Proper grooming for prong ears

[SheepOfBlue]

He is dirty and the only time he holds still is if he is behind me but here is his current state:

I am thinking just trim his ears up, toenails and a bath...

 

[SheepOfBlue]

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Critique half of the sites barbarians...

 

[labgirl]

I think Sca's ears are not particularly untidy, in fact he is a smart fellow compared to my scruff-bum whose ears are perpetually going for the windswept look.

A nice lady suggested I try 'tail and mane' spray on his ears to prevent matting, its used in horses. it has worked really well to prevent matting, mainly because I used way too much and I have effectively laminated the hair behind his ears

As for trimming ears, I'm not allowed near him with scissors since last time when I got a little too keen and ended up with a lot of straight lines and missing chunks of hair. Now my training club friends keep an eye on me around scissors and sharp objects!

 

[Chris]

Ashley, thanks! I struggled to add to the description as to what else to do. I could see it in my minds eye, but could not put it into words.

The technique I use on the tip of the ears, btw, is to take my thinning shears, open them up and scrape the teeth on the edge of the ear. This technique is courtesty of LovelySheltie (who we know longer hear from). I've adapted it to each of my dogs' ears, but the principle is the same. Here is the video! (LOL! She actually dedicated this video to me....I guess I'd been hounding her for her techniques!) Her dogs are lovely, as I recall..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEKuAlcPbzY

This is fantastic!!! I have this irresistable urge to do ears!!!

 

[Lightplum]

They dont look too bad! I would just trim off the horns....on the inside edge of his ears. Id leave the fur in front of his ears slightly long so his ears dont look big!

 

[Calliesmom]

Ashley, thanks! I struggled to add to the description as to what else to do. I could see it in my minds eye, but could not put it into words.

The technique I use on the tip of the ears, btw, is to take my thinning shears, open them up and scrape the teeth on the edge of the ear. This technique is courtesty of LovelySheltie (who we know longer hear from). I've adapted it to each of my dogs' ears, but the principle is the same. Here is the video! (LOL! She actually dedicated this video to me....I guess I'd been hounding her for her techniques!) Her dogs are lovely, as I recall..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEKuAlcPbzY

Her user name here is Anna- and she has not been on in a while....

 

[BarbV]

Sca actually looks pretty well groomed!

1) His ears are pricked but they are small ears - kinda like my Indy. I wouldn't fuss them too much. I would take thinning shears to the inside "front" and outside of his ears, but just a little. Just to tidy things up a little. The first photo I've loaded is of Indy at his most "natural" look which I prefer - about 1 month after being ear trimmed.

2) Those Grinch feet! Indy has them too! He has really skinny legs and boney toes. It's really hard to keep them looking neat. Generally I trim the fur around his paws first. Snip with scissors around the pad to try to create a rounded shape. Then lift dogs paw, and push the fur down between the toes and snip underneath. Then take your slicker and brush the fur up so its standing up a little. At this point, sometimes, I cheat and use a ladies bikini shaver, sometimes I use the thinning shears - but the goal is to clean up the long hair. Now I'm ready to trim nails with most the excess fur out of the way. After nails are done, I do a final tidy up. The second photo is Bacca's feet. Just about how I like them! The third photo is Indy after being groomed by the groomer. The fur is no longer sticking out and the nails are trimmed, but I'm still trying to disguise his boney feet! (p.s. ignore the trim of his feathers...the groomer messed up there)

3) Sca, you got Sheltie pants! I brush, and rake and brush again and Indy still has them. See what I posted just this week on the pants. There is good advice there from the forum. I'm going to be learning scissoring over the next few weeks.

Hope this helps!

 

[HopeShelties]

I have one with prick ears, and hers are the only ones I don't trim, besides the tip to round it. I did it once on her ears, and did not like the look of them trimmed up. They just don't look right to me on the prick ears... though I love the look of well trimmed ears on tipped ears.