[Raena]

I was thinking keeping zulu in a modified modern when she is all grown up, but i want her ears shaved like in a german trim. I'm really nervous about doing this for the first time (i have a feeling im going to mess it up some how!!) Do any of you have any suggestions on how to start? Pros or cons of shaved ears? Or any input for that matter!!

 

[Birdie]

Pros: shaved ears are adorable! they're unique too, and are a very different look for poodles

Cons: it takes forever to grow back, so if you get tired of the short ears look it's gonna be there for a while.

Personally, I love the shaved ears look, especially on dark dogs. I think it looks really sleek and elegant, but it might not suit all dogs. I don't think Desmond would look good in it with his ear-set. I trimmed his ears short, and now I'm waiting for them to grow out nice and long. xD
The only tips I can give (as I've never shaved ears before haha) is to be very careful and only go with the grain! But I think I'll wait for the pro groomers to give you better advice.

 

[KPoos]

I'm definitely not a pro but what I did with Harry was use the #10 blade and went with the grain of the hair. I flattened his ear with my hand and went over it a few times. Trim the edges with scissors and lift the ear up so that you can see the ear leather and not cut the edge by accident. You need to sort of see in your mind what type of trim you want for her topknot and cut accordingly with the ears. For instance if you'd like her topknot to be a little more on the narrow side then you can go a little higher up on the ear. If you'd like it to be more round start lower. I'd start lower and then go up if I didn't like the look of that. On my black male I like keeping his ears short and his head pretty round.

 

[flyingduster]

I'd start with it a bit longer, so if you panic and back out, you haven't gone totally nekkid. lol! And yes, don't shave right from the very very base of the ear, or you'll end up with a pin head look cos it'll cut into the topknot a lot, especially if he has higher set ears! Leave the base as-is, and just trim from where it folds down, you can always trim more, but you can't put it back!

I quite like a scissored 'muff' look too:

though on a black dog the nekkid ear looks great. In saying that, I'm currently growing Paris' ears out from a 10 blade, and this is as long as they are after 4 months so far:

yes, it's taking forever! lol.

 

[KPoos]

I can't wait until I can do muffs on Harry's ears. They need at least another month of growing and he'll have them. I will say that I think the shaved ears look a bit masculine. I will never do them on Mia.

 

[Raena]

Thank you, thank you thank you!!!!