About Me:

I am a professional Pet Groomer. I have been grooming for 28 years. This Blog is a kind of diary of my work. I wish I had started years ago, writing some of the experiences I have had while grooming. Most days are fun, some can be sad, some can be just down right crazy. If you are a pet owner and come across this blog, I hope it helps you understand how your pet is groomed. If you are a Pet Groomer, I hope you can relate to some of the stories. Maybe even learn a grooming tip or can leave a friendly grooming tip for me. There is always something to learn, no matter how long you have been grooming.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Scissoring Heads



 A few weeks ago I was asked to show how I groomed the head on the rescue dog that I competed with in Hershey.

I have been waiting for a dog to come in the shop that looked something like this dog.

We have quite a few that have the same type of head as this guy, but not one of them have been in in the last few weeks.

They will all come in next week just because I decided to use a different type of head for this post.





When I thought about  writing this post, I realized that I basically scissor most of my heads the same way.
It is the amount that I take off, and/or the type of hair that changes up the look for each dog.







So, below I will be showing a step-by-step of how I scissor this dogs head, and most of the other heads on dogs like this, and dogs with straighter hair.

There are a lot of pictures with this post.

I was trying to take pictures of everything that I do.






Every groomer has a different style, and way of grooming.

This is my style and way of grooming the head on dogs with straight, and semi straight hair.

Some heads I only hand scissor.
It all depends on the look that I am trying to achieve. 


I tend to save my heads for last.

I like to clip or scissor them in portion with the body cut.

I can't stand to see a dog that has a short body clip and a big, puffy head that makes the dog look like it is going to topple over.






I start with blending the back of the head to the body.

This dogs hair cut is a Lamb #5F.

Because this dog has semi curly hair on the top of the head, I start with a clip comb attachment, with a light pressure.

 I start at the top, back of the head and clip down into the neck.





 The pressure that I use depends on how much hair I want to take off. 

I always start with a light touch and increase my pressure accordingly.

I used a clip comb for this dog, but on a dog with very straight hair, like a Shih-Tzu, I might use a #4F, or a #3F, because the hair tends to slide through those blades depending on the thickness of the hair.

My rule of thumb is; the thicker the hair, the longer the blade, or clip comb I use on the head.







For dog with curly, poofy type hair, I either hand scissor everything, or skim with a clip comb like I am doing on this dog.

On dogs with hair like this one, do not use the blade/clip comb on the very top of the head.




 With just about every dog with straight hair on the top of their heads, I use a #3F, or #4F blade.

I clip the top, back 3/4 of the head.

I leave the bangs to hand scissor.

Once again, the amount of pressure that I use depends the amount of hair that I want to take off.

Tip: clip only with the hair growth, and slowly, so that you don't get a choppy cut.









After I have blended the back of the neck, I skim off the top of the ears to blend the head into the ears.

Again, be careful with your pressure.











Then I flip the ear out of the way and skim down the side of the cheek.









If you didn't do this when clipping the body, pick up the ear and clean up under the ear and around the neck with the body blade that you used on the dog.

This helps to clean up the line under the ears so that you can scissor the beard.











At this time I also clip out an upside down U on the neck behind the beard.









 I do this so that the cut of the beard looks cleaner next to the neck.

I hope that made sense.










Now I start to scissor everything.

I finish blending the back of the head and neck.







Then I scissor the length that I want off of the beard.

I like to curve the beard from the ear to the nose.









This owner likes the beard on the longer side, so I only cut the ends of the beard and mustache.









If I wanted a short, round beard and mustache like the dog that I posted the other day, I would still take the length of the beard and mustache off first, then I would scissor into the mustache to shorten it and round it off.











Next, I comb up the side of the head...











....and scissor to blend the cheeks into the beard.









Then I scissor up around the eyes...









....and blend into the sides of the face.










 I scissor over the eyes and shape up the top of the head.






Looks okay over the eyes, right?

Till I put him in the kennel , then there will suddenly be hair hanging in his eyes.

Right?

Come on...I know that that has happened to you too.








Tip: Even after you think that you have scissored up those eyes really good, drop the dogs head so that he/she is looking down at the floor.




Now scissor around the eyes again.

This isn't a fool proof trick, because I swear that there is a little hair gremlin out there that pulls hair out of place after you finish a dog and put them away in the kennel.

Not before you put them away.

No!

After the dog is back in the kennel, and you walk by and look at the dog, so that you have to take the dog all of the way back out, onto your table to fix it.









Hold the dogs face back up and finish shaping the top of the head.









Here is a view from the back.









The last thing that I do is lift the head to make sure that there are no long hairs that I have missed on the beard, close to the neck.






This is another area that that gremlin likes to pull out stray hairs.

So, the last thing that I do is comb the mustache and beard one more time and hold the head up from back at the cheeks.

Then I bend down to see under that chin and scissor up any uneven hair.

I am sorry to say that there is a most always some uneven hairs under the darn chin for me to trim. :/




I know that some groomers do not agree with using blades on a dogs head.

I had one groomer get very upset at me when she heard me say that I sometimes use a #4F blade on the top of a head.
She felt that head should only be scissored.
That's okay, that was her opinion.
I personally don't see anything wrong with using a blade to shape the head, if the end result is going to be as nice as a fully scissored head.

Using a blade to shape the head can be  helpful and faster for a groomer that struggles with scissoring.
Skimming with a blade over the head can help start to shape the head so that there is not much scissoring left to do.
In my opinion, you should always follow up with the scissors to clean everything up.




 I hope that this post has helped someone.

I hope that this is what you were looking for Mayw16. :)

I love this dog.

He is one of my favorites, and he was such a good boy for the pictures.

Getting the pictures made me take twice as long to do his face.

Did I say that I love this dog?



Happy Grooming, MFF


10 comments:

  1. Wow.... 100% in agreement. You and I groom the same exact way... and I mean that. It's scary. I do the same 'U' shape under the chin and everything. I scissor pretty much every single head except I do use a #3F - #5F on the heads of the shorter pets, but it is just so much easier and nicer to hand scissor everything. I have had one pet that went INSANE over scissors once though, I had to run a guide over everything, even his muzzle area! He made contact with my hand 2 times and I had 4 bandaids and a rubber glove on by the end, but I held him and quickly ran a 3/4in guide comb on everything and scooped out the inside corner of his eyes with a #10 as gently as possible... well as you can on a dog thrashing around trying to eat you. I hated it, but it was all we could do (I refuse to hold an animal DOWN, no matter what nothing is worth that kind of mental trauma to a pet over their hair...) The owners said it was the best they ever had, they come a lot now and he is getting better... but I swear after they left that first time my husband turned to me and said, "I almost wish you would have messed up his hair... that dog really hurt you. Are you sure you didn't want to send them to their vet for grooming?" but now, he realizes that with time, patience, and kindness that the little malti-poo has really come around, and nearly all of them can if the owners just start committing to ONE groomer. Dogs like routine, like children, they want to know what to expect... something as simple as a new groomer every 3-4 months can change their behavior towards strangers, if they come into contact with a groomer that has NO problem with holding them down in the name of making the money. I always promote humanity over vanity.
    ~Serena

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    1. Hi Serena,
      I hope that everything is back to normal for you. :) You are right, I wish that owners would sick with one groomer as long as they can. I hate when a new customer comes in and tells me that they were happy with their other groomer, and that they only came to me because someone told them that I was good. Now their dog has to get used to someone else. I always feel so bad for the dog when a long time customer tells me that they are moving. I always pray that the dog will get a nice groomer.
      Lisa, MFF

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  2. Hi Lisa, thanks so much for posting this, it's really helpful...now i see my problem..i need to improve the way i scissor around the face. I have a question... do you usually shave the top of the nose or muzzle if you know what i mean?

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    Replies
    1. Hi mayw16,
      I am glad that I could help. As for the nose, no I don't usually shave the top of the nose. On a long muzzled dog, I just skim/clip/scissor between and the corner of the eyes. On most short muzzled dogs (Shih-tzu's) I do shave from the eyes to the nose, mainly because the biggest complaint that I get is how fast the hair grows back in the dogs eyes. Most short muzzled dogs owners like the bridge of the nose shaved. I do shave it lightly though, I don't want it to look skinned. I hope this makes sense. :)
      Lisa, MFF

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    2. Lisa, would you consider teaching a pet owner a few tips? I would, of course, pay for your time and expertise. I have followed your blog, purchased products and tried techniques you have shared, and read grooming forums. Somedays I wish I had a Poodle to play with. You can email me (No spaces) malibu morgan at gmail to discuss. Thanks for another great post!

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    3. Hi Lisa, can i also ask how you groom a really matted feet on cocker spaniels, oodles, maltese or dogs with fine straight hair? You know, when the paws are very matted and knotty around the webbing..... i find this very hard so would love to know how you groom them. thanks in advance. May

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    4. Hi Morgan,
      I will send you an e-mail.
      Lisa, MFF


      Hi mayw16,
      Oh, I had the perfect dog for this in last week. I will look through my pictures to see if I have already taken some pictures of matted feet. If I can't find anything that I like, I will work on getting pictures next week. (watch not one dog come in with matted feet) I will get that post up for you as soon as I can. :)
      Thanks for the questions. Sometimes I am not sure what to write about. I think of something and then I think 'oh that's silly, nobody wants to read about that.' Also, after grooming for so many years, it is hard to remember all of the questions that I had when I was a new groomer. So your questions give me ideas for new posts. :)

      Lisa, MFF

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  3. Thanks Lisa. I am looking forward to that post. I have another question. Do you ever do a reverse clip on dogs? i have a few request from customer to clip their King Charles Cavalier short for summer and i find that only a reverse clip gives them a nice and smooth clip. What do you usually do? Thanks now you have 2 posts to work on lol. Thanks again, May :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi mayw16,
      Why get a King Charles Cavalier only to cut all of it's pretty hair off?
      Oh well...
      Anyway, I do use the #5F and #7F in reverse on faces and the top of Schnauzer and Cocker heads, but not so much on the body.
      Years ago I had a groomer use a #7 in reverse on the body of a Cocker. It really damage that Cockers coat. It took a year for two spots on the dogs hips to grow back in right.
      I am not saying that this happens with every breed, but it always makes me hesitate to use the blade in reverse on the body.
      Lisa, MFF

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  4. Hi Lisa, thanks for posting this, it's really helpful. I know dog grooming is just about making dogs look clean and pretty. - Thanks

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