Bad Hair Day

[Michele]

Thanx Pammy and good advice Michele...I actually cut buttons claws with baby clippers whilst she was lying on my knee and she didn't object....what a sneaky mummy I am
I groomed her on the diding room table....and she stood rooted to the spot...but only because she noticed the Budgie She even let me groom her nether regions and ears Obviously the Budgie doesn't get out in her prescence her being a bird dog and all And he's too high up for her to reach....do you think I should groom her somewhere else though.... :-

Hi Gilly, imho no I don't think you should groom Buttons away from the budgie if this is the effect it has on her. If she is distracted from what you are doing by the bird and standing still then with luck she may well accept & settle into the routine a lot quicker. Of course if this changes you may well have to think again.
Good for you doing her nails, again if she gets used to it being done it all becomes part of the normal day to day routine of things                    

[Gilly]

Hi Gilly, imho no I don't think you should groom Buttons away from the budgie if this is the effect it has on her. If she is distracted from what you are doing by the bird and standing still then with luck she may well accept & settle into the routine a lot quicker. Of course if this changes you may well have to think again.
Good for you doing her nails, again if she gets used to it being done it all becomes part of the normal day to day routine of things

I'll just keep her mesmerised by the Budgie then It's a good job he's very tame and doesn't mind her at all....in fact he whistles "Adams Family" theme tune and squaks "Cheeky Boy" to her
Thanx Michele

                   

[FionaM]

Hi Fran,
Suzie is growing a top knot and you can deal with it in a number of ways.

You can either hand strip it out. This will give the smoothest finish but does take time. Lift a small tuft and with first finger and thumb gently pluck the hair out. If it is ready to give it will come out fairly easily. Between plucking, brush the head and then you can see if you have done enough or if there is there more left to come out. Its very easy to keep going at one area and end up with a bald spot, so be careful.

Second way is with thinning scissors. Lift the tufts and go in from the back with the blades pointing towards her nose. Only a couple of snips at a time or again you'll get a bald patch. Brush it through and see if it looks smooth enough. If not repeat until it is.
This gives a fairly similar result to hand stripping but it won't last as long or grow back as smoothly.

Third way is to use clippers. It is by far the quickest but it won't give the softer, smooth finish that the other two ways will.

HTH  
Michele

Well Michele I decided to try the thinning scissors option on Poppy's head last night. So far i have always used clippers on her head but what a difference the thinning scissors made!!!

The top of her head is silky smooth and looks so much nicer than  it ever has after the clippers. She was much happier with me snipping away than she is when I put the clippers on her head. She fell asleep with her chin on my knee - bless

Thinning scissors is how I'll be doing it from now on - thanks for that tip                      

[Michele]

Pleased to hear it went well Fiona and that Poppy enjoyed it too. Using thinning scissors do give a more subtle finish than the clippers don't they.                    

[angelad]

Thanks for the tip with the scisors Michele, it is good to get advice about which way round to use them as it does make a difference. I have trouble doing coopers ears aswell - can I get them smooth?   - certainly not managed it yet!                    

[Michele]

Thanks for the tip with the scisors Michele, it is good to get advice about which way round to use them as it does make a difference. I have trouble doing coopers ears aswell - can I get them smooth?   - certainly not managed it yet!

Angela, If you feel about 1/3 of the way down the edge of Coopers ear you will find a little lumpy bit (nothing wrong, just the shape of the ear). I use that as a guide for how far down the ear to trim. Again go 'under' the hair in a upwards direction, this then thins the hair from underneath and should help to give a smoother appearance.
If you're not happy about using thinners around the inside of the ear (all those lumps & bumps) then its ok to use straights or even clippers. Better safe than sorry
Hope this helps
Michele                    

[angelad]

Thanks Michele, I had a go yesturday and must say I am quite pleased with the results, I think the problem was not trimming enough of underneath, he looks a lot better now. I even graduated (or plucked up the courage ) to his back legs I think I'm getting the hang of this now even though it took me most of the day!                    

[Michele]

Don't know if these will help at all, but here's a couple of photo's to show which way to hold the thinning scissors for trimming the head                    

[Michele]

and the ears. By placing your hand on the underside of the ear enables it to lay flat making it easier to trim & also avoid the risk of 'nicking' the ear.
Also the serrated edge blade of the scissors should always be to the left as you hold them (thats if you're right handed like me)
Hope this helps                    

[Mike]

Actually, I think it would be great if at some stage, you could come up with some more and make a series of photos at helping people groom their own dogs... what do you think? I am sure Stuart could find a dedicated place for them somewhere on the website.                    

[Michele]

Mike, if you (and anyone else of course) feel it would help, then I would be more than happy to oblige.                    

[FionaM]

It would really help me too Michele  

Fiona                    

[angelad]

Mike, if you (and anyone else of course) feel it would help, then I would be more than happy to oblige.

Yes it would be very helpful Michele. The only thing is in your message about the ears you say the serated edge should be towards the left, but in the picture it looks like it is to the right. Now I'm confused                    

[Fran]

Yes Michele, that would be really good if you could do 'Michele's tip of the day' (or week)                    

[Michele]

Yes it would be very helpful Michele. The only thing is in your message about the ears you say the serated edge should be towards the left, but in the picture it looks like it is to the right. Now I'm confused

Angela, it must be a trick of the light because they are the right way round. Perhaps I should explain the reason that you have them that way is because the serrated edge (which is the top blade if you hold them that way) 'thins' the hair whilst the straight under blade cuts. Logic in there somewhere
Also in the photo I'm using the blade quite a way down. Infact I only use just beyond the tips making smaller snips and so you get a finer neater job, rather than great chunks coming out at a time. Always remember though to snip & brush through. You can always repeat the process but you can't stick it back on :-