She Wanted a Crew Cut..

..on the top of his head.

This sweet dog has a coat like a carpet.

His head grows out very fast.

His Mom always wants me to take the head short.

Today she asked if I could just take the blade and give him a crew cut.

I said, "sure, if that is what you want."

Then I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I couldn't help it.

I really couldn't.

I can not purposely make a dog look ugly.

I have seen Poodles and PooX's with clipped off heads.

It looks awful.

Yes, I know that is my opinion, but it's true, it looks awful.

A flat ugly head.

He gets clipped with a #4F on the body.

So I took the #4F and skimmed over the sides of the top of the head.

I left the very top of the head to scissor.

I also skimmed down the sides of the head and face.

The whole time I was doing this I was talking to myself.

Yes, I talk to myself..a lot.

I kept telling myself; "Lisa, she wants a crew cut on the top of his head."

"I know, I know, I am going to take it short," my stubborn half says.

"He is not your dog. Do what the customer wants," I tell myself.

"But she doesn't really know what she is asking for. It will be ugly," I argue with myself.

"She wants it short," I keep thinking.

"I'll take my chances. She will like what I do," I assure myself.

I know, I know, this proves I am crazy.

His ears were also very matted.

His Mom knew they were matted.

She had tried to scissor some of the mats out herself.

This wasn't the first time he had matted ears, but I had always been able to save them.

Today they were matted so tightly.

There was something in the hair.

Something sticky that would not wash out.

I could not save them today.

So everything was going to be short.

I have been grooming this dog for a while now, so I was pretty sure the owner would understand if I took the ears short along with his face and head.

I didn't want to shave them off, so I clipped the inside of the ears with a #10.

Then I scissored the hair up to the leather.

I also skimmed out all of the big, sticky mats.

I brushed out the rest, and scissored to shape up the rest of the hair.

The ears are not fluffy and long like the owner is used to, but they match the rest of the head.

In the end, I did not crew cut the top of his head.

I did scissor it very tight, but I kept the round shape of the head.

I also took the face tighter than I usually do to be in proportion with the top of his short head.

It turned out okay, but I like the fuller look myself.

I still think he would have looked awful with a flat head.

When his Mom came to pick him up, I went up and confessed to being unable to do exactly what she wanted.

I explained about the flat head, and wanting to keep some shape to it.

She just laughed at me, and said that she trusted me. :)

I also explained about his ears.

That surprised her a little.

She thought that I would be able to get the mats out, but I explained to her about how tight they were, and told her that he looked like a puppy again.

It was time to fine out if she would like what I did or ask me to take him back and give him the crew cut.

She liked it.

Even the ears.

We will see though.

If the top of the head grows out too fast, than I will most likely have no choice but to do the crew cut next time.

Whether I want to or not.  :/

Happy Grooming, MFF