A Picardy Spaniel needs grooming two to three times a week, and the reason sits in the feathering. This French gundog wears a medium-long, dense, slightly wavy coat in rich chestnut brown, with longer hair streaming from the ears, chest, backs of the legs, belly, and tail. That longer hair is decoration with a cost: it catches burrs on walks, knots behind the ears, and mats along the belly if a week slips by. Short, regular sessions beat one long rescue session every time.
Brushing a Picardy Spaniel's Wavy Coat
Start with a slicker brush over the body coat, working in the direction the wavy hair grows, then follow with a steel comb through every feathered area. The comb is the honest test — if it glides through the ear feathering, the fringe behind the front legs, and the tail plume, the job is done; if it snags, that spot needs gentle teasing apart with fingers before the brush goes near it again. Pay special attention behind the ears and where the front legs meet the chest, because Picardy feathering is fine-textured there and felts into mats faster than the tougher hair on the back. Two or three ten-minute sessions a week keep on top of it.
Ears, Baths, and Tidy Trimming
Those long, heavily feathered ears hang close and trap moisture, so lift each ear weekly, look and sniff inside, and dry the inner flap after wet walks or swimming. Bathing every four to six weeks, or sooner after genuinely muddy work, suits the coat; over-bathing strips the slight natural oil that helps the wavy coat shed water in the field. Between baths, a rinse of muddy legs is usually enough. Trimming is minimal: tidy the hair between the paw pads so it stops collecting grit, and lightly even up ragged feathering if you like a neater outline, but never clip the body coat short — its length and texture are part of how this breed handles cold, wet cover.
Shedding and Seasonal Changes
Picardy Spaniels shed moderately all year, with a heavier loosening of coat as the seasons turn. During those heavier weeks, add an extra comb-through rather than lengthening the usual sessions, and expect more loose hair in the belly fringe and tail. Puppies have a softer, fluffier coat that tangles in different places, so begin short, kind combing sessions early and keep them brief and rewarded; an adult Picardy that learned to stand calmly as a youngster is a far easier dog to keep smart. After every countryside walk, whatever the season, run your hands and then a comb through the feathering to evict burrs, grass seeds, and twigs before they work toward the skin.
Puppies, Older Dogs, and Working Days
A Picardy puppy's coat arrives softer and woollier than the adult's, and it mats in the armpits and behind the ears while the youngster is still learning to stand for handling, so keep early sessions to a couple of minutes and end them with praise rather than a finished job. Senior Picardies often grow a thicker, slower coat and may stand less patiently, which argues for splitting the usual comb-through across two shorter sittings. On days the dog has worked through wet cover, add a rinse of the legs and belly and a full comb once dry, because wet feathering left to dry in tangles sets into mats that only scissors will solve.
Turning Picardy Coat Care Into a Shared Routine
The Picardy's schedule is frequent enough that one person easily becomes the only one who knows which ear was checked or when the last bath happened. Writing the rhythm down — comb-throughs on set days, ear checks weekly, pad trims monthly — keeps the standard the same whoever picks up the brush. KinsLe's Care Teams helps a Picardy household do exactly that, assigning each brushing, ear check, and bath to a named person per pet and stamping every completed job with its time, so the feathering never quietly goes a fortnight untended.