them, can matt to an alarming degree. Keep an eye on that area brush it regularly and also run your fingers through it going right against their skin. Your fingers are your best tool for finding matted areas. If, or rather when, you discover a matt, there are a number of handy tools for dealing with them. You can, depending on how big the matt is, either attempt to tease it apart with your finger or employ a matt splitting tool which you put against the skin and then pull through the matt a bit at a time until it has broken down to the point where you can brush it out.
Ears:
Behind the ears is always a problem area. Firstly I would employ a good groomer to thin the hair out there once every six weeks or so. They don't need that much hair there, it seems like its sole purpose is to make their ears hot and to matt up. Once you have done that, again use your fingers. I have never met a Newf yet that doesn't love having his ears gently rubbed, as soon as you find a matt deal with it either by gently cutting it out or by teasing it apart.
Legs:
The feathers (area of longer hair on the backs of the legs) are another area that can get matted and really dirty. Again, as I don't show, I tend to keep all of my girls trimmed to about 2/3 inches long. One of my girls is particularly vocal about her dislike of having the hair near her butt groomed, if I keep it shorter it tends to cut down the amount of time that we are locked into that argument. Follow the same rules as the other problem areas.
Toe hair:
Newfoundland 'in between the toe hair' is actually the fasting growing natural substance on the planet, I swear on occasions I can actually see it grow! All you have to do is brush the hair between the toes up, against the grain, until it is stuck up and then carefully trim it away. If you leave it, it can matt and it will get burrs etc... stuck in it and become painful.
I don't show, so I have a very practical solution to the problem, I keep them trimmed short in that area and I check it regularly. You can't see it from the outside and it solves a lot of misunderstandings with your faithful friend when he/she, quite rightly, is somewhat irritated that you appear to be attempting a waxing session on their most sensitive parts.
Chest:
The chest hair equally, especially if you put a collar on them, can matt to an alarming degree. Keep an eye on that area brush it regularly and also run your fingers through it going right against their skin. Your fingers are your best tool for finding matted areas. If, or rather when, you discover a matt, there are a number of handy tools for dealing with them. You can, depending on how big the matt is, either attempt to tease it apart with your finger or employ a matt splitting tool which you put against the skin and then pull through the matt a bit at a time until it has broken down to the point where you can brush it out.
Ears:
Behind the ears is always a problem area. Firstly I would employ a good groomer to thin the hair out there once every six weeks or so. They don't need that much hair there, it seems like its sole purpose is to make their ears hot and to matt up. Once you have done that, again use your fingers. I have never met a Newf yet that doesn't love having his ears gently rubbed, as soon as you find a matt deal with it either by gently cutting it out or by teasing it apart.
Legs:
The feathers (area of longer hair on the backs of the legs) are another area that can get matted and really dirty. Again, as I don't show, I tend to keep all of my girls trimmed to about 2/3 inches long. One of my girls is particularly vocal about her dislike of having the hair near her butt groomed, if I keep it shorter it tends to cut down the amount of time that we are locked into that argument. Follow the same rules as the other problem areas.
Toe hair:
Newfoundland 'in between the toe hair' is actually the fasting growing natural substance on the planet, I swear on occasions I can actually see it grow! All you have to do is brush the hair between the toes up, against the grain, until it is stuck up and then carefully trim it away. If you leave it, it can matt and it will get burrs etc... stuck in it and become painful.
Essential Tools:
*Resco Anti-Static Comb - great for pulling out dead undercoat fur without damaging the top coat
*Miu Colour Professional De-Matting Tool - deals with knots and matting, particularly around the tail area. But go steady, you don’t want to take away too much from the ‘coffee table clearer’!
*Ancol Double Sided Brush - A Pin sided brush to remove loose hair with a bristle brush on the other side to smooth and distribute natural oils to the top of the coat
*Rake Combs - Useful to remove knots and dead hair from the undercoat.
*Miu Colour Professional De-Matting Tool - deals with knots and matting, particularly around the tail area. But go steady, you don’t want to take away too much from the ‘coffee table clearer’!
*Ancol Double Sided Brush - A Pin sided brush to remove loose hair with a bristle brush on the other side to smooth and distribute natural oils to the top of the coat
*Rake Combs - Useful to remove knots and dead hair from the undercoat.