Grooming Smarter

Chinese Crested Grooming

 

_{Maddie, a hairy hairless Crested before grooming.}

_{Minnie showing of her pretty face.}

I know we do not see many of these dogs in our salons, but I do see a fair number, so my staff is familiar with how to groom them. Some people have no idea so I thought this would be fun to do a quick instructional blog on how "I" groom them.

There are several varieties of Cresteds, and Hairless, Hairy Hairless, VERY Hairy Hairless and POwderpuff are how we refer to them. A Very Hairy Hairless will actually grow a full covering of hair on their body and sometimes appears to be a puff to those who are not familiar with the breed. Her parents like her shorter than most people do, so we trim up her mane and boots a good bit. Because she is a "hh" she needs her body shaved and I shave it against the lay of the hair with a 40 setting on my Bravura.

 

_{Showing the hair she grows on her body}

Maddie is a Very Hairy Hairless and as a result grows a fairly good amount of hair on the body where a real Hairless would not. As a result, she needs shaving every month or so to maintain her correct breed appearance.

We use a 40 setting on a Bravura against the lay of the hair to achieve a proper Crested look on her. If you are a bit more adventurous and the dog will tolerate it, you can use a regular women's shaver with shaving cream. Many show crested people use Depilatory cream on the bodies to make them as smooth as possible.

The pattern basically sets itself on most Cresteds.

 

_{Maddie all trimmed up.}

Head: Their faces are generally shaved like a poodle, but some like to leave the cheeks fuzzy and only shave from the rear corner of the eye forward. Either is correct. Ears are also a personal choice and can be left fringed or shaved. I usually make that decision based on what the owner wants as well as how much hair they have. A thinner coated dog will not have enough ahir to make proper fringes and might look better shaved. I usually trim a visor on this breed, but some people prefer it natural and falling in their faces.

 

_{See how the mane falls into a natural pattern? Shave everything else, leaving the mane}

Body:The mane will generally set itself, and as my apprentice pointed out to me, it is almost the same shape and positioning as a Poodle's neckline. I like to lift the hair up and shave underneath it a bit as well. This keeps it nice and neat and allows the mane to not get out of control. Generally you would not trim it up very much, except for the split ends. Maddie however had a request to cut it shorter because "she is hot", so I did it. In the photos below you can see what it looks like naturally and what I did to it to make her dad happy.

 

_{Mane left natural, untrimmed.}

 

_{This is Maddie trimmed fairly tight.}

Legs: I clean out pads really well and grind nails with my Dremel. That is to prevent them from scratching themselves up badly after being clippered. The boots start aproximately 2 fingers above the knee joint in the back and then in front, try to make them the same height as the rear legs for balance. Go against the lay again on the legs, using caution not to cut the dog in the flaps of skin. You will have to really watch the lay. It can be in swirls, and your shaving direction will change often. If you do not adjust your clipping it will not be smooth.

 

_{Maddie's foot trimmed natural}

_{Maddie's foot trimmed tight}

Feet: The feet can either be trimmed tight to minimize dirt and trash being brought in on the hair, or left natural.

TAIL: The tail I usually shave about half of it and leave a tuft of hair at the end. Again, it can be left long or trimmed shorter.

Skin: A bath and conditioner is important after clipping. I also go over the dogs after shaving with a lotion and spray them with Benedryl Spray to minimize itching after such a close shave. Avoid Lanolin in the products you use because for some reason this breed tends to be sensitive to it. Hairless have a tendency to have bad skin and if you see one with Acne (blackheads) rest assured it is perfectly normal. Parents should be exfoliating weekly with a Benzoyl Peroxide shampoo and a shower puff. Extreme cases will need an acne medication and SeaBreeze Astringent seems to be the choice of many breeders. An over abundance of acne may need a vet visit for antibiotics and a change in food is likely to relieve some of it. Sunscreen is also a mandatory item for hairless and hair hairless dogs to prevent sunburn or sun poisoning which results in blistering and peeling of the skin.

_{This is Minnie a Crested/Bichypoo mix sporting her pony trim}

This breed is actually very easy to groom yet because we do not do it often, many have no idea how to do it properly. The cut is sometimes called a Pony Clip, and it can be put onto other breeds as well. Yorkies, Maltese and many mixes are prime candidates for this type of trim. Powderpuff cresteds are often put into this trim as well. It is completely possible to do this trim with any length blade you like. I do a mixed breed of my own in this style with a 7F. In the winter we go up to a 4F. WHen people see it they are more likely to let you put it on their dog, so it helps to have photos (or a dog) for people to see it on.

S_{crappy is Minnie's Brother but looks like a powderpuff to most people.}

Powderpuffs can be done in the Pony Trim or an even all over trim. Sometimes their legs can be trimmed longer than the body, but since their legs are so long and skinny that is harder to do than it might appear. In many cases, powderpuffs and mixes of cresteds and anything else will have a made that patterns itself in. The hair is a different texture and tends to lay flat where the mane would appear on a hairless.

_{You can see the way the mane is self setting the pattern on his back ven though his dad was not a crested.} 

For more information on this breed you can go to Crestars, for the most comprehensive site on the breed I have seen.

Meet Shadow, My Hurricane Katrina Success Story

We all say that if there was a need for us to evacuate we would take our pets with us. NO WAY would we ever leave them behind. I fully believe that many people in New Orleans and the Coast of Mississippi found themselves in a situation they never thought they would find themselves in after Hurricane Katrina ran ashore with the fury and destructive power that she had behind her. Many had taken their pets to shelters, and many had left them in places that had ever before been flooded. They thought they were safe doing those things. They thought they were going home the next day after the storm like they always had. Sadly, for some, they never did go home. For some they never left their homes. I saw firsthand the damage that this storm inflicted on the area in the days immediately following the storm and cannot imagine the horror and fear that the residents must have experienced in the hours leading up to the end of the storm. A friend of mine who raises cockers tell a story of his partner, himself, 4 cocker puppies and 7 adult cockers in the closet of their master bedroom on the second floor of their home watching water come in thinking they were going to die. I cannot imagine how terrified they and their dogs must have been. I hope I never have to experience it personally.

There are so many horror stories of what happened to people in this storm. Many were forced to relinquish control of their pets at the SuperDome, at schools and other city and county facilities they had taken refuge in. They had no idea that they were going to be taken away from the area on buses and that they would not be allowed to bring their pets with them. Remember the little boy screaming hysterically at the SuperDome as the aid worked took away his dog Snowball? It is one of the most vivid memories in many people's minds after the storm was over and there was nowhere for them to return home to. http://epicroadtrips.us/2003/summer/nola/nola_offsite/Katrina/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_(Hurricane_Katrina_dog).html

While Snowball and his boy captured the media - and the world's - attention, there were thousands of other stories that went untold. Like the ones behind these photos.

There were some success stories:

But for every one of those images there were hundreds of these:

 

There were stories too horrific to read completely, like what happened in St Bernard's Parrish in Louisiana when the people who had sought shelter in the school were forced to leave their pets behind, assured they would be returning to save them, only to find out later that it never happened, and probably was never intended to happen. WARNING! THIS WILL UPSET YOU! http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/KATRINA/DOGSHOOTING/HISTORY.htm

After the storm passed we had rescue groups step in to help relocate and try to save as many pets as possible. No one is sure of the exact number of pets saved, or of those reunited. It is estimated that less than 25% of all animals rescued from the area were reunited with their rightful owners. Many people are probably still wondering "What happened to our dog" and many are hoping like hell that their beloved pet found a safe, loving home.

I know of at least one cocker that did find a tremendous and happy home.

Houston Cocker Rescue stepped up and took in hundreds of cocker and cocker mixes. We were asked if we had room to take in a few and we did. I had a client who had lost their buff female cocker, so we requested rescue send us a buff female. We got Abby. Abby had survived the SuperDome only to be handed over to rescue after the family discovered their home was destroyed and they were being sent to a shelter in Houston. She was handed over to rescue directly. We knew her name, her history and her story. She was a sweet dog. My client however did not end up with Abby.

Included in the dogs my husband brought back from his run to Montgomery AL to pick up the dogs was a very pretty, very loving black cocker spaniel the rescue had named Buddy. We knew nothing about him at all except that he was found recently groomed, wandering the streets of New Orleans after the flooding with flood water and debris in his coat. The rescue said he was covered in sewage and trash but oh so sweet. They shaved him, bathed him and took him to a foster home; hoping that whoever lost him would come looking. No one ever did. I knew that if I could not find a home for this pretty black boy he would stay with me. He was so loving it was obvious he had been loved and cared for. It broke my heart that he was now living in limbo. How confused he must be! ALL of them must be confused for that matter!

When we had the dogs safe in the shop, I called Pam and Larry and they came in to pick up Abby. When they walked past Buddy's cage he stood up and barked and went to wagging all over. It was as if he knew this couple. Pam stopped and scolded him saying "BOY! Who do you think we are?" and Larry said "He knows we are here for him" and they never even looked at Abby. They took him home that day and they have been in love with him ever since. Now, don't feel sad for Abby, because last I heard she was very happy living a good life with a family that truly loves her. She had a lot of issues related to stress and abandonment to be worked on, but she did well.

Buddy was housebroken, picky about his food, will not drink the water if it is not cold – he actually prefers that it have ice in it- and he loved their other dog, Sidney. They changed his name because Buddy didn't feel "right" to them, and he became Shadow because that is what he is. He is their shadow, waking everywhere they walk, taking care of the grandbaby, and letting them know if Sidney got out of line. He does have one issue they cannot fix. He is afraid of rain. DEATHLY afraid of rain. He will run and get on the bed when it rains and will not come off until it stops. We can only imagine what he went through that horrible week or so he was wandering the city looking for his family, but it still haunts him to this day.

The good news is he has found a new family. They love him very, very much and they want me to tell you all that if he is your dog you were missing, he is safe and sound. You cannot have him back. They would do anything for him. He misses you, but he is happy where he is. Rest comfortable knowing he is safe and loved.

There was some good news to come out of this tragedy. Shadow, as they call him now, was one of those stories. Shadow is on the right and Sidney, their other cocker and Shadow's partner in crime is on the left. They lost Sidney about a year ago so now it is only Shadow at home.

 

So, out of the tragedy that was "Katrina" came stories of hope and success as well as horror and regret. Things that happened during this crisis taught us all how to do things in a better way. I hope there is never another situation like this in our history. I do not condemn those who made the choices I do not understand. I rather commend those that helped and made a difference and honor those that sacrificed of themselves to help or save others, both human and animals alike. We can all say "I would never leave my dogs" but how do you know until you are faced with the ultimate decision: My kids, my life or my dogs? How do you choose? Hopefully none of us will ever be in that situation. I do not know how I would respond, but like the family that lost Shadow, I would always wonder "what happened" if I had to do the unthinkable. I can only hope that they would find someone to love them like he did.

I praise all of you who were involved in the rescue efforts. The world owes you a lot. More than we can ever repay. And for those of you who lost, we feel your pain and wish we could help relieve it in some way; like letting you know dogs like Shadow and Abby are happy and healthy. It might make a difference in your life somehow knowing that there were stories of hope and love. I hope it helps. It helps me.

 

 

January's Featured Pet, Marley

Meet Marley, the Goldendoodle! I only groom one of them, and her dad drives all the way from Savannah to here, roughly 3 hours or so, to get her done.

He likes her shaggy, so all we do is shape her up with thinning shears. This is only the second haircut she has had because he had a hard time finding a groomer that would do something besides shave her down. Not sure why no one would do what he asked for, but he said they refused. She had been bathed and brushed, but not trimmed ever. She is 16 months old. Perfect on the table. Next visit she will look even better but I enjoyed working on her.

My technique is to treat her like a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. I use the same thinning shear technique as I do on Wheatens and the "shake and fall" method of making the hair lay after combing. To do this, you shake one side of the body and let the hair on the other side fall where it wants. Then repeat on the other side. It makes the hair lay in a natural state and it can still be uneven, but lay properly. I use this technique on all types of coats, including poodles, and every thinning sheared dog. It is something I learned off an old SCWT video. It is wonderful to make the coats lay where they belong, not where I want them to.

At any rate, if all Goldendoodles behaved like this one, and had great owners, no groomer would dislike grooming them. I am grateful that both my large Doodles are well cared for, well mannered dogs.

Here's wishing you the same!

December Pet of the Month, Bella

Meet Bella Beck, a 9 month old field coated American Cocker that was in for her very first haircut today. Her dad had no clue what he wanted, he just knew she needed some help to be as gorgeous as she could be so he gave me free reign. She was a perfect angel for the entire process.

 

Field coated cockers are harder to trim in my opinion that full coated ones are in many cases. One of the reasons is that their coat is harsher and thinner, leaving no room for error and no undercoat to help with fill in.

The legs are hard to trim, so I did  lot of carding to help remove the fuzzies and just evened up the feathers on the rear of the legs. The feet were done like Golden Retriever feet, combing the hair up and using thinners to remove and shape the hair I wanted to remove.

       

Her back, since it was straight and coarse, was tricky to do. She had long hairs mixed in with short ones and I chose to use a 3mm Speed Feed comb over the 40 setting to just take off the extra length without cutting down into that hard hair. Cutting into it would have resulted in way more lines than I got this way. Be sure to follow the way the hair lays when you clipper a cockers back, especially if the coat is hard. Doing that will minimize lines and tracking. Remove any remaining clipper lines with a stripping knife.

 

I used a 9 setting on my Speed Feed with the grain on her ears, head and face because any shorter would have been out of balance with the rest of the dog.

Hopefully this will help you the next time you get one of these dogs to work on.

Never fear, the Labradoodle client CAN be sensible! November pet of the month

Please don;t hate me, but I only have one Labradoodle client. I know, I know, but it is NOT my fault. I live in an area full of small lap dogs and this craze of bigger doodles has not hit here. Thankfully.

Meet Nani. She is a 4th generation Labradoodle from Hawaii.

 

 Her family is military and transferred here recently. When she called me, I was worried. But talking to her she said the dog had been groomed every 6 weeks since was 12 weeks old. I booked her in fully expecting to see a mess walk through the door.

What I got was an owner who said, "I know they say they don't shed, but BELIEVE ME they do!" and then she said, "She looks more like a poodle than anything, so except for her feet we do her like a poodle only really short. Shaved face, short body, round feet, short topknot and ears. My husband runs with her every morning and he doesn;t want to be seen with a sissy dog, so we go Marine Short!" She also said that when her breeder told her she didn;t need to be brushed or bathed she thought "yeah right! How dumb would you have to be to believe that?" and immediately went looking for a groomer.

I have never seen a better behaved dog than Nani. Never a mat, never dirty. Just happy, slightly nervous and always a joy to work on. She is groomed in the summer with a 7F and a zero on her head, in the winter a 1 comb with the vac and a zero on the head. Easy Peasy Labradoodle!

So as you can see, not all Doodle people are crazy. Now, we won't talk about cocker people!

Home Grooming Done WELL! October Pet of the Month.

Last week I got this phone call from a new client who had seen a dog I groomed recently. It was a 4 all over on a matted standard poodle that has been groomed twice at 1 year old. She was oohing and ahhing and saying how much she LOVED the haircut. It turns out she was having her dog's photos done and since she was not a groomer she wanted them done professionally so they could look their best.

Red Flags are flying at this point! Home groomed dogs, pictures, her expression of love for my work. ALL set me to thinking the worst. She had a poodle and a maltese. I reluctantly booked her an appointment for Saturday as she lives over an hour away. I was truly not excited about this new client and almost dreading what would walk in my door.

I was in shock when they arrived. They were knot free, ears plucked, sanitaries and nails done (and done WELL), and they were freshly bathed and dried, and she had done the shaved feet on the poodle already! I was floored. they looked GREAT!

All I had to do was bevel the feet and shape the face of the poodle, and trim the visor on the maltese (three and a half pounds recovering from open heart surgery) and we used a straightening comb to help his hair lay flatter.

I was so thoroughly pleased at her quality of work that I offered her a trainee position. She declined, but I think she is one of those people who would make a terrific groomer! A natural. She did all the work you see below with a pair of hairdresser shears and a Wahl Tidbit/Peanut Trimmer.

Here are some pictures of her poodle BEFORE we groomed him. Not my style, but HONESTLY all we did was bevel the feet, set some angulation in the rear and shape the face a bit. The rest is all owner!

 

The after photos are not usable as my son forgot to turn on the flash, but the point was that not all home grooms are bad. Granted, this one is exceptional, but sometimes our worst fears do not materialize. I know this was a home groom by the way as there is no groomer in their town and her friends have all told me about her. I groom for half the staff at the vet clinic she works for. She does the other half.
 

July Pet of the Month

This is CiCi Duke.

 

She is a pound puppy and we have no clue whatsoever what she is a mix of but she has a soft thick undercoat similar to a pomeranian and wiry out coat as well. 

We start her out by bathing her with a nice, crisp shampoo to help the coat stay fluffed and a spray on conditioner, fluffing her by hand, not cage drying her at all. I add a but of Mousse to her head to make the hair stand a tad better but it really stays up well on its own.

The body is done with a snap-on comb. I use a zero in the summer and an A or B in the winter. The underline if the dog is so thick (she is a bit heavy in the body but we will not call her chubby) we have to take it to the skin and even on the sides, cut it in a bit to give her the illusion of shape.

 

The legs are shaped by being skimmed down with a comb two sizes longer than the body. I do not touch the skin, just skim the hair off and then add angulation (with a comb smaller than the body)above the hock and scissored to a point at the point of rump. The feet are beveled like a cocker and the legs scissored in. Her coat is so nice the scissoring is a piece of cake. Her back legs appear bigger than her front legs, but it the legs themselves not the length of hair. I measured three times to be sure.

  

Her head is easy to do. I tip the ears with a ten blade, a fingers width on the inside and outside. Then I scissor them to a sharp points, I do not take the hair out of the corners of the eyes with a blade, I use thinners to shape a diamond between the eyes into the stop and down the nose a bit. On the top and sides of the head, I use thinners to round it off, similar to a Westie, but shorter on top so that it doesn't fall into her eyes immediately after grooming.

We shape the tail by holding it out, allowing it to flag and trimming the ends with shears to remove anything that is not neat in appearance. Mom like it long and it suits her.

 

This clip can be done on any dog large or small and using the combs makes it a lot faster and easier to acheive the soft, teddy bear look she has when she's done. Have fun grooming!

June Pet of the Month

 

Bob is a Morkie (Maltese, yorkie mix) and he is my puppy. I simply adore this dog.

I have been studying the Japanese and other Asian countries grooming styles for several years and I found a photo of a Westie done by a Japanese handler that I fell in love with. I have utilized that style, modified to a shorter trim, on many yorkies in my salon, but on Bob the style, even in full length, is perfect for his body type and suits his lifestyle as well.

In this groom, preparation of the coat is extremely important. The legs and “skirt” get dried down, not fluffed and the back gets dried the same way. You want those parts of the coat to lay flat. The head on the other hand is fluffed UP with mousse or hairspray or gel (your choice) worked into the coat while drying. I use Freeze It hairspray, applied to the roots while drying with heat to help stand the head up. Of course, on pets in the shop the legs (if cut shorter) would get fluffed. I would probably put product into the legs as well to help them stand up better. I use product in the pets in my shop, just as I would for my competition dogs because it helps me get a better groom on their pet that holds up better in the long term.

His back work is done with thinning shears shaped into a very angulated Westie pattern with more of a schnauzer back leg. I like the shoulders really tight and in a V shape, similar to the way I groom a cocker spaniel. The skirt is angled pretty severely in this groom, but in the shop you can soften it up quite a bit and still keep the basic groom intact. I also cut in the legs at the back of the front legs and the front of the back legs using my thinning shears to separate them from the skirt. That separation is what keeps the Asian flair in this groom.

On the throat, and shoulders, I use thinning shears to take it almost to the skin, blending into the shoulders. This is also similar to a cocker spaniel groom. On pets I use the Speed Feed set on a 9 in most cases. The chest is also tight and typical of a cocker front, with a VV groomed into the front, with the outside points making the point of shoulder.

His legs are full length, almost to the floor with feet that bevel like cocker legs. In the shop I would be more likely to scissor the legs into columns, shorter to make the care at home easier for the owner.

His ears tip, they do not stand, so I do not shave the tips. I scissor them in the shape of the ear, slightly rounded and blended into the head hair. On dogs, like Toto (pictured below), where the ears stand up, I tip the ears with a ten blade on the inside and then scissor the edges crisp to make a sharp point. You can also trim the ears inside and out with the blade of your choice if you like. When tipping the ear, I tend to do one finger width from the tip. Hold your finger sideways against the ear and trim to that point. If you tip too much off it will make it harder to round the head.

 

I thinning shear the corners of his eyes, but not to the skin. I leave the hair there about ¼ of an inch to mimic the head of a Westie. The rest of the hair is shaped into a circle and sprayed to assist it in standing. I also tease sections of it to make it look more like a Westie would appear. I do not tease pets in the shop, but I do tease Bob in the ring, after scissoring the head. I set the heads with a final spray of Freeze It to lock in the shape.

I like to open the eyes up, so I take a short pair of curved shears curved into the eye and go really short. That opens up his eyes and makes it easier for him to see longer. I use a pair of curves with double finger rests so I can flip them around to do the opposite side of his face easily. This opening of the eyes is critical to making the expression appear the way it does.

His tail is also thinning sheared short. I would love to leave a carrot tail but he doesn’t have the hair to do that. His tail actually curls over his back and if you leave the hair it tends to flag, which is not what I want it to do.

In the shop environment when time is of the essence, I use a short snap-on comb, usually with my Speed Feed (can you tell how much I love that clipper?) and the 3mm is my choice most of the time. You can use a 7F to a 4F if needed.

This cut is really adorable on Yorkies and mixes with a similar shape, curly coats, flat coats and pretty much any dog you can think of.

May Pet Of The Month

Well, imagine that! It's still May and I am already posting the May Pet! I have been lax in posting timely pictures lately, but I am trying to get better.

This month  is a bit different for me because I am doing two different dogs at once. They all have really different heads for their types and I wanted to share that with you.

Here is "Jonah" Countryman:

 

He is a Peke-poo and has a wonderfully plush coat. His dad brought him in this morning and asked that we just take a tiny bit off the body. He had a rather typical round head like most of use tend to do on a Shih-tzu or similarly shaped dog. He didn't like that style and asked that we cut the top of the head flat. With a little further discussion we decided to leave eyebrows and I decided to leave a bit of a beard rather than a full face on him.

I did the body with the Speed Feed clipper (it its truly my favorite clipper of all times) with the 9mm snap on comb on his body and the 12mm in his legs, blending well with shears. This took off just a small amount of hair, mostly what was out of line with the main length already on the puppy. The body is pretty much a standard clip for my salon. We do a lot of those Teddy Bear type trims here. What made this groom special was the head. I LOVE this head!

I used a 3mm snap on with the Speed for his throat and cheeks, clipping in reverse. I made my lines similar to a schnauzer. The lines are very similar. The main difference was that I shaved the ears with the 3mm also instead of taking it down with a ten like I would on a schnauzer. In other words, I left them slightly fuzzy.

I also took the 3mm down his throat floating off into the chest. Most dogs of this type are blessed with cowlicks on their chests leaving nice bald spots when clipped too close. By using the Speed with the 12mm  comb, and skimming over that area I can avoid showing those. I use my thinners to shape that area after clipping it with the Speed.

This is "Scooter" Truman, a Pom-Shih-tzu mix.

 

When this photo was taken we left the fringe on his ears untouched. We use thinners down his nose all the way and shape it into the muzzle. The head is treated as if it was a seperate piece from the ears. It is done with curved shears, making it round. Because he has such a soft coat I have a hard time getting him smooth, but using the Speed snapons makes it easier than it was when I was trying to use a blade. I follow up with thinners to smooth it out.  Here hs is from the side and again with his ears trimmed. I like him better with long ears and so does his daddy. (I did see the fringe on his ears was not even and fixed it but had already taken the photos. )

 

I  hope that these heads and tips help you make your pets look cute and make it easier for you to acheive a groom that your clients love and that fits their pets personality.

April's Pet of the Month

This is Rusty Harrell. He is a Lhasa/Poodle mix according to his mom and dad.

He has soft hair that is rather difficult to cut, and they like him rather fluffy, which is a nice change in this area. We tend to see a lot of short, short clips on dogs like this.

We start out by bathing him and fluff drying him. We use Stazko shampoo and spray for coats of this type because it leaves them with enough texture to stand well and yet has some properties which prevent matting in between grooming and dematting abilities while drying is taking place.

I used my Speed Feed trimmer by Laube on this dogs body and legs, follwed by scissoring the legs into the shape I wanted. On the body I used the 6mm comb and on the legs I used the 12mm comb, not quite touching the leg the entire way down, more skimming in the front of the legs from the knee to the foot to make the legs more columnar. On the rear of the back legs, in the area of the muscle on the thigh, I used the 6 MM to shape in angulation, scooping out an area shorter than the rest of the leg. it just looks better to me and makes angulation easy and fast. You can see in the image below how it was done.

His head is a squared off chin with a rounder head, similar to a bell shaped Bichon style head. THey like him squared off because, as his mother says, it makes him look "manly". The rounder head made him look like a girl to her.

This entire groom took about 30 minutes using those snap on combs. If he was hand scissored it would have taken closer to an hour.

THe head is not as flat as it appears in this photo, it had been squished (love that technical term, don't you?) when we were trying to get him to stand still for me. I apologize for the glowing eyes. My grooming room requires flashes and dog eyes don't like flashes.