English Setter grooming in Gloucester, MA

The breed standard asks for a coat that is flat, without curl or wooliness, with feathering on the ears, chest, abdomen, underside of the thighs, back of all the legs and the tail. That feathering should be of good length but never so heavy it hides the dog's lines or gets in the way of its work, and the tail fringe hangs straight and silky. The AKC gives males 65 to 80 pounds and females 45 to 55, standing about 23 to 27 inches.

The ground color is white, flecked with darker hairs in the pattern the breed calls belton, in colors such as orange, lemon and liver. A white coat shows every stain, and feathering behaves like a net. The AKC warns that tangles and mats left unattended are uncomfortable and can cause skin problems, and on a setter they start in predictable places: behind the ears, in the armpits, along the belly fringe and in the long hair on the back of the thighs.

A setter covers ground with its nose down and its feathering low, and the meadows and trail edges around Cape Ann load that fringe with burrs and seed heads by late summer. Left in, a burr works toward the skin and the feathering knots around it. At home, use your fingers first: split the burr's grip a few hairs at a time, then comb the hair free. Cutting a burr out of a fringe leaves a gap that takes a long time to grow back, and our how-to on removing burrs from a dog's coat shows the gentler way.

When the feathering is full of burrs and knots, book the bath or the full service and say so when you book. Working out tangles and mats is dematting, $15 per 20 minutes, assessed at check-in. From April to November, tick season, the same feathering hides ticks after walks at Ravenswood Park or on the Dogtown Common trails, so a slow combing doubles as a tick check; mention any tick you have found recently.

The AKC's tools are simple: a soft bristle brush over the whole coat at least once a week and a long-toothed metal comb for places where tangles are starting. Work the comb through the ear feathering, the chest, the belly fringe and the backs of the legs. Check the ears while you are there, because the AKC tells owners to watch a setter's ears regularly for signs of infection.

After the beach, rinse before you brush. At the time of writing, Gloucester's Good Harbor Beach is closed to dogs from April 1 to September 30 and open to dogs off leash on even-numbered days from October 1 to March 31, and a setter running the tide line carries salt and sand home in its fringe. Rinse it with fresh water, towel and dry the feathering, then comb it through. Our dog grooming page lists every add-on if the coat needs more help than a comb can give.