Pekingese are one of those Breeds that I don't like to clip short.
I feel that it ruins their coat.
This old guy is an example of what years of clipping a Pekingese coat can do.
He has completely lost all of his pretty tan top coat.
The peach fuzz of the under coat is the only thing that grows back now.
Most of his coat was already short under all of the long wispy hair.
I hand scissored all of the sparse, long hair off to match up with the coat that will no longer grow back.
My daughter grooms the Pekingese above.
The owners like to keep his coat natural, so he only get a light trim.
She trims his feet and rear.
The rest of his feathering gets a very light trim, just enough so that it won't drag the ground. (the 2nd picture)
The 3rd picture is Photo Shopped to show what the dog would look like with a heavier trim.
I do have a Peke that I groom now that has an incredibly thick coat.
I did try to talk the owner out of clipping the dog short, and for a while I did the heavy trim on the dog, but after while the owner wanted the dog shorter and shorter.
So now he gets a #4f blade.
The challenge is making the clip look nice and smooth.
I use long, slow strokes of the clipper to get a smooth cut.
If I start seeing what looks like stair steps in the hair, I slow down even more.
It is worth clipping a little slower than spending a lot of time trying to get blade marks out of the coat.
I also follow the direction of the growth of the hair.
Do not turn your blade sharply to clip straight down the dogs side.
Clip on an angle, and slowly curve downward towards the belly.
This Pekingese has very loose skin that makes it harder to clip smoothly.
I use my free hand to push or pull the skin tight, and then run the clipper over that area again to smooth out the cut.
Do not pull the skin too tight, just enough to run the blade over the body easily.
When clipping the hair under the arm, I to not touch the skin with the blade.
I like to skim the underarm hair off so that I don't take the chance of clipping a bald spot that will show, and also don't take a chance of nicking the underarm skin.
I also do not like to clip down the front legs.
I clip to the elbow and skim off.
Then I scissor up the legs.
I didn't want them to look like toothpicks.
By scissoring the front legs, I also don't have to worry about exposing the large colic that runs down the back of the front leg.
I use the same blade that I used on the body to blend the head.
I skim over the top of the head increasing pressure has I clip down the back of the head into the neck.
I do the same with the sides of the head and under the chin.
That's one short Pekingese, but Mom likes it.
Clip:
Body: #4F blade
Front Legs: Scissor
Head: #4F blade, skim the top of the head increasing pressure while blending into the back of the neck.
Face: Clip the sides of the head with the #4F blade, blending into the neck. Do the same with the chin.
Ears: Scissor to just below the leather.
Tail: blend the top of the tail into the body, and scissor 1/2" off in a fan shape.
I had trouble loading all of the short videos on this blog, so I will be posting the full video of clipping one side of the Pekingese on Youtube.
I hope this was helpful. :)
I was upset because my groomer keeps clipping my now 3 yr old Peke, shorter and shorte. I get him grromed regularly every 4 weeks. I also brush him well. He has been to three groomers. They keep cutting away his coat, when I ask them to trim his beely, sanitary area, and pads of feet. Why do they insist on cutting off his fringe? It makes me very mad.
ReplyDeleteHi LSHM,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry that you have not found a groomer that will listen to you. I have had the same problem with groomers that I have hired. They groom the dog the way THEY think that it should look instead of following my instructions or the owners.
I don't know if you are going to a large Corp. store or small grooming businesses. If you are going to a very busy Grooming Salon with a lot of people working there, it may be that your instructions get lost from one person to the next. Also, since you have your dog groomed often, the groomer most likely sees that the feathering has been cut before and they just do the same.
Here is my advice.
Find a small grooming shop that may only have a couple of people working and a more personalized business.
Call ahead and go to see the groomer BEFORE you make an appointment. Take your dog. Talk to the groomer that would be grooming your dog, and tell her about what has been happening with the other groomers.
Tell her that even though she can see that the feathering has been cut in the past, you want it to grow back out to its natural length. Make sure that she understands exactly what you want.
I think that it is very important to try to talk to the groomer who will be doing the work. This way there should be no mix up in communication.
It will take awhile for the feathering to grow back out, and will not look very nice for a while. If you were coming to me, I would suggest that you let me neaten up stray hairs on the feathering, with thinning shears, till the feathering gets back to the way you want it.
It is YOUR dog. You are the one paying for the groom. You take good care of your dog. You should have your dog groomed the way YOU want it, NOT the way the groomer thinks that it should look. There are times when groomers can not do what the owner wants. Matting, or the dog does not have the coat for the cut the owner is asking for, or the dog is hard to handle, but I honestly do not understand why these groomers are not grooming your dog the way YOU want it.
I hope this helps a little, and good luck.
Again I am sorry you have had bad experiences.
There ARE good groomers out there. :)
Lisa, MFF
Where are you located? I would love to groom your baby. You won't regret it. I work at two animal hospitals and from home. I hate when groomers don't listen to clients. I listen and do everything clients like and love that. You happy, I'm happy. That's my motto.
DeleteI learned to go with the grain the hard way :p and also at a soft angle, instead of sharp! I left a pretty large hole in a coat D= good thing I was able to blend it nicely! It scurred me so bad!
ReplyDeleteNeed help: I have a nearly 7-year old peke, all of us recently moving to Miami. Not sure how much they can handle the oppressive heat and humidity here, but I am thinking that they must be trimmed often (or does nature help regulate how long a coat gets?). We used to live in a place where grooming was not so costly, but we are thinking now of grooming ourselves, just not sure how we can do it. Dog is showing more blisters on skin than usual (are heat blisters?) What is best care for a Pekingese now living in subtropical climate?
ReplyDeleteHi Mavi,
DeleteIt really depends on how thick your Pekes coat is, or if your Peke seems to have trouble breathing in hot weather. As I showed above, your Peke can have all of it's long feathering (outline) scissored up short, or it can be clipped all over. As long his/her hair is in good shape and mat free, there are several different lengths that your Peke can be clipped in.
As for the blisters....I am not really sure what you are talking about. If what you are seeing truly are blisters, you need to take your dog to a Vet.
Lisa, MFF
Hi,
ReplyDeleteJust came across your blog, love it! Where is your shop located? I have a two year old Peke, under 10 pounds with a super thick coat. I have been trying to find a groomer that grooms a Peke like you do.
HELP! I took my girl, Coco, 5 yrs., to a new groomer and she was shaved bare.... I don't know what possessed this groomer to do this.... Cocos' hair was not dirty nor was it matted. Her coat was always clean and brushed.... I wish I could send you before and after pictures.... I was devastated when I picked her up. I called for the manager and she too was mortified to see what had been done to my girl. The groomers explanation was that Coco would not sit still and tried several times to bite her.
ReplyDeleteShe had put a very large nick into Coco Hair almost to the point of taking it down to her skin....So with that done she took it upon herself to shave her completely and in time the hair would grow back. It did only in spots.... From Coco's front legs forward her hair is growing slowly from her front legs back, she is pitiful. I have people ask if she has cancer ...her hair is coming back in small patches.... I am so upset. Please tell me , will her hair ever grow back normally and if so....how long is this going to take?
This has been going on since mid Dec. 2013.
I am so sorry!
DeleteI wish that I could tell you that the hair will grow back to its former glory, but it is so hard to say. I used to groom a Peke whose owner wanted the coat clipped very short. His coat always grew back just fine and quickly.
I have to say, it could take as long as a year before the coat grows back in. Even then it may not be as it was before. I would brush her daily to help stimulate the hair. I would also give her 100% organic coconut oil to help her skin and coat. @ a teaspoon once a day. (start with every other day for a week then everyday)
http://www.lifeanddog.com/the-benefits-of-coconut-oil/
Good luck. Again, I am sorry that this happened.
Lisa, MFF
Hi, I just found your blog and I love it, what I've read so far! I just adopted a rescue peke, he's 2 years old and has a heavy, show coat. My peke that passed away in February had a "Pet quality" coat. My groomer who is amazing always just trimmed him. However with my new dog and his super thick coat I'm worried he'll be hot this summer and was thinking of getting a short, puppy trim for his first groom. However, after reading this, I'm leaning more towards just a hygiene trim and belly shave, and leaving him long. I don't want anything to happen to his beautiful coat! Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI have a 8 year old peke.. only clipped him 3 times 'cause wife was making a fuss of the amount of hair/fur he sheds. Funny tat she insisted on getting him when a breeder friend has a litter. Told her the pros and con of this breed but she still say ''die die also want'.. peke and some breeds like the rough collie would get depress when you clip their hair short. After 3 clips in 2 years, my wife notice this and bow down to his whip. i only trim him now. Ppl should know wat they are dealing with when they get a certain breed, far from what most ppl think that clipping the coat short would make the dog cooler, the super thick coat of a peke acts as an insulation. Insulation against both heat and cold. Glad my wife stopped asking me to clip her. Stress off me and the dog. I'm better at hand stripping my other dog, the mini schnauzer.
ReplyDelete