WHAT TO DO WITH THE HEAD
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 No grooming advice, really, but I think I met Bella at herding at the national last year. She has a very pretty head - she would look great with a little more "rounding" For the top knot head coat, when it gets out of hand, I take regular scissors and whack some off (not as short as I want it though) and then I take the thinning sheers and cut a little more off to give it a more blended look. Then I realize dog is completely lopsided and call Sunny (Lucali) in a panic and make her promise to fix it  Actually, I've gotten better at it. It's just practice and if you don't like what you end up with it grows out again surprisingly quickly. Once you start fixing the top part the rest will seem out of proportion so you are forced to take some off the sides, the muzzle, the ears and under the jaw - you don't want that to grow so long they are mistaken for a billy goat or something. My rule of thumb on the ears is that length of ear coat cannot be longer, when pulled forward, than the tip of dog's nose. KB |
so I should pull her ears forward towards her nose then trim???? like they do to us when we get a trim??? that I can do. I just am not sure about the "cheek/jowl area. Her chest is trimmed to about 2 inches now, her chim 1 inch, but then I am lost as to every other area. I will do a before shot tonight and maybe try a little trimming tonight  |
| I think of the head like a round globe (minus the ears). When the hair is all thoroughly combed through - I pull it straight out in every direction and trim it all to the length I want. I started doodling and took a picture  Then I realized the notepad (OES Performance for Life!) had a pretty good picture of the circle already!  And then I realized I had a show picture of Chewie here somewhere that looked like that...so I dug around...  The ears I trim around the edge of the ear leather a uniform distance then trim all the rest of the hair on it that length too. In my case, it's the ears I mess up most - usually because I get in too much of a hurry.  They usually end up sorter than I would have liked, but hey - it's hair and grows out!  Now I do the same basic shape, just a shorter, less poofy version of the show 'do! |
| oh dawn, this is a line often used by many sheepies, but the fact remains they can't look bad or messed up for very long. they are just too darn good lookin and sweet. just my humble opinion.  "I mess up most - usually because I get in too much of a hurry."  |
| I grew billies head so long i started doing mad things with it (have a look at my picturers) then i went through a phase of bad hair day after bad hair day. I then in a moment of madness chopped it off! He was sooo happy i just hated it. Decide if you still want the bobbles and doing the doo or the floppy shaped look. I dont think there is any rules, but have a look through everyones photos and deciede what youy want, then ask how to do. It |
Mad Dog wrote: :lol: My rule of thumb on the ears is that length of ear coat cannot be longer, when pulled forward, than the tip of dog's nose. KB Ditto Beard, head coat and ears not trimmed for awhile, she is starting to rival santa   Now all looking better and balanced after a head,ear and beard trim.  |
| I have trouble trimming any of Tiggy I usually take off 'not enough' because I'm worried I'll mess it up, after I do that a few times in a row I get adventurous and then hate it because I took too much off. Last time I attempted Tiggy's face she got sick of me so she ended up with one ear about 2cm longer than the other because she kept tilting her head to the same side. I thought it looked awful, no one else seemed to notice. I frequently resort to Kristine's solution. But I touch nothing and bribe Lisa with wine and food.   Tiggy always looks great after she's been to visit her Aunty Lisa. |
Wine is definitely the answer, but I would wait until I've at least almost finished  I've not had any training on how to cut the head, but this is how I do it; I start with trimming the topknot while it's still tied up- that way I know I'm not taking too much off and it will still tie up. Then I trim the ears while the topknot is still in- this keeps the head hair out of the way and since Rufus has his hair tied up all the time, I know what I'm aiming for. With the ears, I cut in a rounded shape after I've decided what length. Just past the nose when the ears are pulled forward is a good guideline, I do Ru's a little shorter than that. Check to make sure the ears are trimmed to the same length! Then the rest of the head. Give yourself plenty of time. The muzzle I brush forward and hold in a ponytail over the end of his nose, then holding the blades of the scissors in front of the nose, carefully snip at a downwards slope angle about 45 degrees away from the nose. This gives a really cute look, the hair on top of the muzzle ends up a little shorter than hair lower down which is the hair directly over the top lip. I usually tidy up a few strands after. For the main head hair, I take the topknot out and use the length as a guideline for the rest of the hair. Remember you are aiming for a sphere around the head. I make little vertical partings starting at the front of the face and working backwards, I hold the hair in this parting at right angles away from the skin. Hold the hair in a flat line between your index and middle fingers along the length of your fingers, like a hairdresser, and once you have the length you want, trim the hair in roughly 1cm angles into the hair along this line to give a jagged edge, so as to avoid cutting in straight lines. Either do one whole side of the head first or matching sections on either side to match the length. Do this on both sides of the head and blend with the topknot, remember this is already the length you want if you tie the hair up daily. Work in partings going backwards towards the back of the head. Use the bit you have just done as a guide for the length of the next section. Include under the ears. Always work with the circle shape in mind, as if there is a sphere around the whole of your dog's head. I usually stop at the back of the ears, as this area is the neck. If you imagine the highest place you could put a collar on, like a slip lead show collar, that's roughly where the head ends and the neck begins. Do this both sides of the head, making the partings fairly narrow as you go. It depends how thick your dogs hair is, but you are aiming for something that doesn't look too 'choppy' so keep your angles small and gentle. I think everything the neck side of the slip lead is neck, going into the chest and back, so you want this hair as flat as possible and thinned out if you need to. At this stage you need to have a good look at your sheepie's head. Chances are, one side will be longer than the other, and there may be some strands you have missed. Also the beard will still be long. This is where you make sure the ears are the same length, and both sides of the head are symmetrical. Take the opposing sections of the hair on opposite sides ie, the same piece on either side of the face, and trim to make the length the same, using little vertical partings as before. You need to use your judgement here, it could be that you already have it symmetrical. This just evens the head up so both sides are the same length all the way round, like a ball. Now the beard. The beard is much easier to round off if both the sides of the head are the same length, which is why I leave the beard until last. Again, working in sections, use the hair already cut as a guide for length, and cut the hair to complete the overall ball shape. I'm no expert, this is just a methodical way of doing it to achieve the ball shape |
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