What shall I use to trim my dogs bottom?

Archie's breeder told us to keep the hair around his anus short and tidy. I'm just wondering whether I should do this with scissors or clippers? I'm reluctant to use clippers as Archie is quite wiggly these days, but scissors don't seem to cut it short enough?

I use thinning scissors and just take off a little at a time

i knew there was a good reason for having a short haired dog

loL .....YEAH NO BUM HAIR .....

just the way i like it

, Oh Archie, I feel for you - did you ever think your mum would discuss this on a puplic forum

Tuti, I think the best thing to do is scissor the area nice and short - get a good pair of sharp scissor with a rounded edge/tip . Use these for all the delicate areas, but you should be able to strip the rest of the hair on his bum - just a few hairs at a time. Olive lets me strip most of that area, but usually I will scissor the most sensitive "bits" - on Archie that would be his little tinkle as well. Some people clip this area, which is fine if you don't have a wriggler. Olive is terrified of clippers, so they are a definate no-no for us.

I should add, make sure the area is nice and clean before you start, give it a wipe down with some dog safe astingent, then leave to dry.

Good Luck

thanks guys

Olive we just had a great grooming session on the table outside in the garden

His puppy fluff is coming out by the handful and there's lots of wiry hair coming through I did the bum with scissors and he didn't object to much

A couple of questions for you: I'm just using my hands at the moment, as I'm waiting for the grooming lessons before I start with the stripping knoves One thing I've noticed is that the long hair seems to be coming out fully, but there's a fair bit of shorter hair underneath. Is this his undercoat? Should I rake it or just leave it? It's quite firmly attached....

Also I tried some of the hairs on his face but they're also firmly attached, is this normal or do they need to be pulled harder? The hair on top of his head is coming out fine but around his muzzle it doesn't seem to want to come out. Shall I just wait 'till it feels a bit looser?

Thanks

Sorry Olive more questions lol.


I haven't really had the guts to go near his 'little tinkle' exceot to clean it. Those long hairs on the end.... should they be there or do they need cutting? I assumed they were there for protection....

Also do I need to use chalk? Archie's hair is coming out fine without it at the moment, but I'm about to order some stuff so shall I get some chalk?

Glad to hear it's going good .

The undercoat, is softer and finer to the touch and generally has a wee bit of curl to it. The topcoat will be wiry, with a definate tip, and is usually a deeper colour than the undercoat (but not always) - if you run your hand against the growth of the hair you should be able to feel if the new topcoat is coming through, it's jaggy. This hair you see could be the new topcoat mixed in with the undercoat, but I would rake the full body anyways as it is a good idea to take out a little of the undercoat at each grooming session. The new top coat will not come out by raking . You will soon learn to differentiate between the two coats.

The hairs on the face are generally harder to strip and this is often where the chalk comes in handy. I sometimes put on a pair of rubber gloves to strip the hair on Olives face, as it gives you better grip and reduces the amount of finger slide with each pull. Take your time stripping the face as you can end up with a baldy dog very quickly - take it for me Remember that when you are stripping the beard, you really only want to shape it and take out stay hairs. I rake Olive's beard quite regularly as it freshens it up, I finish off the beard by dusting it with some Bicarbonate of Soda (helps keep the smells away). Once you get the stripping knives, you will be able to use the fine knife to strip the face, it make it so much easier to grab the hair and take the right amount of hair out with each pull.

I would trim the hair on his tinkle, more so to stop drips than anything else

It sounds like you are doing just fine

Just a wee note on eyebrows. When you come to do them, brush all the hair forward over the eyes, then visualise a line that you want to take the eyebrows back to, start plucking all the hairs after that line. Eyebrows are a very personal thing and I have seen breeders produce very different styles, often depending on the size, shape of eyes. The WFT eyes should be quite small, so if the eyes are large more hair is left on to disguise this. Eyelashes IMO are best cut with scissors and not stripped out (although they will come out quite easily).