Okay, that's it!
What I want to know is, what is the longest they can clip her down to with a clipper? I just want to have an idea of how she'll look after this. If they can't still leave her fur a bit long, I'll probably try to do it myself with scissors (yikes!). |
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| Ack, with all that going on, I'd vote for short hair too! Clippers have a real hard time if there are any mats, so likely it's going to be a pretty short trim. Mentioning the scissors - why not give it a try? Even if she ends up going in to the groomer, this is a perfect time to practice hand scissoring. You have virtually no pressure, if you hate the way it turns out, she can always get the clipper trim.  Good luck! |
| I think I'd be happier with trying it if she'd sit still nicely. I wanted to do it myself, I'm always nervous about what she's going to look like when she comes back from the groomer, they occasionally make her look a bit silly! Maybe I'll be able to rope Jacob into helping on his next day off. |
| Sounds like you'd be best off to cut it down real short and start over. Once she's trimmed down, start on a weekly ritual of brushing her out head to toe. Even with no length to her coat, it'll help her get used to brushing on a regular routine so as her coat grows back in she'll be expecting it. Vance |
 The longer you want to leave it, the less (no) mats. The blade has to slip under the mat.........and if it is matted to skin, that leave two options: 1. Short cut (which groomers love since it saves them time) and 2. breaking apart the mat (which groomers hate as it takes far too much time. Soooo, you are going to have a short cut dog. But its short for a short time, by early summer she will be fuzzy puppy again. That bath will feel soooooo good for her, help with the itchies. We don't have fleas here in the valley, but rampant up on the mesas and in the city. Instead we have TICKS! Frontline |
| She normally sits really nicely for brushing, it seems like scissors make her nervous though, and then she gets really antsy. It turns into a two person job if I have to do anything beyond brushing. If Jacob is willing to stand by her and keep her entertained for a little while, I should be able to trim her down nicely. None of the matts are by the skin, it's mostly by the ends where the scabs tried to fall out and then got caught. I'd just try to get them out and not bother trimming her, but every time I get anywhere near that area she freaks out and tries to spin in circles to get at it (I guess touching it makes it itch again). She could use a good all over trim anyhow. I really don't want to trim her down too short, it's still a bit cold here and I personally think most sheepies look a bit goofy after being trimmed really short. I think I'll convince Jacob to help me trim her myself and see if that makes her more manageable. Like Dawn said, if I mess up, I can just take her to the groomer! |
 No goofier than Maudie on the left, right after a scissors trim. Amazing what a run in the woods, pine pitch will do to a sheepdog. |
| We had a Maudie too! I married my husband to get her. Seriously. I just spent several hours trimming the girls. Riley has a thinner, shorter coat, so she is now 4 inches long. Bailey had a really long coat, but I trimmed her to 6". I may regret it as she seems to mat more when I trim her to less than 8". The hair on top of Bailey is still around 12" so it goes into her pigtails better. I am obsessive-compulsive, so I use a ruler to get it even. They lay on their sides and I trim each lock of hair individually. I've done it before and it really doesn't take too long to do a side. |
| Just have them shave her down. You'll all be happier. Especially Evie Mud season has started here. Rain on top of snow thaw, oh, joy. I would shave the lot of them with a ten blade if I could. Consider yourself lucky to have the option. It grows out, you know  Kristine |
Quote: They lay on their sides and I trim each lock of hair individually ..with a ruler  So did you complete your OCD trim by counting the hair in each lock and the number of locks? I'm impressed! Wasn't until I started cutting DH's hair did I start paying attention to hair cutting. Alas, Maudie never got to enjoy the new and better cut. |
| Progress report: I just finished trimming Eevee down by hand, it took me three hours. Mats are gone for now, and her coat is... mostly even. The legs look a little goofy, the back feet are basically awful (but they were awful looking to begin with, anyway, at least they arent tangled up with mud now!) and it's a little choppy here and there, but I think it's pretty cute! Plus she still has her nice long hair! I will post pictures when she stops being a fuzzy ball of lightning. Oh, and she was very happy that I used the blowdryer on the cool setting to blow away any loose hair and make her extra fuzzy. This puppy looooooves her hair dryer! |
| Makes her feel special! Can't wait for the pics, I'm sure she is as cute as ever. |
| Pictures here: http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=40204 |
SheepieBoss wrote: Quote: They lay on their sides and I trim each lock of hair individually ..with a ruler So did you complete your OCD trim by counting the hair in each lock and the number of locks? I'm impressed! Wasn't until I started cutting DH's hair did I start paying attention to hair cutting. Alas, Maudie never got to enjoy the new and better cut.Bailey's hair naturally forms locks, so I just hold it up and use my sewing ruler. It sounds worse than it really is. I have done this for decades becuase I don't know any other way that ends up even. I know there is medication for OCD, but I just cope with it on my own.  The good news is my house is organized. |
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