[Bordercollie]

Hi guys,

Xena, my eldest bitch, 7yrs old absolutely hates being brushed. I think it has to do with the fact that she has a very woolly coat, not a nice smooth hairy one like the others. I normally use an undercoat rake on all of them to get rid of dead undercoat, but I admit due to her hating being brushed we'e taken to shaving her with a #3 clipper blade once or twice in the summer. Not ideal, but it works. We shaved her late last year in the early summer, but obviously the coat has grown considerably since then. And I've not been keeping my hand on it guilty as charged. But now her hind end has started to form some serious mats that I'm not even going to attempt to brush\comb out. But with temps already taking a turn for the colder I don't want to shave her down to the skin and my #3 blade is having some serious trouble penetrating that thick mess. So now I'm looking for a blade that can do the job.
I've been looking at Osters' #5 or #7 blades:
# 5 OSTER BLADE (Code: 5) | Buy Online |
or
# 7 OSTER BLADE (Code: 7) | Buy Online |
Can anyone tell me please which one would be best?
I don't have access to a professional groomer and the vets only shave dogs down to the skin.

 

[Shandula]

I've never clipped either of my dogs, so I'm not much help there I'm afraid. I did just want to mention that if one of them manages to get a mat in their pants (Levi in particular - his pants are SO thick) if it looks bad, I usually just cut it out. Saves both of us time and pain in the end. Do you think she would let you cut them out?

 

[Bordercollie]

Shandula,
yeah, Tried that and failed. It's unfortunately gone beyond scissors. It's not just around the poopy area, it's the whole back end. Both the bums also.

 

[Dawnben]

For serious matts you are going to have to use a #10, As a groomer I used to shave down a lot of Aussies in the summer I always used a #7 skip blade. I have brought up using this blade a couple of times and got some bad feed back saying it was a dangerous blade. I never cut one dog with it and it would go through so pretty bad mats. I like the look that the skip blade leaves. Its a more natural look.

 

[Bordercollie]

@Dawnben,
Thanks. I was thinking to myself this afternoon I wonder if maybe I shouldn't just use the #10. I thankfully have one, came standard with the clipper. I've heard people mention skip tooth blades in the past. I like the idea of a natural look, maybe I will consider the #7f for future use.
She's a snappy madam so even if we move to the city in the near future I'll probably still shave her myself. Don't want to get someone bitten.

 

[JennaMW]

I am a professional dog groomer and we normally use a #10 if it is really matted(sometimes you can get a longer blade through). If you do get a #5 or #7 make sure to get #5f or #7f! P.S. Some are called FC they are the same as F.