Heads

Picture one. Note the area is cleaned out neatly in an inverted "v" shape to give Depth to the stop. The arrows show the direction the clippering goes in and the line where I stopped clippering on the cheeks . 

It used to be common practice to clipper the top of the head as well as the muzzle and cheeks of a cocker spaniel for show with a ten blade against the grain (forced) but it is now much more common to use thinning shears on the topskull as well as the muzzle, only clippering the cheeks and the top of the muzzle.

A cocker head should be well rounded (domed) and in balance with itself. Ideally it is SQUARE. The length of muzzle is the same as the width, the skull to muzzle is the same, the length of head is the same as the height. If you are short anywhere or lacking in fullness it must be "hidden" by grooming the faults out. You can give the appearance of more topskull by leaving the hair longer. A fuller muzzle by doing the same and taking the cheeks CLOSER.

For a well shaped head, start with the stop and clean out a reverse "v" (see picture one) using a ten forced or a 30 if the dog is lacking adequate depth. Then from the ear to the lip line in a line even with the eye I clipper against the grain with a ten blade. On the TOP of the muzzle I use a ten going towards the nose and the underjaw is done from the jaw line FORWARD towards the mouth, making sure you get all the hair from the flews along the mouth. If the dog has a lot of jowl you may use a 30 on this line to minimize the look.

The top of the head is shaped in a line from the ears to the occiput. If the dog is lacking skull, leave more hair. If the dog has a nice topskull, then show it off by clipping the lines tight. I use an 81/2 on most cockers, but if the skull is really nicely shaped then a ten is a good choice. AS I said earlier, thinners are becoming VERY popular for the topskull if the dog is lacking in that area or has a poor earset.

Crowns should be natural looking and if allowed to grow too long can be difficult to get to lay right. I use a pair of blending thinners coming in from behind and a coat king (number 12) to get the hair to lay backwards and smooth. The idea is to get a smooth, rounded finish that looks natural and blends into the topskull. If you leave too much it will look "Puffy" and f you take off too much it will look flat. This part of the head is the hardest to do and takes practice. It can make or break the dog however so it is CRITICAL that is be done correctly. You do not want the hair to fall forward over the eyes, but you want enough length to lay down and back towards the middle of the head.

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A nice example of a SQUARE head. see the measurements are just about right here.


Note the crown lays FLAT against the head but is still noticeably rounding out the topskull.