# "Fightin' Tools"



## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

Okay, I am seriously considering trimming Tillie down.
Not as drastic as she was cut down last year, but def. trimmed, a lot.
She is gorgeous and I love the way she looks when she is freshly groomed, BUT it does get VERY hot here (115 is not out of the ordinary) and looking at pics from last summer I really liked how she looked. How much does hair grow on average a month??

Problem is that I am NOT a haircutter! I can't even cut my son's hair! Although I can give my DH a buzz cut!  And I don't trust any groomers to do, soooooo... Tillie gets to be a guinea pig, KNOWING that it WILL grow back! 

What tools do I NEED to do this? I only have rounded tip scissors that I use to trim her feet and inside her ears occasionally. I'm assuming these are NOT the main tool for cutting the body down, correct? LOL
The longest attachment I have on the shaver I use for my husband is a 1 inch and don't want to go THAT short! LOL sooooo, help! advice! What should I use? Scissors? what kind?

i may not do for another month or so, whenever it really starts getting hot, but I like to be prepared! 

ALSO, anyone have any GOOD recommendations for Nail Clippers? Mine are SO dull and I need a new pair desperatly!!


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

here are a couple of pics of her last summer!


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## tokipoke (Feb 13, 2012)

Hm, I think it'll be hard to get an all over clip the same length that's longer than an inch! Sometimes when clients want a trim but still long, I just skim clippers with a 1" snap-on-comb on the back, neck, shoulders, and around the thigh. They I use shears and thinning shears to take the legs down. That way the dog is cleaned up but still longer than 1". If you don't want to use clippers with snap-on-combs, you could use thinning shears to thin out the hair to the length you want. I saw a brand called Laube sell snap-on-combs that go over one inch! It had 3-4 combs that went up to 6 inches! I think it was for horses.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

I read somewhere that the long coat insulates them and they stay cooler. But I'm excited to have you learn how to do it. Maybe you could get your husband to take a video and I can learn from you. Ive been wanting to do the same thing and all I have is long scissors with a blunt end. I just cant get the nerve up. Well I haven't decided if I'm done with the show stuff. So I need to keep my options open.
I was told a 3'' attachment on the clippers is a good length.


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## tokipoke (Feb 13, 2012)

I've heard the same thing about the long coat insulating them... just don't know if I believe it. Louis gets REALLY hot. Maybe he just gets hot easily in general. Cause even with most of his body shaved short, he's still hot! He loves burrowing and laying on or next to me, but usually he'll jump onto the floor or go over to the unoccupied couch cause he's panting from being hot. I guess I'll see if this changes once he has a short cut all over.


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## angiern2004 (Apr 24, 2011)

Tammy, you know I have no clue as to your questions, I just want to say that I LOVE the pic of tillie with the kitties. She looks like she's smiling!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

tokipoke said:


> Hm, I think it'll be hard to get an all over clip the same length that's longer than an inch! Sometimes when clients want a trim but still long, I just skim clippers with a 1" snap-on-comb on the back, neck, shoulders, and around the thigh. They I use shears and thinning shears to take the legs down. That way the dog is cleaned up but still longer than 1". If you don't want to use clippers with snap-on-combs, you could use thinning shears to thin out the hair to the length you want. I saw a brand called Laube sell snap-on-combs that go over one inch! It had 3-4 combs that went up to 6 inches! I think it was for horses.


Not sure what you'd do with a 6" comb on horses... It would be the rare horse that grew a coat anything like that long, even in mid-winter. We generally use a 10 blade (with no comb) to clip horses.


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

Yes, this is a tough one. My longest guard comb is a 1 1/4", but with a drop coat, the hair actually cuts longer. Unless the coat is flat like a yorkie's, it's usually only a l little bit longer, say, 2 1/2" max. You can do as tokepoke suggested and just "skim" as I do with some of my Tibetans, but you need a steady hand for this to look nice. Your other options are to shave the belly down to the skin so that when she lays down on a cool surface, she will really feel it, but the same goes with a hot surface, so you need to be careful! You could also trim the skirt and legs up and thin the coat out, either by skimming with the guard comb or with thinners. The problem that I run into once I start messing with a full coat is that whatever parts are cut, the folicle is stimulated to grown and can mat with the surrounding hair. For example, if you shave the belly, the border areas can get matted. Same with the thinning out with thinners, there can be little tangles if you're not combing her out religiously. With an all over trim, all the hair is cut so the mats are easier to keep in check. 

I just cut down a very very long haired sheltie, I wish i took pictures that would have been great, but his hair was probably 10" long on the back feathers and about 4" over the back. On the owner's request to cut him (she said she didn't want him too short but to just use my judgement) I used my 1" guard comb and skimmed over the feathers, skirt, and mane. It's important to be cutting on a freshly washed and cleaned coat, no knots, and stretch dried. I used my greyhound comb to straighten the hairs outs so I could see what parts were still not even. I wish I could make a video so it would be easier to show you, but I'm not really set up to do that.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

LOL, lovely, so it's hopeless, huh?? 

Angie, thanks, I love that pic too! Doesn't Tillie look adorable in that cut!!? She LOVES her kitties!!! She was shaved down in March, so that was about 3 months of growth... I'd love to figure out how to get her to that length again... 

I think that eventually I will just bite the bullet, trim her down with scissors (what kind!?) and see what happens!! ha ha ha! I trimmed her legs/behind area a couple months ago and didn't mess that up TOO much....


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

You can't hand-scissor a drop coat. You can trim feet/legs/skirt/eyes/bangs/beard, but you can't give an all over haircut on a drop coat with shears. You can cut it shorter with the guard comb and then wait until it grows out a bit.


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

I woudn't go that route, she will end up looking ridiculous even if I myself groomed her, and then you'd have no choice but to cut her with clippers to even it out again. Just my two cents.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

Really??? why can't I hand scissor a drop coat dog!??? Will it really NOT work or just more chance of her looking stupid cause I don't know what I'm doing!?? ha ha


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

atsilvers27 said:


> I woudn't go that route, she will end up looking ridiculous even if I myself groomed her, and then you'd have no choice but to cut her with clippers to even it out again. Just my two cents.


ha ha. okay, i get it.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Hi Tammy, these are the most explicit directions I've seen for trimming a pet Hav, and they come form the Yuppy Puppy web site:

http://www.myyuppypuppy.com/files/havanesetrim.pdf

Pictures of short version:

http://www.myyuppypuppy.com/files/shorthavanesetrim.pdf

Pictures of long version:

http://www.myyuppypuppy.com/files/longversionhavanesetrim.pdf

I love the long version. If I were ever going to trim Kodi, this is what I'd want. (except for the shaved feet! )


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

These cuts are both clippered cuts. It's quite interesting, I've never seen anything like it. She has actually cut the body loosely based on a typical sporting dog pattern, like a cocker spaniel, except the back has not been shaved. The back is the longest guard comb, and then it is skimmed and blended into the skirt. the bottom of the skirt on the 2nd dog has been scissored up, the legs hand scissored.



krandall said:


> Hi Tammy, these are the most explicit directions I've seen for trimming a pet Hav, and they come form the Yuppy Puppy web site:
> 
> http://www.myyuppypuppy.com/files/havanesetrim.pdf
> 
> ...


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

awesome! thank so much Karen!
I'll look into it all later, when I have some time!

Thanks for all the advice and guidance everyone!!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

atsilvers27 said:


> These cuts are both clippered cuts. It's quite interesting, I've never seen anything like it. She has actually cut the body loosely based on a typical sporting dog pattern, like a cocker spaniel, except the back has not been shaved. The back is the longest guard comb, and then it is skimmed and blended into the skirt. the bottom of the skirt on the 2nd dog has been scissored up, the legs hand scissored.


Yes, I know they were clippered cuts. But I love how the longer cut really still gives a very "Havanese" outline to the dog.


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

It's kind of grown on me. I'd like to try it on my dog if I give her a cut. Sometimes the non-traditional trims I see on Havanese make me shudder, but that longer cut looks quite nice. Thanks for sharing.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

atsilvers27 said:


> It's kind of grown on me. I'd like to try it on my dog if I give her a cut. Sometimes the non-traditional trims I see on Havanese make me shudder, but that longer cut looks quite nice. Thanks for sharing.


Hannah looks, with her coat, like she's look beautiful with that cut. I can just imagine her, with her white coat and dark ears!


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## mamacjt (Aug 23, 2011)

I disagree about not being able to scissor cut a drop coat breed. I used to show and groom bichon frise and although the coat is quite different than the coat on a Hav, I scissor cut my Hav now and he looks like a longer version of a shaved puppy cut Hav. You just have to know what you're doing so that you cut the coat all the same length.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

mamacjt said:


> I disagree about not being able to scissor cut a drop coat breed. I used to show and groom bichon frise and although the coat is quite different than the coat on a Hav, I scissor cut my Hav now and he looks like a longer version of a shaved puppy cut Hav. You just have to know what you're doing so that you cut the coat all the same length.


Can you show us pictures so we can see what it looks like?


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

mamacjt said:


> I disagree about not being able to scissor cut a drop coat breed. I used to show and groom bichon frise and although the coat is quite different than the coat on a Hav, I scissor cut my Hav now and he looks like a longer version of a shaved puppy cut Hav. You just have to know what you're doing so that you cut the coat all the same length.


Maybe your dog has a cotton coat so it's stiff and sticks up like a bichon/coton de tulear/poodle. Her dog has very soft hair that flows down (or it seems from the pics). Plus, she is not a show groomer like yourself so I am just giving her her best realistic options.


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## tokipoke (Feb 13, 2012)

You can scissor coat a drop breed... if you have time on your hands. I just see it taking longer than necessary, when you can just use clippers with a snap-on-comb. Clippers and snap-on-combs are nice for dogs who are impatient with grooming. Just get the length you want and you're done. Scissorwork on hair that you typically scissor like poodle and bichon coats takes a while, so I can see trying to do this with a drop coat taking a while. I'd imagine you would have to section of spots with hair clips, and use a comb to lift sections of hair to cut, just like you would cut a person's hair. You'd have to do this all over the dog and then the hair may look funny.

*mamacjt* - can you describe your method so TilliesMom can see what you are doing?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I've seen some beautiful scissor cuts, but they are NOT cheap!!! They take the groomer a LOT more time.


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## mamacjt (Aug 23, 2011)

I'm no expert by any means and sometimes it does look choppy at first, but, like you said, it grows and by the next week the choppiness is not as noticeable. I tried to load pictures, so I could show you an example, but it seems I'm an idiot and cannot figure it out.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

thanks for all the discussion and guidance!!

Tillie's hair is actually quite cottony on her back and somewhat silky everywhere else.
Her main body is really what I am thinking to cut down, since I have recently trimmed her legs/bottom and chest.
Thanks for the idea about using clips like with a human! I have noticed that Tillie's hair is FINALLY thickening up quite a bit and I actually am having to line comb her some now! LOL her hair has always been very thin with little to no undercoat so I could comb her all out, down to the skin without lifting and moving any hair! Not anymore! LOL

Okay, so IF I were to try to scissor cut her, what kind of scissors would I need?? KNOWING that this IS my first time, I am in NO way an expert ... and are there any shavers out there with longer than an inch attachements??


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

krandall said:


> Hi Tammy, these are the most explicit directions I've seen for trimming a pet Hav, and they come form the Yuppy Puppy web site:
> 
> http://www.myyuppypuppy.com/files/havanesetrim.pdf
> 
> ...


 Me too!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

I have no idea what to get but this is information I had written down if I ever decide to do my own clipper cut.

the Andis LARGE comb set http://www.andis.com...Up.asp?ID=12990

The largest of the combs, size F is marked 1 1/4 inches but that would be the length using it against the hair grain. When you use it in the same direction as the hair growth it leaves the hair longer. That will vary a little tiny bit depending on the type of hair your dogs has, but it leaves a bit more than 3 inches

When using combs, it's important to have the coat completely combed through without any tangles. Make sure the comb is securely attached to the clipper and go though the same area several times to be sure to get all the hairs clipped.

run the clippers down the upperes leg area and then scissor cut the legs. Try a tube or column style you have to be careful not to cut them too short.

the Jodi Murphy Havanese video? It's really good and worth the money in my opinion. She shows both a shorter and a longer clip and really goes through them both step by step. If you need confidence building before you start and any tips..it's great! 
http://www.jodimurph...newreleases.htm


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

thanks Suzi!!


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