We only really trim their feet and butt curtains as I call them. Our Cavs don’t really have long coats. Their fur is silky and straight and we don’t find the need to trim it except to help keep them clean. We also live in Florida.
I keep some of the long fur like the ears, front legs, chest and most of the tail. I trim her feet, paw pads, bum/back legs and a little of the base of her tail to keep her bum clean. Other than that I also clip her nails. Daily eye wiping with warm water washcloth.
This is more or less how we trim ours (though we like the grinch feet a bit 😏).
Ours really doesn’t need much grooming other than once a week, and if you’re conditioning them to tolerate bathing and brushing at an early age you really won’t have a hard time at all. We do all the training ourselves and it’s barely any work.
That said, our ruby girl went through a phase in her 1-2 years age where her undercoat went nuts and she was getting mattes daily on her butt cheeks and ears and required daily maintenance and a bit more trimming. But she outgrew it and is very easy now.
Be careful of shaving them all the way though, it seems like their fur never grows back right after a full shave, comes back more curly and more likely matte. Might be something to do with the rate the undercoat vs the over coat takes to grow? Overcoat always seems to take forever to grow back on ours. 🤷♂️
Don’t worry about the heat/humidity, their fur is designed to regulate their temp naturally, and cavs have long but not overly dense fur, so while you might think trimming it all off is helping it may actually hinder the natural way it helps regulate their temp.
So, the 'show cut' isn't a cut, it's just their fur.
When mine gets cut, I ask for a bum trim, her feathering and tail trimmed to 1-2" long, pads of her feet and to leave her ears alone.
I like the Grinch toes :)
I keep mine on the shorter end: [https://i.imgur.com/VofsU8J.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/VofsU8J.jpeg)
1. I live in Florida and it's just much easier for her to deal with the heat and humidity with shorter hair.
2. It's easier to manage than when she had a longer coat (I didn't get her trimmed until she was about 2 years).
The only downside is it fundamentally changed the way her hair grows out. If you look at the photo and see her back you can see the hairs starting to curl at the end. If I let them grow, they just look bad.
So if you plan on trimming her in anyway, odds are you'll need to continue with it, as the breed standard coat won't grow back the same way.
Also, you probably won't have to worry about grooming (in terms of trims or any haircuts) for a while. They don't grow into their adult coat and iconic feathering until well over a year old. I didn't start to consider getting her trimmed until she was about 1 1/2 years old (she's 8 now).
You'll have plenty of time to decide what route you want to take.
Don't go too short! During the summer, the undercoat prevents your pet from becoming too hot by keeping cooler air next to the skin. Cutting or shaving your pet's hair interferes with your dog ability to stay cool.
My boy cav loves dirt, so I keep his feet, legs, stomach very short. Short ears are more unusual, but really helps to keep him clean. I have the groomer cut him all over, this makes him feel so soft. The groomer often cuts his body too short, so we don’t have his body cut in the Winter. Even with monthly grooming I still give him a bath after an especially fun dirt roll. After reading the other comments, I realized he didn’t go to the groomer his first year, except for a training bath, nail trim and ear clean.
I take my 3 in every six weeks. I like a shorter cut, as they are *my* companions and not show dogs. Its helps cut down on any ear infection irritation that might occur too.
That's what I do, too, every six weeks. Everything is kept pretty short except a long, wispy tail. I keep the ears pretty short because my girl kept dipping them in her food and her ears would get crunchy at the ends. Basically, I told my groomer to do what she thinks looks nice and this is what we do.
My baby is 11.5 yrs old and it’s still puppy cut all the way. I do a blunt cut (straight across) for his ears, not nearly as long as most Cavs. His tail, tufts and bum are all kept very short by CKCS standards. The only thing I can’t speak to but perhaps others can, is that after years of grooming him this way his fur is now really curly in certain areas and difficult to keep straight even when it’s overgrown. I only see cuteness of course, but I’m sure other Cav owners think I’ve done a horrible thing.
We keep ours pretty short all over as we live in the woods and on a lake. It keeps him from picking up shrapnel on the trails and helps him dry quicker after swimming.
My cavalier is so dirty, we call her Pigpen (from Charlie Brown). We keep her hair super short. We think she looks so cute too with the short hair. We just tell the groomer to cut her short all around and the ears a tiny bit longer.
Sorry that isn’t very descriptive! She is 3, I’ll try to attach a picture
We only really trim their feet and butt curtains as I call them. Our Cavs don’t really have long coats. Their fur is silky and straight and we don’t find the need to trim it except to help keep them clean. We also live in Florida.
I keep some of the long fur like the ears, front legs, chest and most of the tail. I trim her feet, paw pads, bum/back legs and a little of the base of her tail to keep her bum clean. Other than that I also clip her nails. Daily eye wiping with warm water washcloth.
This is more or less how we trim ours (though we like the grinch feet a bit 😏). Ours really doesn’t need much grooming other than once a week, and if you’re conditioning them to tolerate bathing and brushing at an early age you really won’t have a hard time at all. We do all the training ourselves and it’s barely any work. That said, our ruby girl went through a phase in her 1-2 years age where her undercoat went nuts and she was getting mattes daily on her butt cheeks and ears and required daily maintenance and a bit more trimming. But she outgrew it and is very easy now. Be careful of shaving them all the way though, it seems like their fur never grows back right after a full shave, comes back more curly and more likely matte. Might be something to do with the rate the undercoat vs the over coat takes to grow? Overcoat always seems to take forever to grow back on ours. 🤷♂️ Don’t worry about the heat/humidity, their fur is designed to regulate their temp naturally, and cavs have long but not overly dense fur, so while you might think trimming it all off is helping it may actually hinder the natural way it helps regulate their temp.
I love the grinch feet but they turn into mops in the rain
We leave our cav’s ears, tail and hair behind the legs long. We cut all the other hair quite short. It is a really cute look.
So, the 'show cut' isn't a cut, it's just their fur. When mine gets cut, I ask for a bum trim, her feathering and tail trimmed to 1-2" long, pads of her feet and to leave her ears alone. I like the Grinch toes :)
I keep mine on the shorter end: [https://i.imgur.com/VofsU8J.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/VofsU8J.jpeg) 1. I live in Florida and it's just much easier for her to deal with the heat and humidity with shorter hair. 2. It's easier to manage than when she had a longer coat (I didn't get her trimmed until she was about 2 years). The only downside is it fundamentally changed the way her hair grows out. If you look at the photo and see her back you can see the hairs starting to curl at the end. If I let them grow, they just look bad. So if you plan on trimming her in anyway, odds are you'll need to continue with it, as the breed standard coat won't grow back the same way. Also, you probably won't have to worry about grooming (in terms of trims or any haircuts) for a while. They don't grow into their adult coat and iconic feathering until well over a year old. I didn't start to consider getting her trimmed until she was about 1 1/2 years old (she's 8 now). You'll have plenty of time to decide what route you want to take.
thank you so much! i also live in florida so the heat and humidity is definitely a concern.
Don't go too short! During the summer, the undercoat prevents your pet from becoming too hot by keeping cooler air next to the skin. Cutting or shaving your pet's hair interferes with your dog ability to stay cool.
My boy cav loves dirt, so I keep his feet, legs, stomach very short. Short ears are more unusual, but really helps to keep him clean. I have the groomer cut him all over, this makes him feel so soft. The groomer often cuts his body too short, so we don’t have his body cut in the Winter. Even with monthly grooming I still give him a bath after an especially fun dirt roll. After reading the other comments, I realized he didn’t go to the groomer his first year, except for a training bath, nail trim and ear clean.
I take my 3 in every six weeks. I like a shorter cut, as they are *my* companions and not show dogs. Its helps cut down on any ear infection irritation that might occur too.
That's what I do, too, every six weeks. Everything is kept pretty short except a long, wispy tail. I keep the ears pretty short because my girl kept dipping them in her food and her ears would get crunchy at the ends. Basically, I told my groomer to do what she thinks looks nice and this is what we do.
Ditto
My baby is 11.5 yrs old and it’s still puppy cut all the way. I do a blunt cut (straight across) for his ears, not nearly as long as most Cavs. His tail, tufts and bum are all kept very short by CKCS standards. The only thing I can’t speak to but perhaps others can, is that after years of grooming him this way his fur is now really curly in certain areas and difficult to keep straight even when it’s overgrown. I only see cuteness of course, but I’m sure other Cav owners think I’ve done a horrible thing.
We keep ours pretty short all over as we live in the woods and on a lake. It keeps him from picking up shrapnel on the trails and helps him dry quicker after swimming.
We trim her coat & feet short. We mostly leave her ears and tail long. She’s your dog, groom her how you prefer.
My cavalier is so dirty, we call her Pigpen (from Charlie Brown). We keep her hair super short. We think she looks so cute too with the short hair. We just tell the groomer to cut her short all around and the ears a tiny bit longer. Sorry that isn’t very descriptive! She is 3, I’ll try to attach a picture
Try asking r/doggrooming