Barb if you have a pair of longer thinners (mine are 8" I think) anyway just go straight up so you are perpinduclar with the back of his leg and make one cut midway though the fuzz than brush to take out what you cut. do this several times to see how much you are taking out, it wont take that much to notice a difference. Also my older male tends to get really long pants so I also thin those out in the shape of u's so its U |tail| U the bottom of the U just above the hocks to neaten him up a bit so he doesnt look sooo stragly! let me know if this doesnt make sense...