How to Groom Your Spinone

Living with Spinoni brings special housekeeping challenges, but there are certain tricks of the trade that experienced owners have learned to make life easier.

Whether you have a hunting dog, show dog, or family companion, your Spinone should be groomed regularly.

A well-groomed dog is a healthy dog.

The hard-textured coat protects the dog while hunting in rough cover.

When correctly groomed, it requires minimal stripping, combing, and occasional bathing. But an unstripped or shaved coat gets thinner and softer over time which actually requires more grooming.

  • Comb out all the dead hair you can.

  • Wet the dog, work the shampoo into the coat starting at the head and working toward the tail. Rinse thoroughly at the skin level. Use waterless shampoo between baths to spot clean. And to treat skin abrasions, use one part water to one part Listerine.

    Towel off the dog and allow to air dry.

  • Start with a wide tooth comb, then again with a finer tooth comb, and finally with a fine flea comb.

  • The Spinone coat is most easily stripped with special tools (see Tools below). When done properly, this does not hurt the dog.

  • Do not be afraid to remove hair — it will grow back.

Shedding occurs when hairs in a dog’s coat stop growing, die and are pushed out by new hair growth. All Spinone shed, to some degree. Some shed a little all the time, others shed a lot once or twice a year. Some Spinone shed minimally.

Stripping not only shapes the coat, but removes length and dead hair to promote proper texture and healthy skin.

  • First, strip out the dead hair.

    Stretch the skin taut with one hand and grip only a few hairs between your thumb and stripping knife. Pull in a rapid and straight motion in the direction the hair grows and close to the dog’s body. Do NOT bend the wrist or twist at all, the motion should come from the elbow or shoulder. The dead hair will come out, while live coat does not.

  • Then, shape the coat.

    Place only a few hairs between your thumb and stripping knife, rotate your wrist, and pull at a 90-degree angle to the coat. A Spinone should have eyebrows, but the forehead should be flat. They should have a beard that balances the square muzzle. The trademark fan in front of their eyes should show the human-like eyes the breed is known for.

  • Groom with a purpose.

    For in-depth instruction and photos to demonstrate the techniques, Debby Forry has generously shared the presentation from her seminar The Detailed Eye.

    Discover how to hand strip and finger pluck to highlight each Spinone’s features.

Avoid the Dreaded Spinone Slime

Some Spinoni are neat drinkers, but others dive into the bowl and then leave a trail of water behind them. A wet mouth can quickly turn into a slimy beard attracting dirt, food, and other debris that stains the hair and dries into “beard cement.”

Hanging a towel near the feeding station and teaching your Spinone to wait to have his beard dried will keep the house cleaner (and drier). Combing the beard with a fine tooth comb while it’s wet removes much of the dirt.

Owners have solutions they swear by: no-rinse dog shampoo, lemon juice mixed with a bit of diswashing soap, a mix of listerine and water, or a bar soap called Wash Bar.

If you notice a “I think something died in here” smell, it could be coming from your Spinone’s lip folds. Keeping the hair in the lip folds trimmed helps.

Check their ears weekly and clean as needed.

The Spinone has a long dropped ear that allows moisture to build up and can lead to yeast and bacterial infections.

A quick sniff usually verifies a problem as yeast infections are quite pungent.

Air Flow Means Dry Ears

Apply ear powder in the canal and pluck a few hairs at a time (or gently shave around the ear opening and inner flap). Once all the hair is removed, use a cotton ball with ear cleaner to remove the wax. An ear-drying cream can help prevent yeast infections.

Clean Inside the Ears

To flush the ear canal, put liquid ear cleaner in the ear, gently massage the base of the ears, and then let the dog shake his head. Wipe out excess cleaner and debris with a cotton ball.

When to Go to the Vet

If you notice your dog is shaking their head, scratching at their ears, have red or inflamed ears, or an offensive odor or discharge, consult your vet before the problem worsens.

Grooming Your Spinone

The breed standard states the dog should be exhibited “in a natural state,” its appearance “may not be altered,” and it must “present the natural appearance of a functional field dog.”

The Spinone coat in its “natural state” can be interpreted by its condition after being stripped naturally while hunting.

Or “natural state” can be also be interpreted as stripped minimally on the head and face to the entire body so that judges can see head planes, skull shape, and other features. It does not mean ungroomed.

There are two options for stripping:

Hand Stripping

let the coat grow for several months and strip when shaggy looking

Rolling the Coat

remove a small amount of hair on the dog every day so the dog always appears ring ready

  • Take out the excess hair at the shoulders and hips balancing those areas with the rest of the dog. Remove feathering at the elbows, under the belly, and under the tail. Trim the end of the tail hair off.

    Trim the hair from the bottom pads of the feet, the hair around the foot can be left to your preference.

  • Strip the head close: from the top of the head from back of the eyebrows to the base of the skull. Blend into the neck coat. Strip out the throat area down to the breast bone.

    Blend the eyebrows away from the eyes and clean the cheek area. Hand shape the ‘fan’ in front of the eyes. Remember every dog is different, adjust your method accordingly. Strip the beard to maintain balance for a square head.

  • Strip the fine hair on the insides of the ear. Remove the hair around the ear leather to make it look natural. Take down the ridge of hair under the ears on the neck.

Grooming Tools

  • Shampoo for Harsh/Coarse/Wire Coats (also called Terrier or Protein)

    Waterless/Self-Rinse Shampoo

    Ear Cleaning Solution

    Ear Powder

    Ear Drying Cream

  • Pin brush and boar brush for overall body grooming.

    Coarse and fine combs (including a flea comb) works through the hair.

  • Thinning Shears or double-sided thinning shears.

    Regular (blunt end) Shears.

  • Grooming powder makes hair come out easier; ear powder, white chalk powder or cornstarch baby powder.

    Mars Coat King removes the bulk of dead hair on a thick coat.

    Stripping knives remove dead coat, when properly stripped they promote good coarse coat growth. They can be used to both remove and shorten the coat (when used with proper technique).

    A pumice stone can be used in a similar manner to a stripping knife.

    Two rubber fingers from the office supply store can be used in place of the stripping knife (a latex glove, or a textured work glove).