Dog Clipping

The dog to be clipped should stand on a table over which thereshould be hook of some kind to attach to a leash from its collar. Byplacing your hand under its crotch you can make the dog understandthat it must stand, and it will eventually learn to pose like a statue.

When you are plucking, hold the handle of the plucking blade inyour right hand with your thumb at a short distance from the serratedblade's edge. Press the edge against the hair, apply thumb pressure, andpull. The hair cut is released by removing your thumb. Repeat thesesteps for another comb full. The motion becomes quite rapid as youlearn the method. Pull, pull, pull, pull as quickly as you can make yourhand go. The long, old hair gives way quite easily and, in a short time,you can pluck out a good-sized patch, leaving only the curly undercoat.All of the neck and body is stripped. The legs are left as they are, andonly the very longest hair is pulled out to make the legs look large,straight, and cylindrical. The hair on them is left considerably longerthan the body coat.

The head receives different treatment. Showmen often clip the headwith electric clippers, trimming the cheeks, the top of the head, andthe ears. If you have no clipper, however, you can safely use a safetyrazor. The guard will prevent shaving the hair too closely. Cut the hairon the top of the nose to the same length as that on the top of the headbut, starting at the brim, allow the hair down along the lips to beincreasingly longer, to form the beard. From the rear angle of themouth backward and underneath the eye, the hair is short. The onlylong hair is on the eyebrows and beard. When you have finished willsthe head, the long hair of the beard should produce a line under theface, parallel to the line from the eye to the top of the nose. The hairon the feet should be cut with scissors to give them the appearance ofround cat feet.

There is no reason to make grooming a chore. You need not try tocomplete the job at one session. If your dog is uneasy or gets tired, stopfor a while and let it rest. After you have finished, look at another dogof the same breed which has been groomed by a professional - at a dogshow if possible. You will soon see where you have gone wrong andlearn bow to improve your technique.

Scottish Terriers and Sealyhams. Dogs of these two breeds are espe-cially easy to clip or pluck, and their appearance is greatly improved byproper grooming. After you have finished clipping and look at the dogfrom behind, it should have the shape of a half circle whose edges dropstraight to the ground. More beard is left on the foreface of thesebreeds than on the Wirehaired Terrier, but otherwise the clipping issimilar. The eyebrows are also usually left a little longer. No hair should be removed from the underbelly. The trimming line ends halfwaydown the dog's side and the hair below allowed to grow progressivelylonger so that it appears to be continuous with that on the legs.

West Highland Whites, Cairns, and Others. Although owners oftenmistakenly think that some terrier breeds should be trimmed orplucked, "tidying up" is a better description of the kind of groomingthey need. Certainly no clipping is necessary, only the pulling out ofstray or long, unruly hair is needed.

Cocker Spaniels. Cocker Spaniels include the old and new types ofAmerican Cockers and English Cockers. The old type of AmericanCocker is the one that in the past made the breed so popular. All the long hair is removed from the top of thehead and from the top third of the ears (the insides are trimmed outtoo). The back, the top, and the sides of the tail and both sides and thefront of the legs are also trimmed, as are the feet all around and for aninch up the back of the leg. The hair that forms the "feathers" on thebacks of the legs and the belly hair are left long. When the clipping hasbeen finished, the whole coat should be combed to remove snarls.When that has been done, scissors may be used to trim away anyscraggly hair to enhance the clean-cut, jolly appearance of the dog. The new type of American Cocker is clipped on the head and backthe same way as the old type, but the long hair on the legs is left uncut.The feet are clipped all around and the hair combed down straight.This bushy-legged clip, though preferred by some people, has undoubt-edly done much to harm the popularity of the Cocker Spaniel. Thosewho advocate it also breed for a heavy coat. This huge coat gives theowner more to work with in grooming the animal, but the average petowner will also discover that such long, abundant hair has an unfortu-nate tendency to become a snarled mass of burrs and twigs and an idealbreeding place for parasites. Not only does the long hair on the legsbecome matted and unsightly, it also collects dirt which the dog dis-tributes about the house.

The Bedlington Terrier. When properly groomed, the Bedlingtonhas a unique appearance, which can he developed only because theanimal has a peculiarly thick, linty coat without a wiry texture. Thecoat of the show dog stands straight out and should be about one inchin length. It can be encouraged to grow in that manner by frequentcombing and brushing toward the head.

The head of the Bedlington is clipped in a most distinctive way. Thehair on the ears is clipped short except for a flat tassel an inch long atthe tip of each car. The topknot on the head should be the highest atthe occiput and from there permitted to taper to its shortest length justbehind the nose. It should be rounded over the bead, starting from theeyes and the point where the ears arc attached.

The leg hair is somewhat longer and straighter than the body hairand should be trimmed to give the typical terrier appearance - cylindri-cal. Some experts use only scissors and combs for the entire job, someuse a razor, and many laypeople simply clip the body close and let thehair grow again but leave the leg hair, which they trim with scissors andcomb thoroughly.

Poodles. Trimming Poodles is not nearly as difficult as the fancystyling might lead one to believe. Still, clippers, combs, scissors, andrazors will all prove useful. The hard part is knowing the basic designsand then being able to start with a great ball of hair and give the dogthat spiffy French appearance. Many poodle owners prefer to have thedog clipped in a more masculine fashion, without decoration, maintain-ing that poodles arc really hunters and general-purpose dogs.

There are four most popular clips, and for each there are variations.

1. THE FIELD CLIP: Usually the whole coat is clipped in the field clip with blade, leaving long hair only in a pompom on the top ofthe bead and another on the tail. Tassels on the ear tips arc sometimesleft also. Clipped in this manner, the poodle is comfortable, easy tocare for, and ready for action.

THE. PUPPY CLIP: As the coat lengthens on a growing puppy it isnecessary only to keep it combed and clean. The only parts that reallyrequire trimming are the face, the tail where it's close to the body, andthe feet and legs up a few inches from the ground. Then when the dog is ready for its first fancy clip, the coat is all there to trim in whateverstyle the owner prefers.

2. THE DUTCH CLIP: In the Dutch clip, the distinctive features are thepantaloon effect, the whiskers, and the head pompom. The whiskersare left to form a long fringe about the face. The head, feet, part of the tail, and body are clipped short, and the pantaloons are trimmed withscissors only. There is considerable variation in the clips. Seine ownersprefer the top of the long hair to start high up on the body with only four inches of the back separating the two sides. Some clip the chestclean while others leave it covered, with the long hair running from one"pants leg" to the other. Considerable combing, brushing, and scissortrimming are required to produce the proper cylindrical legs.

3. ENGLISH AND CONTINENTAL CLIPS: In the English and Continentalclips there are three distinct hair lengths. However, a good deal of variation is permitted. A number of experts clip the ears and leave the eyebrows with a bare area between them and the pompom on the head.Others leave the hair on the ears long and the hair from the eyes continuous with the pompom. Show dogs need the full topknot andfeathers on the ears to give the essential Poodle expression.

The feet are always kept clipped. In the Continental clip a pompomis left on each hip only, but in the English clip there is a blanket ofmedium-short hair. A modification of the English clip omits the upperbracelet on the front legs, and instead the long hair over the shouldersand chest is left unclipped down to the position of the bracelet. Followthe design, study Poodles groomed by experts, and each time you clipyou will come closer to perfection.

The Kerry Blue Terrier. The Kerry's soft wavy coat should betrimmed so as to leave the body well covered but neat. In the propertrim, the head is clipped on the cheeks, ears, and forehead, but longbangs are left over the eyes and down the nose. The whiskers are fulland flare out. For house pets, it is most practical to reduce the whiskersby shearing them short. If they are left long, they will require toofrequent washing and combing. The legs are trimmed cylindrically.

Setters and Springer Spaniels. For showing, English, Irish, andGordon Setters and Springers are clipped on the head and part waydown the ears. The hair on the neck and shoulders is smoothed and allscraggly hair removed from the back. The sides and top of tail and thefeet should also be carefully trimmed. The finished dog must look sleek.Such meticulous and careful trimming is unnecessary with pets orhunting dogs. Some hunters do, however, remove a goodly part of thefeathers and long hair when they hunt with their dogs in rough terri-tory, especially where burrs are present.