Grooming (Long Hair)?
My dog is a shih-tzu poodle mix with straight hair, a little wavy in areas. She is 6 months old and everyone keeps telling me it's time for a haircut. I like her long hair and I brush it every day. There are some things I need advice on.
Face hair - She needs her face hair trimmed... When I see dogs like the shih-tzu get a puppy cut they leave the face hair long. I hate it. It's always getting dirty and gets in her eyes. I would like to trim up the snout (sides and bottom).
Ears - I've seen people mention ear plucking? I'm guessing plucking hair inside the ear (I may be TOTALLY off but that's why I am asking)? What are reasons to do this? Is it because the hair inside the ear will grow super long so it should be taken out?
Feet - Is there anything special about the feet and hair? Keep the hair on the foot trimmed?
Under the butthole - A couple times a week she may have a softer stool I use something similar to a "wet one" wipe and clean it off (so it doesn's smell). I also brush the hair with a different brush then I use on the rest of the body.
I bathe her twice a month or as needed. And (for example) If she steps in poop on a walk I will just wash her foot instead of her whole body.
So I need advice on my little girl. I don't want full on floor length hair but I like her medium(?) length hair and would like to maintain it until summer and then maybe trim her whole body up. Should I trim her face hair only? Or trim the butt and feet too? Right now where I live it's very cold out but she always wants to be outside, the cold doesn't bother her... so I don't think a puppy cut would be the best thing. She probably likes all that hair to keep her warm.
Update:Well I'm glad to hear that groomers will know and be able to do exactly what I want! I don't know why people don't brush their dogs... it takes me like 5 minutes to do her body with a brush then use a comb on her face/snout, ears, legs, feet, and tail. Then I run the comb all over her body to get tiny knots out... she hardly ever has any. Seriously 5 minutes -- 10 if she is hyper. She was squirmy the first week and now she just lays there while I do it (still a little squirmy with the feet). Thanks everyone! I'll have them trim the face, shave the pads, maybe trim the feet hair a little, and the sanitary clip. And the anal glands (ick). Shih-Tzu's are "supposed" to have long hair & Poodles can have poofy hair all over their body, so to the idiot who said it's not good to keep all that hair on her... you are really dumb. Spend some time looking up the subjects on google next time lol.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
Typically for a puppy 1st trip to the groomers, we do a mini-groom to get them accustomed to the grooming process & the touch-ups they need.
First - yes you do pluck out the ear hair - it is done to keep the ear canal open & clean. It can become matted if not removed.
Normally for a mini-groom they will trim the face, shave the pads & shape up the feet, shave the privates & rear to however much you want removed, pluck ears, clip nails, express glands, bathe & dry & brush & comb out completely finally trim anything sticking way out of place.
Her trim is up to you as far as length & how you want her to look. However you must maintain her coat which means no mats or bad tangles if you want to keep her long. Bathing once a month is plenty & no conditioner. The softer the hair, the faster it will mat & conditioners tend to mess with their coat ph & cause acne.
Just let the groomer know what you want with the face, normally they'll help walk you through it. Ear plucking is done because hair in the ears allows for ear infections more easily. Normally groomers will trim up the feet by the pads and between them. The "sanitary area" is usually trimmed as well to keep that mess from happening. Where I worked the did a "face, feet, and sanitary" trim, which may be what you're looking for if you want to keep her body long. You can ask them just to trim up the body so her hair's not dragging on the floor too. Make sure you tell the groomer you don't want the body cut otherwise, or you'll end up a lot shorter than you want. Keep up with the brushing! A LOT of owners neglect the fact that owning a shih tzu means you need to brush their hair. So many came in with severely matted hair and needed to be shaved down which causes them pain and irritation.
Talk to a groomer. Choose one where one person handles you dog and state clearly what you want. There is a better chance of getting what you want if you have time to talk with the person who grooms the dog.
They can even out the coat, but not cut it short. The face can be trimmed up to a length you like. They will deal with the ears, feet and other areas. There are some cuts where the hair is left a couple of inches long.
If she is having soft stool, it is probably her diet. The regular food or treats may be the cause.
You don't need to bathe her more than once a month unless she is really dirty. Bathing too often can dry the skin out and cause other problems.
For the face trim around her eyes so that the hair doesn't get in them.
They pull the hair out of the ears to prevent infections since the hair can trap dirt inside the ear.
For the feet you should have the pads shaved because mats can form in between the pads and toes. If you want it to be cleaner I'd have the hair trimmed all around the foot as well, otherwise it will pick up dirt and feces.
For the rear end there's a trim called the hygiene clip, and that's where they shave the hair off around the butthole so feces doesn't get stuck in it.
Make sure you're brushing her thoroughly after every bath when she is dry. If she isn't getting brushed completely mats will form and are very painful to remove. So when you brush don't just brush the outercoat, get it all.
I worked at a groomers and we got many shih-tzus and poodles and mixes in. It sounds like you're taking good care of her compared to a lot of other people I've seen. When you do take your puppy in to be groomed, just explain to the groomer what you would like done. They can adjust any of the cuts however you would like it.
As for the ears, I had to pluck the hair out. I was told that some of the reasons that it was done is 1.) it helped the ears stay clean and prevented yeast infections (yes, they can get a yeast infection in the ear...ugh) and 2.) the hair can get very thick in there and can make it hard for them to hear. We did have people who request we not remove the hair from the ear when they brought their animal in.
As for the feet, I'd reccomend you get them shaved, because shih tzus can get really painful mats in their fur near the feet and it hurts them to get brushed out.
Like i said, just explain to the person that will actually be doing the grooming on your dog what you want done and maybe even find pictures online to show them.
Other things we did at this groomer is we trimmed the nails, emptied the anal glands, and cleaned their ears. It has actually been proven that taking your dog to the groomers to get these things done helps prevent unneccesary future vet appts. and overall keeps them more healthy.
Keep up the good work on taking care of your dog! Hope this helps!
what you should really do, cause its easier is just have her groomed, just a trim, a good groomer should ask what you want. its safer and easier.
its not good to keep all that hair on her. they dont need it to stay warm, its better to keep her trimmed,
if you could post a pic it would help to see what she wants to give a better answer