These instructions are intended for, and directed toward,
the non-professional
These instructions are NOT FOR SHOW DOGS.
Equipment needed:
Table top
Grooming noose or regular leash attached to the wall or somehow
overhead
Poodle Slicker Brush (flat with short wire teeth)
Medium comb with handle
Medium coarse stripping knife
Hair dryer (human is fine)
Shampoo (no conditioner built-in, no crème rinse) for
dogs
Cornstarch from grocery store
Thinning shears with cutting teeth on one side only
Alcohol
Cotton Balls
Q-tips
Sharp medium length scissors
Nail clipper
2 big towels
Baby/youth human toothbrush
Dog toothpaste
Begin: Brush coat thoroughly in sections against the growth of the hair
gently. Comb through coat to check for any tangles. Wet cotton ball
with alcohol and gently clean ears. Use Q-tips cautiously only on the
part of the ear that you can see. Do NOT stick the Q-tip down into the
ear canal. Beginning at the base of the dog's skull, part a small
section of hair and comb it straight up, grasp the wad of hair with your left
index finger and your left middle finger, with your palm up towards the ceiling
or sky, keeping the wad tight. Now decide how long you want the finished
coat to be. Slide your two
fingers that are holding the wad of hair up towards the ceiling with the thought
that you are going to remove the hair that is between the top of your two
fingers and the sky/ceiling. Push the wad back down towards the skin to put
a little slack into the wad, so, you are not pulling too hard on the wad of
hair. Now, take the stripping knife in your right hand and
tear/cut/remove all of the hair that you can that is sticking up above your two
fingers. You are doing this correctly when you have hair on both sides of the
stripping knife's teeth. If you are left handed, reverse the instructions.
Proceed in this manner from the base of the dog's skull to the base of the tail
and down the sides of the dog's body to the top of the hip and the top of the shoulder
on both sides.
Head: Use the same method gently on the top of the dog's head above the brow
bone, between the ears, but NOT in front of the ears. Comb the hair on
the back of the ears straight out and away from the ears and use your thinning shears
to shorten the hair on the back of the ears. You want to leave fluffiness
in front of the ear, so, that it sticks up about half way up the ear.
Very gently, using your thumb and index finger in a pinching motion, grasp a
few hairs at a time and tidy up around the bottom of the eyes and just between
the eyes. You still want the hair on the top of the nose to be fluffed up
and shaggy-looking. If you have long hair over the eyes, gently pull a
few hairs at a time until you can see your dog's eyes. You don't want
them to look butchered. Remove just enough so you can see the eyes.
Legs/feet: Usually non-show dogs don't have a problem with overly long
hair
on their legs because the owner's are
not cultivating the length. Turn the dog's foot over and trim any hair
that is sticking up flush with the pads. Do NOT trim anymore around the
feet, yet. Trim just the pointy tip off of the nails now.
Male dogs: Now look at your dog's penis and see if there is long hair
that is stiff with urine stains. If so, gently take your scissors and
trim the long hair back away from the end of the penis.
Underneath the body: Stand to the side (each side, individually) and
pluck just a few hairs at a time to try and even up the hair coat. You
want longer hair on the chest and a shorter line going towards the back of the
body. Do not butcher them. They need to just be neatened up, not
butchered.
Go and stand behind your dog facing towards his bottom. Take your left
hand and push the skin on the dog's back toward the back of his head.
Pluck any scraggly hairs with your thumb and index finger by grasping just a
few hairs at a time. Proceed in this manner over his whole back and down
to the top of the hips and shoulders.
Now look at the dog's pants and do the same thing with any scraggly hairs you see
obviously sticking out from the rest of the hairs. Do the same thing with
the back legs.
Tail: Push the tail up and look at it and envision a Christmas tree with
the wide base towards the dog's bottom. Pluck the hairs a few at a time
with your thumb and index finger while trying to make the Christmas tree.
Use your thinning shears (gently) to remove any long hairs around the
rectum. Do NOT touch the rectum with the scissors.
Now go stand in front of your dog and do the same thing with the chest hair and
any hair in front of the shoulders and down the front legs.
Face: chin, ruff, etc. Do the same pinching motion with your index
finger and thumb with just a few hairs at a time.
You are still striving for a wiry, shaggy look, so, don't get too crazy.
Just pull the obvious hairs that are sticking out from the rest of the coat.
Comb all of the hair in the direction of the growth.
If the tops of the shoulders and the tops of the hips are too full and not flowing
into the back of the coat, take your thinning shears and hold them vertically
with the points down toward the table top and gently cut one cut at a time down
into the hip hairs. Comb and then check to see if you need to make another
cut. Do only one cut at a time and then re-check before doing another cut.
Repeat this procedure on the shoulders.
Okay, stand back and take one more look and assessment. Don't worry about
any long hairs around the feet right now.
If everything looks good. It's bath time. Bathe the dog - don't
drown them. Be kind and gentle. Brush their teeth. Gently,
too. Especially if they are not used to having their teeth brushed.
Dry your dogs thoroughly with soft towels. Set your hair dryer on
low and use your fingers to fluff the hair as you dry on LOW -- no combing, no
brushing until dry.
When dog is dry -- now take your scissors and cut off any long hair around the feet.
Not too neat -- just tidy up.
Okay, here's the fun part. Take the cornstarch and put some into your
hands and rub into the dog's coat. Do this a little at a time all over
the dog's body, being careful around the eyes and ears. Rub the
cornstarch in well. Take a clean, dry towel and towel the dog off to remove
any excess cornstarch. Now comb
through the dog's coat thoroughly. Take your hands and mess up the
coat, so, it doesn't look too neat and butchered.
The end result, you should be a neat, but, not overly done (groomed excessively)
job.
The cornstarch will give the coat some body without putting any junk on it.
Some things to remember:
Your dog is not going to jump up and down with glee to have his
coat pulled
on. So, don't be a baby about it. This is just a
procedure that they need to
learn to tolerate.
If you do go a little overboard and take off too much hair, it
will grow back.
You can only screw up their coats if you take clippers to them.
After you have the job done well the first time, then, it is just
a matter of
10 minutes per day to keep the coat that way.
Remember, we don't like the dentist, but, we have to go, right?
I hope I didn't miss anything. If you have any questions,
or, don't
understand something -- just ask me.
So there you go. This is for everyone who has been asking
for some help.
I know that some of the instructions for grooming makes it sound
like you are
removing all of the undercoat, but, that is not true. You
remove only the
dead/loose hair, which is what will happen with the slicker
brush. You need
to
have some of the undercoat to give the coat the thickness it needs to stand
away from the dog's body and ripple when they move.
Good luck,
Karen (Grizzy, Tazzy & BooBoo)
Karen Johnston
Dirtbusters Grooming
Fall City WA