Scissoring Feet & Legs

As I was cropping my pictures for this blog entry, I wanted to pick up some scissors and scissor some of the hair I saw sticking out here and there.

It is not the first time.

I think it would be a good idea for everyone to take pictures of their work and look them over to see what they could do better.

Or maybe not, it can be depressing.

I do that with my art also.

I never feel like I am finished.

I could always improve something.

I used to be like that with my grooms.

I had to teach myself to stop on some dogs, or I would have them on the table forever touching things up.

One day shortly after I first opened my shop, I was doing the finish work on a dog.

I was going over him and going over him.

My bather was leaning against the wall talking and watching me groom.

After a while I looked over at her and asked, "Does he look okay?"

She laughed and shook her head, "I thought he looked good about 10 minutes ago, you knit pick too much."

She was right, I was taking too long on my finishes.

It was hard to learn when to stop.

It still is on some dogs, even after all of these years.

I have written about using a routine when you groom to help with your time.

I also use a routine when I scissor my dogs feet and legs.

I start with the back leg first.

I clean out the pads.

Scissor around the feet.

Then work my way up the leg to the body.

I finish with scissoring the inside of the leg.

Finally, I comb the foot and leg hair up, down, back, and forward, scissoring anything I missed, then move on.

Below are a series of pictures as I scissor the first leg.

Clip the pads.

I scissor all around the bottom of the foot, on an angle away from the foot and leg so I don't cut too much off.

When I set the foot back down on the table, I comb the hair to see what needs to be cut to shape the foot into the leg.

Comb, comb, comb.

You can't comb enough in my book.

 

I scissor around the bottom of the leg to match the length I set with the feet.

 

Rear view of the leg.

Side view.

TIP: If you tend to expose the toe nails when you scissor the feet, or tend to take the feet too short, use this trick:

Clip the nails after you scissor the feet.

That way the nails stop you from cutting too much hair off.

After you have shaped the foot, then clip the nails.

The front leg.

The same routine.

I angle my scissors outward, away from the leg and foot. (the green arrow)

If you scissor straight up, you can take a chance of scissoring more hair off then you want to. (the red arrow)

I do tend to twist myself in many different directions to scissor at the angle I want.

After I put the foot back down on the table, I comb and then scissor to shape up the foot.

 Even though it may not look like it in this picture, I always hold the leg at an angle that is comfortable for the dog, then I twist myself in whatever direction that I need to to scissor.

The more comfortable I make it for the dog, the less he will move while I scissor.

As you can see in the pictures, I do tend to pick up, put down, and pick up the front leg quite a lot.

I comb, comb, comb.

After I think that I am finished the leg, I pick it up and give it a little shake to make sure there won't be any sticky outies.

I do this routine on the legs and feet even with dogs that I have clipped down short.

Yes, I still brush up on shaved legs and go over them with scissors.

I think it is a sickness.

I just like to scissor everything.  :)

This is a Yorkie-poo.

I scissored off about 1/2 an inch all over.

I also scissored his head in proportion with his body.

Oh, if you saw any sticky outies....just pretend you didn't....please. 

I saw them.

It drives me crazy, looking at the picture and I can't fix it.  :(

Happy Grooming, MFF

Handstripping a Dachshund

I am by no means an authority on Hand-stripping dogs.

I learned about it in grooming school.

I think we went over it for one day.

One dog was brought in, and the whole class gathered around and took turns plucking this poor dog.

That was it.

We weren't even told about stripping knives.

That was my lesson on hand-stripping.

While going to grooming school, a customer came in one day with a 6 week old mix that was sold to them as a Poodle.

She was a Terrier mix, and they were allergic to her.

For the next 19 1/2 years she was my heart dog.

Oh, how I loved that dog!

Anyway, she turned out to have hair that could be hand-stripped.

I would strip her twice a year.

Her coat would grow in a silvery gray, and when I finished stripping her she would have a beautiful black velvet coat.

I learned by trial and error as to when the right time to strip her was.

I would do half of her one day, and the other half the next day.

She would sleep on my lap for the whole thing.

I hand-stripped her till she was around 16 years old, when it seemed to be becoming uncomfortable for her.

She then became a beautiful silver old lady.

I still miss her!

Moving on, or I'll start crying.

I do not offer hand-stripping.

It is very time consuming, and I don't think that the average pet owner will be willing to pay what I think hand-stripping should cost.

That being said, over the years I get a dog once in a while, that I can't help myself, I do some hand-stripping on it.

Most of the time I do it on ears, or I pluck around the eyes a little for the natural look.

This little guy came in earlier this week.

As soon as I saw him I thought Hand-strip.

It turned out the owner wanted less hair on him, but still wanted him to look like a long haired Dachshund.

Now to be honest, I am not even sure what I did with this dog is considered Hand-stripping.

Most groomers would say to Hand-strip before the bath, and with course Terrier coats, the dirty hair is easier to get a hold of, I agree.

But..

I have found with very soft coat fuzz, like this Dachshund and some Goldens have, the hair plucks out easier after the bath.

The hair is now clean and fluffy and easier to get a hold of. 

I could use a stripping knife, but  find that they don't seem to work as well on the cotton coats like they do on the Terrier coats.

So I use my fingers.

I also use my ear powder.

I do not use it on the dog.

 I use it to get a better grip with my fingers.

I pour some powder out on to my table, and press the fingers that I am going to use into the powder.

Then I rub my fingers together.

Then I start to pluck.

If the dog is the least bit uncomfortable with the plucking, I would stop and probably have used thinning shears on this dog to get the look I wanted.

This little guy did not mind being plucked at all.

I pluck small amounts at a time.

It is hard on the fingers.

This thin cotton fuzz comes out pretty easily and quickly.

I did use the stripping knife a little.

I have a confession.

I am not sure if I even use the knife right.  :)

So, most of the plucking is done by hand.

I plucked all over his back, and down his sides.

I also plucked the back of his head and blended his ears.

I trimmed up his legs, skirt, and feet.

The owners were happy.

All of the fuzz was gone, and his coat was still wavy and natural on the back.

 

I also do this on Goldens that come in with the cotton fuzzes on there ears , legs, and sides.

This was by no means a lesson on Hand-stripping.

Not even close.

Groomers that do do a lot of Hand-stripping, are most likely cringing right now. :)

Happy Grooming, MFF

Hairy Dogs

Yes, I know dogs are hairy, but there are some days when they come in with too much hair.

Three of my dogs today were really hairy dogs, and they just kept getting bigger and bigger.

This little girl was loaded with that ugly peach fuzz all over.

Her Dad wanted her hair cut, but he still wanted her to look like a long haired Dachshund.

I am not going to show her after picture today.

I will blog another time to show what I did with her.

This guy was one of my other hairy guys for the day.

He also has a sister with about the same amount of hair.

My daughter grooms her.

One of these days I am going to remember to bring my video camera in on the day that these two come in.

This Cocker and his sister LOVE coming in to see us.

They push their way out of their owners car, and drag him to the door.

When they see me they trip all over each other trying to get to me.

They are some of the sweetest, friendliest Cocker's we groom.

They don't give their owner a second look once they see me, and they run into the grooming room and jump up right into the kennel.

Their Dad just laughs and shakes his head.

"I can't believe how much they love coming here." he says every time.

It really feels good when dogs come in all happy to see you.

I want to video tape them so I can play the tape for all of the customers who come in and make comments about how the dogs hate coming in.

I could turn and click my video on and say, "well, some dogs really love to come see us."  :)

I love scissoring him.

He has great hair to scissor.

Best of all, he stands when I want him to stand, and turns when I ask him to.

He doesn't mind anything.

He is a really good dog.

His owners are nice too.

He just has A LOT of hair!

My last hairy mess of the day?

He was in four weeks ago.

I wrote about him.  

The husband gave me the wrong instructions.

Now he is back two weeks early for a hair cut.

Who the heck am I talking about?

Remember him?

The worlds largest Goldendoodle!

His Mom has been trying to keep him brushed out.

She does a pretty good job, but today he was matted.

Not matted enough to justify clipping down short.

There was enough mat to take an hour to completly comb him out.

He had some mats on his side around the tuck-up area, around the neck, chest, and here and there on his legs.

His hair is like thick cotton.

He has those kind of knots that glide through the teeth of your comb.

Those kind of knots that the brush breaks up nice enough, but they stay in the hair.

You have to pick them out with your fingers because the comb just won't grab them.

You comb ,comb, and comb again and they just keep appearing.

His Mom wanted me to scissor 1/2 of his hair off.

He was tired

I am tired.

We are supposed to get 1-5 inches of snow tonight.

Don't you love the weather people.

1-5 inches!

That's the best prediction they can make.

The more computers and radars they have, the worst they tell the weather.

Half of my appointments for tomorrow called today saying they would not be in if we got a lot of snow.

Grrr.

We will see.

I may be home early tomorrow.

Happy Grooming, MFF