Ears and clipping first attempt

[busterdan]

OK I have read the threads and should have the Coat King, Spratts comb, Gotta thinners and Mars trimming scissors....

I think I'm OK with the various parts of Ollie's coat and what needs to be combed/stripped... however I'm unsure about the ears.

Should these be thinned and combed/stripped or just combed/stripped.

I lke the slightly furry texture of the ears so don't want to loose this by getting too carried away with the thinners... at the moment though his ears are quite untidy.

Thanks for your help... this will be my first attempt so wish me luck - I'll take before and after pictures too. 

[Potter]

Good luck with your attempts.   

I've got all the equipment too, and very gingerly keep our Daisy's paws trimmed as they end up like overgrown Moonboots (if you can remember those!)

With the ears, I find Daisy gets very hairy and prone to little mats underneath and at the back of the ear - if that makes sense?  So I bought a dvd on trimming (as recommended by this site) and watched how they scissor trimmed those bits - and then I copied it.     Be warned - some don't like the sound of the scissors close to their ears.  So you'll need to be ready for sudden jerks - which is truly alarming!  But lots of treats and encouragement will win the day!

Good luck!  Take it slowly, little and often, and end on a good note, even if you have half the trimming done that you wanted to get done.  Might look a bit odd, but at least you won't put your puppy off the whole experience.

Kay

[busterdan]

Oh yes I can remember moonboots.... only just of course 

Thanks Potter... so a bit of thinning and then trim the edges to tidy.

I think the scissors are silenced so perhaps that might help... I think the most difficult part might be down the throat as there seems to be alot of lose skin so it would be easy to nick him.

[busterdan]

Well here's our first attempt!...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPXaW0IWOPE

He was a very good boy and mostly sat still.

Also some more pictures at the bottom of the list here http://dan.bikehackers.com/ollie/ (the ones dated 2008-01-24.....)

[Potter]

Oh I think he looks wonderful!      Goodness me, Daisy looks like a woolly mammoth by comparison!    You've clearly got the hang of this and will save yourself a small fortune over the years.  Well done!

Kay

[busterdan]

Well I suppose the fact that he had be shaved just a few weeks before means he probably isn't as furry as he could be... but hopefully we can now keep it up and he'll look nice and neat 

[Michele]

Well done for having a go yourself 

Only other thing I can suggest is you might want to tidy the tops of Ollie's ears (about one third).

This photo shows how to hold the ear and which direction the scissors should go.


Also it's good to do the inside's too, to allow air circulation. 

[busterdan]

Thanks Michele, we'll give that a try