Yep! You can definately do them easily with a snap on used to set the length and shape on overgrown heads to make them faster, easier and more consitent.
We have all had these overgrown, massive heads presented to us from time to time. Many people start whittling away and it takes them forever, and goodness help us if the dog jerks, or leans at the wrong time, because all that shaping is out the window.
I like to get things done fast, and that includes overgrown poodle topknots or bichon and teddy bear heads. Snap on combs help me to do just that.
This post will concentrate on a poodle topknot today and I will cover teddy heads and bichony heads in another post as well as a webinar! The tricks are as follows:
- Comb out the head completely.
- Comb it UP and Forward.
- Using a SS comb (I use my Bravura) you go from back to front in the center of the skull.
- On the sides, stand your clipper up at a 90 degree angle to the ears and set your ear line, going back to front.
- Comb it again, up and forward, and go from front to back.
- Then, if you like, you can go from center of the face to ears holding the clipper upright.
- Then you comb, shape with shears and you are done in no time flat.
Now if you are wanting to leave a shelf over the eyes (I rarely do that in my salon because people will complain the hair is in the dogs eyes in a weeks time) then skip the part about going front to back and only go center to ears.
When you come from back to front, you have to be careful not to dig and to float off towards the nose as you come off the head.
You choose your comb size based on how large the dog is and how short you want the topknot to be. I generally use an A on toys, a C on most minis, and if I had to do a standard I would likely SKIM with a C, not touching the head with the comb, just shaping the hair fast. You can go shorter if the owner wants a short topknot. Ther are no set rules, just practice to figure out what works best depending on coat and owner preference.
Here is a brief Video clip of me setting a topknot on a toy. I had already used this technique to remove the majority of his hair before it dawned on me to video it. I will try to replace this video shortly, but you can see how it is done and what the comb does to make this easier and faster.
On more note. If the sides of the head are too long and you want to drop a size or two down in combs, you can do the sides of the head in front of the ears, b y just coming straight off the ear towards the nose. DO NOT cut across the eyes, draw a straight line from the ears to the front of the topknot. That will reduce your scissoring and make it more consistent as well.
Hope this helps you out! With the summer shavedown season fast approaching this is a technique that will save you loads of time.
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