| Grooming By Sherry Ketzbeau |
In order to make your grooming short and simple, you must first have the necessary
tools.
1.Proper Nutrition
2. Cleanliness
3. Grooming Tools, and
4. The Rabbit!
My rabbits are groomed weekly during show season. This takes on an average 5 to 10
minutes per rabbit. I use three tools; a slicker brush, a roller comb, and a high
powered professional blower.
I begin by using the blower. This opens the coat to the skin, blows off dirt and dust,
opens mats and webs, and shows you where you need to concentrate on your
grooming. When you begin blow from the rear of the rabbit forward, going all the way
around, up the back, and also the underside. You will be amazed at the amount of
dust that will come off your rabbit if a blower has never been used.
After thoroughly blowing the rabbit I then use my slicker brush. If I find any webs or
mats on the underside of the rabbit then that is where I start. Flip the rabbit over
while sitting down with the rabbit in your lap. The underside of the rabbit is usually
free of any mats. The tail area and skirting around the rear of the rabbit is usually the
worst. Gently lift your coat with your left hand and brush each layer down using your
slicker brush with your right hand. Any fine mats by the tail and hock section should
easily be opened up with your hands and fingers and pulled out. This is usually dead
coat. When done with this flip your rabbit back over and place on the grooming table
to finish.
Again start at the bottom rear of your rabbit by the tail section. The next bad area to
mat is where the rabbit’s tail rests on his back and the rabbit’s skirting. Start again by
lifting the coat with your left hand from the bottom and brush down with your slicker
brush layer by layer, working from the back forward to the front of the rabbit, one
side at a time. You should be working only halfway up your rabbit. Do not brush
through the top of your rabbit. This area is usually free from mats and webs anyway
and is also the most fragile. The top of the rabbit’s wool breaks easily and is the least
dense. By brushing this area you will remove the density of the coat and will make it
uneven. You will use your roller comb behind your rabbits ears at the neck and around
the tail area for webbing and matting that you can’t get out with the blower, slicker,
or your fingers. Remember, the roller comb takes out anything so use sparingly.
Now take your hands and smooth the coat down to give that nice, smooth outline. If
you have to brush the top of your rabbit, do it softly. When looking down at your
rabbit check the skirting around the bottom for unevenness, different color, thinness,
balls on the end, and pluck it out easily and evenly. You now have a nice, even colored
coat. There is nowhere in the Standard that calls for skirting. The coat should be even
all the way around except for the underside.
The morning of the show blow each rabbit out thoroughly before placing it in your
carrier. I hope your carriers are lined with newspaper and not shavings. When you get
to the show you should only have cosmetic grooming to be done. Your main grooming
should be done at home the day before the show, not at the show. If you only have to
take 5 to 10 minutes per rabbit, even with bringing 20 of them, it will take, at most, 1
1/2 to 2 hours. If you still find it takes you too much time then you may be missing a
vital tool as stated in the beginning of this article
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