Trimming ears

[Lightplum]

Noah? With an attitude? I don't believe it for a second! He must just be feeling some youthful exuberance... there's no way that sweetie-pie mushy-dog could cop an attitude!

Great pictures, Linda - thanks for posting these!

he seems to have forgot his name, come...etc...ahhh the joys of being 2 even my mom said yesterday jeez what is up with him, he used to be the good one here!! LOL

 

[dmeyer123]

Wow! I covered her ears up, and you're right, they do look alike! Must be a "Lexi" thing Do you know what lines she has in her pedigree? I wonder if they are related.

My Lexi came from a breeder in South Calif. who has moved to Louisiana. Her kennel was Millenium Kennel. Her sire was Millenium's Soul Patrol and her dam was Kindred's Crown Jewel.

 

[corbinam]

Ok I did some pics...it was hard to do by yourself and with a cam on a tripod and a dog that has an attitude today (grrrr)....so they dont look the best...

This is the comb I use its about 4" in length

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightplum/5978449310/

This is how I hold the ear...than I can roll it up or down with just my thumb...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightplum/5978448780/

This is how I trim going down on an angle toward the outside and inside of the ear leaving the middle slightly longer to create that arch

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightplum/5978449018/

And this is what he looks like all done..its still slightly long in that pic...I did end up taking a bit more off...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightplum/5978449458/

So when you cut, are you placing the shears like touching the skin? I mean, how close are you cutting?

And thanks for these! I will give it a shot this week.

(And Randi, Bailey looks great!!!)

 

[BarbV]

here's how Bailey's ears look after I trimmed them.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i319/take4roll10/Picture1.png

After looking at the picture, I think I should have taken off some more fur where her ear folds.

Those look pretty good!

What technique did YOU use?

 

[BarbV]

The last time I did it, I use the thinning shears to strip the ears (not sure if that' the right word or not) like I saw in a video that someone (I think Barb?) shared on here. My problem is...when do you stop? I could pull loose hair from my pups' ear tips FOR-EV-ER.

This is the video. I still use this technique but it requires a very fine thinning shear.

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

I can't find who on the forum originally supplied this video. I don't think she posts anymore. On the video she goes by "Lovely". I'm pretty sure she was from Europe though, perhaps Belgium???? I tried to find the thread with no luck. Unfortunate, because I'm sure there is more clarification of technique.

I'm feeling inspired....perhaps I'll do ears tonight!

 

[take4roll10]

Those look pretty good!

What technique did YOU use?

Thanks! It's the best ear/face trimming I've attempted so far.

I used the tooth side of the thinning shears to brush the fur on Bailey's ears like in the youtube video. Then I trimmed the ear fur with the thinning shears starting at the tip and worked my way back. I didn't place my index finger under her ears like how Linda demonstrated in her picture, but I will try that next time. I'm sure it will look better if I do that.

And of course I trimmed the little fly away fur and the fur on the side of her ears with thinning shears. I also trimmed the outline of the ears very carefully with a small scissor.

 

[corbinam]

Thanks! It's the best ear/face trimming I've attempted so far.

I used the tooth side of the thinning shears to brush the fur on Bailey's ears like in the youtube video. Then I trimmed the ear fur with the thinning shears starting at the tip and worked my way back. I didn't place my index finger under her ears like how Linda demonstrated in her picture, but I will try that next time. I'm sure it will look better if I do that.

And of course I trimmed the little fly away fur and the fur on the side of her ears with thinning shears. I also trimmed the outline of the ears very carefully with a small scissor.

Okay, 2 questions.

1--When you did the thinning shear part (like in the video) how did you know when to stop?

2--When you trimmed the outline of the ears (assuming you did that with regular scissors) how far to the side of the ear did you go?

 

[BarbV]

This is the video. I still use this technique but it requires a very fine thinning shear.

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

I can't find who on the forum originally supplied this video. I don't think she posts anymore. On the video she goes by "Lovely". I'm pretty sure she was from Europe though, perhaps Belgium???? I tried to find the thread with no luck. Unfortunate, because I'm sure there is more clarification of technique.

I'm feeling inspired....perhaps I'll do ears tonight!

More on this.....some would say that's extreme grooming, and I would tend to agree.

I've adapted the basic technique somewhat for my dogs who are non-show. But the basic principles apply.

The other thing to consider is the lay of your dogs ears. I do Bacca's ears differently than Indy's. Bacca has hound ears. And Indy's are semi-tipped.

This is where I refer back to the Ullustrated Guide of Sheltie Grooming by Barb Ross. With hound ears, you don't want to be too aggressive trimming the fur behind the ears because you still want to creat an illusion of height.

 

[take4roll10]

Okay, 2 questions.

1--When you did the thinning shear part (like in the video) how did you know when to stop?

2--When you trimmed the outline of the ears (assuming you did that with regular scissors) how far to the side of the ear did you go?

1) I'm not really sure. I just stopped when I thought it looked good enough.

2) about an inch and half down each side of the point.

 

[Lightplum]

So when you cut, are you placing the shears like touching the skin? I mean, how close are you cutting?

And thanks for these! I will give it a shot this week.

(And Randi, Bailey looks great!!!)

its about a 1/4" - 1/3" away from the skin you want it nice and soft looking to give that velvety look..cut to short and it looses that...trust me I think at one point in time I have made every grooming error out there...if not give it time I'll sure i'll continue!