How to Clip Him Myself?
Two weeks ago I took Tucker to the groomer. It was his 3rd visit ever, and his 2nd time being shaved. My first 2 visits to this groomer had me quite impressed, and both times he came back looking great. This last time, however, I was NOT impressed. She shaved his front toes (they looked like poodle feet) and shaved off his beard completely (think giant bichon frise). She said they were really matted and she couldn't get them all out, so off the fur came. I suppose I should have explicitly told her that in this type of event, I would actually prefer her to leave the mats and Í'll get them myself later, instead of doing the lazy thing (in my opinion) and just shaving all the fur right off. Anyway, because I wasn't impressed this time around, I'd like to try doing it myself next time. Depending on the weather the rest of the summer, it could be late August, or, if it isn't that warm and his mats aren't too bad, it may not be until next spring and I'll just scissor him myself from now until then. In any event, I'm a bit of a dunce when it comes to clipping him myself. I know there are some threads on here about how to do it, but at the risk of appearing stupid here, I have to confess that I'm still a bit unsure. ' Would anyone be able to literally spell it out for me of how to clip him? I don't even own a set of clippers, I know nothing about them at all. I'd like to scissor his feet and his whole head so I don't muck that part up, but what about the rest of the body? I need a step-by-step, spell it out as if I'm 3 years old kind of instruction. A video of doing this would simply be the icing on the cake. Our OES friend Matunus and his owners would also love this information, as they are considering clipping him for the first time ever and doing it themselves. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!!! |
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| I was surprised on my first lesson that it really isn't that hard at all. You really just need a good set of clippers (I just bought these Andis-UltraEdge-2-Speed-Clipper) and you go with the direction of the hair. Once the clipper was in my hand, it made a lot of sense. You go over everywhere once, then give him a bath, dry him and then go back and shave all the areas that you missed.
I used a 3 3/4 blade to leave about 3/4" of hair and Clyde came out nice. In the future, I'm letting his head grow out a little more if I do it again but his beard was all gummy so we just took everything down pretty tight this time with a 7 blade. |
| My (fairly reasonably priced) Wahl clippers came with a do it yourself video. It wasn't breed specific, but it did give you the basics.
I had decided to do it myself after our regular groomer left the business and the "new guy" charged us sixty dollars per dog (ten years ago) and shaved them so short they had razor burn anyway. He flat out wouldn't release them to me until I paid. (Prior to that we paid 29 dollars per dog per month for regular maintance and they never needed more than that.) Anyway, the few tips I have: Always, always in the direction of the fur growth. There will be lots of places where the fur may "whirl" so follow those whirls as they go. You can set the blade height to control the length, but when you go against the grain it pulls right into the skin, causing razor burn and unevenness. I never do them in one full shot. Our clippers (and I imagine all of them) have a slight change in the sound of the motor when it's overheating. We try to take breaks before that, but if not, the second we hear that sound we stop. Also, use the blade oil frequently. It makes a real difference in the life of your clippers, and the success of what you do. We do all our own clipping with the clippers, then finish off around the feet with scissors a little, and finish up the ears with a nice, straight line. Good luck. It's not hard once you get the hang of it. And the cool thing about it is if you don't do the greatest job first time it is only hair and it will grow out. (Small comfort I know, but it got me through a few first time blunders that drove me nuts, but no one else even noticed.) |
| Important is: start from the Withers and follow the hairgrowth!!!
Down the back and down the legs, but as everyone said: follow the hair!! 
I've got a Oster A5 Single Speed Clipper and 10" inch Blade! |
| yup...i follow the direction of the hair everywhere except the belly....i go against there to get it closer... |
| I find that if you put what I call a runway down the middle of the belly that's shorter you'll never get matts, leave the sides a bit longer so when there standing you won't see this.
When clipping be very careful in the groin areas and underneath the front legs these areas are pron to getting knicked by clippers. You may find it easier to use a longer blade to rough clip then after the bath use to blade you want this will give you a better finish. The new andis 3/4 blade is really good for sheepies that have to be clipped. Val |
| I must first come to the defense of the groomer - perhaps your boy wasn't in very bad shape, but you do not tell us that - dematting the face is one of the most difficult tasks, and not one that the dog will always allow - no matter how much time the groomer is willing to spend (and you're willing to spend) to do it. It cannot be left for you to do later - once the dog is bathed, those mats will only tighten more as they dry.
You need to understand that any mat, no matter how small, hurts your dog every time it moves. Dematting is not an easy task for either dog or groomer and there is only so far we are willing to push the pain threshold. If you thought you could get them out later - then why did you let them get there to begin with? (I know - Life happens - but do not blame the groomer - it's a bit like shooting the messenger!) As you can probably tell, I'm a professional groomer. I also currently care for three oes in show coat. You may not believe this - but it is easier to maintain a brush-out coat than it is to shave, brush in between, and shave again. Once the guard and undercoat are the same length - it's just more dense to brush through! Start your dog on a table. The floor is his territory and the table will keep him somewhat still as well as save your back! Others have given you the start "follow growth of hair" advice - but here's some other info - be extremely cautious at the armpit (front legs) and at the loin skin (just in front of the back legs. Go sideways under the jaw on the skin of his throat - particularly if matted. Going straight down from the jaw could cause the clipper to catch the skin. Most important - check you blade aften for heat. Put it to your other wrist to check - blades can heat up very quickly and burn your dog. You can cool the blade by using alcohol. Good Luck!! |
wytecap wrote: I must first come to the defense of the groomer ...If you thought you could get them out later - then why did you let them get there to begin with? (I know - Life happens - but do not blame the groomer - it's a bit like shooting the messenger!)
As you can probably tell, I'm a professional groomer. I also currently care for three oes in show coat. You may not believe this - but it is easier to maintain a brush-out coat than it is to shave, brush in between, and shave again. Once the guard and undercoat are the same length - it's just more dense to brush through! Good Luck!! Thanks for the feedback - it's good to hear both sides of the coin. I maybe should've mentioned that Tucker is in the middle of blowing coat, and I have been battling it pretty steadily for a while. Shaving him means that for 3 hours, every second month, he gets an intense grooming session, as opposed to me attacking him for an hour every single day. I intend to keep us coat longer when he has his full coat, but right now I just don't think it's the best option for us. What I meant by having her leave them there was to scissor cut the face and toes (like she did the other two times) - this alone would've gotten quite a few of the mats out, then I could've taken some more time that evening to work on the other ones and selectivly cut out the parts that were causing the most problems. As we all know, mainting our babies is a difficult task by any standards, especially by someone who is going through all this for the first time and learning as she goes. Please do not mistake my frustration at a less-than-ideal grooming job and a desire to do it myself in future for someone who does not care, or spend hours weekly grooming anyway. |
| Hi Mel,
I can sympathies with you as an oes owner and a professional groomer, I spent many hours grooming rosie when he was changing coats and I sometimes think now it would have been easier to have shaved it of but I never did. Once I stopped showing i have to admit the coat was scissored down and I find it so much easier to deal with. I feel there is a very thin line when you have a young oes that requires grooming daily and at times the matts appear overnight and you wonder what happened to the grooming you did the day before. I don't know if you have tried a shampoo called first aid, I use this on all coat changing pups and it really does help stop the matts along with giving the pup tuna or some other fish. Val |
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