[poshpooch]

Hey groomers, I've been a groomer for a little over 2 years now and my mother in law recently adopted a standard. Well he's getting pretty hairy and I need some advice on his body structure. His hair is at least 3 inches long, his tail is docked way too short and his tail set is very low. I posted some pictures of him and was wondering if any experienced groomers could draw the lines and angles on him and repost the pictures so I can get some practice scissoring his body structure. Where I'm from all the standards that come in get a 7F all over with a tail and top knot, so we don't really get any in to scissor or set a pattern or body structure. I'm having trouble seeing where the angles should be especially with his awkward tail. Any help and advice is appreciated!! Thanks so much. =)

P.S. I'd really like to start clipping him in a German trim.:help:

 

[flyingduster]

I'll do some drawing later, but from a quick look at the pics I'd be taking his topline down really short (4F or 5F) especially on his rump to help alleviate the high butt thing he has going on, it'll also help 'bring' his tail set up a bit too. I like it short down the ass end personally, and also short-ish on the front of the neck/throat area to shorten the visual effect of his body. But otherwise, he's looking really nice!

 

[flyingduster]

ugh, i'm not happy with my editing, but it'll do:

I don't know what his tail is like or how low set it is, also don't really know his structure underneth the hair so you might not be able to do so much, but it might help anyway....? I cut into the front of the throat, the topline is all off, the butt and back of back legs is cut in a fair bit too (I personally use a 5F on Paris' butt), added a tail and a bit of hair on the neck. More hair on the hocks helps too, cos it all adds flair, but I didn't add that! lol

 

[poshpooch]

Thanks for your advice! So how far down his butt should I run the 5F? And should I start at his shoulder blades to run the 5F on his back and just scissor his TK into it and scissor the rest of his body to blend with the 5F on his back? I'm thinking his topline isn't perfectly level so should I do something a little longer and try to scissor it to look level? Sorry for all the questions! I would def like his hocks to grow out. When we got him his previous owner shaved everything b/c she said he got into something outside that wouldn't brush out...so I've been waiting for him to grow out and now that he has I felt lost and didn't really know what to do. I was able to go to the SuperZoo show in Vegas and it was awesome to watch Judy working on the poodles but of course she made it look so easy... and now I'm feeling overwhelmed when he's on the table and I'm trying to remember what to do.. :doh: Oh also does his chest need to grow out some? I was thinking it did but unsure..

 

[poshpooch]

What do you think? Still needs some work but I think its better. =)

Well I took a 1/2 inch snap on down his back and 1 length short on his butt and rear legs and scissored the rest of the body. I just blended the sides and took it a little shorter (first time really scissoring the body all over) should i run a comb down the sides of his body as well? or scissor it shorter? I also tightened up his neck but not sure if its tight enough. I know his TK needs to fill in in the back and his hocks need to grow longer. I think he has a sway back so I had trouble with his topline. Comments/advice please and thank you! Also do you think his TK is too... mushroomy? Should I tighten it up on the sides? I can't get the bevel on his feet right either...:wacko:

 

[Fluffyspoos]

Oooh, I think you did a great job! I love how well you blended his top knot into his neck, I don't think it looks like a mushroom at all but I'm also a sucker for big top knots..

 

[poshpooch]

Thanks Fluffyspoos! =) since we've finished the hair cut today every time he moves I see more hair to cut! I know he is thinking geeze when is this over!

 

[KPoos]

I think he looks really good. I love his coat, thick and very curly.

 

[flyingduster]

sorry I never saw your first reply!!

This is Paris' butt, and because of her thin coat and dark skin, you can see where I went with the 5F blade:

For the back/topline, I personally start behind the withers (top of the shoulder blades) right back to the tail, leaving the withers hairy so that there's plenty of room to scissor the neck into the body. And yeah, I'd use a snap on comb or scissor the body in, whichever you desire and whatever will suit. I personally hand scissor the body, because Paris is skinny, and so I put a totally false shape into her coat compared to her body underneath, if using a snap on comb then it follows the body and makes her look half the size. lol!

Sure you can grow his chest out a bit, but he's not too bad, and it sorta depends on how much hair all over you're wanting!

Now the new pics are great!! He does look like he has a bit of a sway back, but in the second pic, with the lines, can you take a little more length off the withers right by where the line touches it? It might help level out the look then, and let his neck do a nice wee 'swoop' up...

I think his sides look fine, but it's hard to see too! lol. He doesn't look overly 'poofy' though, which is the main problem if they're too hairy on the sides.

I think perhaps you could tighten up the throat a touch more, but at the same time it looks a lot better than it did so I wouldn't worry too much!

I love his topknot! A touch more length ontop like you put in the lines, but I like it!

The bevels on his feet look fine in the standing pics! Have you looked at my thread on doing bevels?? linky

Are you going to shave the tail or grow a pom?? If leaving a pom, then try shaving just a touch more around the base, I know it's a dumpy tail, but it looks more dump when there's NO stalk visable above his back. It only needs a fraction to show above his back to help I think, and then the pom can hopefully grow out a bit to hide the nub left! lol! Otherwise I'd be shaving it off and seeing what that looks like.


Looking GOOD though!!! Well done, and keep it up!!

 

[poshpooch]

Thanks Paris' mom!

Thank you sooo much for your advice and the pics of Paris do help a lot. =) I do agree he looks much better without the "high butt"! I will work on blending the neck in some more and shaving his poor little nub. For now I'll leave it as a pom until I talk to his mom about shaving it and his ears for a German. He's been staying the night while she's out of town so I haven't had a chance to talk to her about it. Oh btw I think Paris is beautiful

Ok so I posted a few more pics from this morning. You can see how much I took off his neck better in the one pic. So now I'm having this issue where whenever he lays on something or brushes against something he has indentions and lines in his coat... It wasn't really a problem before the scissoring when he was one length all over...and I know I need A Lot of practice.. but, do you think the lines are b/c I need to scissor more evenly or bc he is poofy or both? lol :juggle: