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Got scissors, need advise before I have at it any more

3K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  outwest 
#1 ·
I got my scissors and took a whack at trimming, but not too much. I asked her groomer to bath, brush and shave only so I can try my hand at the fun stuff. It is harder than I thought, but my new scissors work well. Before I do anything bigger I have some questions.

I cut straight down her legs to her bracelets to try for a more chest hair look. Bonnie looks leggy when completely shaved down, but with hair hanging down everywhere, she can look stumpy. Do I start the straight down angle at the very top of her leg? Should I cut the hair on the front of her legs even shorter?

Her neck hair is long, curly and thick, which is making her neck look bully. I assume I trim down on the sides and front leaving the back of the neck and blend it to the chest at the bottom of her neck. I wanted to check here before I have at it because I need to trim her neck hair a LOT.


On her topknot I am trying to get it rounded, coming forward over her eyes. I think this looks pretty good, although it needs to grow forward more. What do you think? It was cut straight up from her eyes a while ago-like a box. Does she need more at the back of her head?


I was trimming on her rear and forgot to make a little shelf there (duh). I tried to make one, but I got it wrong (it's too short, right?). I still have hair to work. Where does the angle begin? I know it ends at the pin bone. Also, I want to cut it short above her tail, but haven’t done it yet so it is pretty fluffy up there. AND, I cut a straight line down her leg, but would like to cut it close to the shape of her leg since you can't see the bend.


I am going to work on her bracelets (they're a mess(, but since I don’t know what the heck I am doing, I am taking it slow so I don’t get over zealous and hack away! snip, snip, snip!
 
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#3 ·
OK, I drew some lines on Ms. Bonnie for you. I'm sorry, I'm really awful at this stuff, and not everything looks exactly like I would personally do it on her. BUT, it will help you visualize the lines. :) Her butt needs to be shorter, way shorter, especially the back of her leg right at her bend. Her topline needs to come down, and her chest needs to be shorter as well. You're going to be tempted to leave a lot of coat on her chest to "build" it, but you actually cut into the front of her leg right where it joins the body to create the appearance of a chest. If you leave a lot of hair on her front, she's going to appear long, and since she already lacks a smidge of leg, she'll end up looking really dumpy. ;)

As far as her neck, yes she needs a bit more crest. And yes, you'll take coat off the sides of her neck, a lot actually. On Trev, I leave about 1/2", maybe a tad less. As you scissor, hold your scissors at a 45 degree angle and take the area right at her shoulder blade just a smidge shorter....it shows the shoulder layback that way. I wish you were closer so I could show you...that concept was really difficult for me to understand until someone showed me with scissors.
 

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#4 ·
Man, you guys on PF are amazing! I love hanging out in the grooming area and watching you draw lines on poodles. It amazes me that you know where to cut and where to leave the hair. I am learning so much by hearing the debate and seeing the before, during and after. I get pumped up and think I know what to do and then it is so different once you get your poodle up on the table. I get shear shock!

I hope I can some day see all these imaginary lines that you pros see! Thanks for educating us all.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Got it. Will try some of this. Bonnie actually looks great when she is super short because she has some substance. She doesn't look dumpy at all then, but with hair she can look dumpy. I visited a friend with a standard yesterday who was shaved down and her dog looked very spidery because of excessively long legs (but a sweet dog!). It is tempting to keep her shaved down, but I love having the extra hair, too. Tortoise, I will fluff her out more first. I haven't done much, just took a couple of snips. :) She has a chest, but I wasn't sure if I should leave the hair or cut it off. I guess I will cut it off?
 
#6 ·
Right, I agree about taking her shorter. If you have clippers, I would recommend taking down her body with those....trying to hand scissor the body takes forever and can be difficult! I use scissors mainly on legs, neck, and tk.

You can actually keep her fairly short while still leaving enough hair in certain places to make her look nice and elegant (not that she doesn't already, mind you. ;)), namely her stifle, hock, and neck. I usually take the outer/inner thighs fairly short on pets, (usually about 1/4 to 1/2 inch longer than the body) and for front legs I just make them balance with the rear ones.

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining things well enough. To be honest, I've gotten to the point where I just "do" things without really thinking about them, so writing everything here can be difficult...I tend to skip over things because I forget you don't read my mind. :D

ETA: yes, you'll cut most of the hair off her chest, especially considering that she already has one naturally. Trev is the same way, he has a decent fore chest so I just basically cut it the same length or shorter than his body while cutting into his front leg, if that makes sense.
 
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#7 ·
Yes, take down her chest. You want her body to look square. She is a little ong, so extra hair on her chest and rump are not doing any favors.

When you're learning (as I still am), visualize your final, then work slowly. Go back and forth between sides at first. Otherwise you'll learn to favor one side. Take photos frequently and look at them. Or look at your dog in a mirror. And post the photos here. It's better to get lots of feedback than to cut off hair that will take months to grow.
 
#8 ·
I am starting to wonder if I should shave her down again since I think she looks nice that way, but maybe not so much.

Here she is shaved down from February (sorry about the lousy exposures). She looks good to me this way, but I missed her soft hair. If I mess up her scissoring, I can always shave her down. :)


 
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