Home Grooming OLD male cocker spanial..

Question
I have a VERY old,& fat male cocker spanial. His name is "Curley". We live in central/eastern California. My mom just passed on & left him to me. :-) He was LONG over due for a bath, & hair cut! Curley has "warts" all over him. I have braved the bath thing- easily, actually. (He has taken to me nicely.) But, as I cant afford to take him to groomer-& he doesnt get around much, & is an overweight, old dog;- I need to groom him at home. I have a pair of dog Clippers-(electric-brand name "andis")& it has 3 length attachments.  1--Do i scissor cut 1st?  2--Which clipper length is best?  3--Wet dog or dry dog? 4--How do I groom around his "Warts"?  5--& his privates?  6--His eyes, & his ears?  7--Also, what is best way to get tangles out of all the matted hair "clots"?-OR do I cut them out?

Answer
If by "attachments" you are talking a plastic snap on comb, you will never be able to groom him with that. You will need to use a metal blade. If you can change blades on the clipper, I suggest trying to get through it with a #7F blade. If the dog is really matted, you may have to use a 10 blade. Clip on a clean, but dry dog.  It is VERY dangerous for you to take a pair of scissors to the dog. What might feel like a matt, my very well be skin. Even us professionals will not use scissors on a matted dog- thats why they end up shaved down. Dematting is hard--hard on you and even harder on the dog. Matts should be shaved out. It is too hard for me to describe to you how to groom each area. I really feel the best thing is to take him in and get him groomed professionally and then you can take it from there.  Once he is done, you will easily be able to maintain with the clipper you have. Think of it this way, if you end up cutting the dog trying to do this yourself, you will end up with a vet bill instead of a grooming bill.  Vets cost more then groomers.  Explain the situation to your groomer and possibly someone will try and work out a good price for you.  )You could go online or to the library and see if you can find some detailed instructions on grooming if you really want to try and do it yourself. )
Good Luck to you,
Wendy