Terriers

Ok maybe I'm weird but I love grooming terriers.

You have done a great job on these terriers. I love the Westie, I have one coming in next week. I still have a hard time getting the face right.

I like grooming them too, but I don't get many around here...mostly Shih-tzu's and mixes.

I don't get very many, maybe one or two every two weeks. a couple are real brats, but the others are just too sweet. It's nice to groom a different type of coat sometimes.

Beautiful job!!!... Terriers are fun. We get lots at the school. Did you handstrip that Westie... can't tell from the angle of the pic. You put that Caesar dog to shame..

He is actually clipped, but he has the most beautiful coat. I don't do handstripping, people don't want to pay for it.

WOW! I love your Westie head! Beautiful!
I like terriers too.
I have never groomed a Dandie Demont before. I like the tassel ears.
Do you have a close up of the Scottie ear? I am not sure about how to do the tuff you're suppose to leave.

Here's a Scottie I did. I haven't groomed very many. I think it's hard to tell from these pictures if I did the ears right? Maybe my skirt is too low?

Before:


After:


Is the tuff on the ears too clean?


I would be grateful for any advice.

Lovely job!
I'm no expert but I will share what I would do with this dog.
The skirt does seem a little too low but it may be due to the brindle colour contrast to the black skirt. What I would do with this type of dog is use a slightly longer blade maybe a #4 or even the blue stainless steel comb to leave it a little more natural looking. Remember to skim off at the skirt line don't stop sharply, and use your thinning shears to blend the line. As for the ear tufts you have clipped the ear correctly but it is your scissoring of the tuft that is giving the "clean" look. When you trim the tufts fold the ear vertically and use your thinning shears to remove the straggly bits (technical term LOL)Also watch when shaving the head that you don't get too close to the ear.

Good idea, I will try a 2 comb next time, that's what I use on most Westies and it looks very natural.
I think that dog gets a #5 on the back and I remember at the time it was very hard making the back look blended into the skirt because of the colouring. I hate the hula skirt look. I will try a comb.
Thanks!!

I too like grooming terriers, westies and airedales are my faves. We get loads of westies and wheatons at my shop, even a few dandies!!!

Shona do you use any product to puff up the westies cheeks. I'm finding that a lot of them these days have such straight hair that its tricky to get the cheeks round.

I have a few of those flat sided westies too. I learned a great technique from Nancy Bryson at the last Canada Grooms seminar. You actually have to use thinning shears and basically layer the sides of the face. Also she recommended hand plucking out a few hairs each time this lets coarser hairs grow in and helps to stand that coat up. I've been doing this on a couple of westies that I groom every 6 wks and it's working. Even the owners have noticed.