SULLY'S HAIRCUT, WITH PICTURES

First, a disclaimer. I am NOT a professional groomer. I live on a farm and have groomed all sorts of animals all my life, so I had no trouble tackling a Doodle! This is not as easy as it looks, don't be fooled, and it requires that your Dood be very well behaved, calm, patient and trained to stand. This is what works for me and for Sully......it may not be the look you are after and you may not have the same hair to deal with, so just take what you can use!

You will need something, like a grooming table with an arm, to put the dog up on and secure them. Sully is on a sheep stand in these pictures, because that is what I have. Not ideal, but better than nothing!

In these pictures I am using 8 inch shears, thinning shears, and a blunt ear/nose scissor. These are very sharp instruments and there is a great risk of injuring your dog or yourself so please don't take any chances. Go slow, and if it's not going well, quit and try again later when the dog may be calmer. I never groom for more than an hour at a time, so this process goes on for days for me. I do one section at a time. So pick where you want to start, say the head/neck and do just that. The next day, maybe do the back and sides. Then, the legs. Each day after that, you will want to comb and straighten, cut wisps and even up your job or blend it in with your thinning shears. Thinning shears will cover a multitude of grooming mistakes and are good for thinning areas like the beard that you want to keep long, but need to get some bulk out of.
So here we go........

TOP OF NECK, BACK AND SIDES

Start at the top of the neck, keep the scissors parallel to the spine. As with the legs, use your rake to fluff the hair up so it's easier to cut.



Continue straight down the back towards the tail.

There is a transition area between the back and the sides, just angle the scissors slightly, following the natural angle of the hair.


Now you are ready to tackle the side. Keep the scissors straight up and down in this area. Rake/comb inbetween every few cuts to keep the hair standing up.


LEGS AND FEET

I use my 8 inch Dubl Duck straight sheers on the legs. Always go up and down, not across. You can see my rake in this picture. I rake the hair up to fluff it up and make it stand out, then cut.



If you get in an awkard spot with the scissors, try holding the leg out to cut. Sometimes this is much easier for the lower part of the leg.


For the foot, I trim the hair so that it doesn't touch the ground, but covers the foot.

I use my tiny battery powered trimmer to cut the hair from between the pads of the paws. It helps keep the feet clean and infection/yeast free if you allow more air circulation.

HEAD AND FACE

A HUGE HUGE caveat on these instructions. You are taking a VERY sharp instrument very close to your precious pups eyes, ears and juggler in this step. Err on the side of extreme caution! Have you ever seen an ear bleed? Trust me, you don't want to!
Sully is very well trained, stands like a statue to be groomed, and is very patient. You need that in order to be able to do this part successfully!

I use the thinning shears on the head and face area. Keep them in line with the nose and trim between the eyes (if you want to see them) and continue up over the top of the head. The thinning shears give a nice *not cut* look to the face.



Around the side of the face, still using the thinning shears. I hold the part of Sully's beard that I want to keep intact. I do trim the *crook* of the neck and it does not affect the look of the beard.


Lift the ear and using small blunt end scissors, clip all the hair away from the ear canal.


The bottom of the beard should be shortened a little to match the rest of the haircut. Just hold the nose out straight and cut straight across.

The tail should be shortened an inch or so also, just hold it out and like the beard, cut straight.

The neck and chest should be cut straight up and down, not across, using your 8 inch shears.


If you have mats. this haircut will not cure them in one day. What you will find is that the wispy puppy hair will start appearing poking out from your beautiful haircut each day for about a week. Just comb and cut the wisps off level with the coat. Grooming spray helps, but will not stop the mats. You may find there are more mats in there than you realized once you get the coat short. RESIST the urge to bathe the dog in order to condition the coat. It does NOT work. The hair stretches and will mat worse! Also towel dry, not blow, and use your spray on conditioner before attempting to comb or brush. If you comb wet, you are risking stretching the hair, and yep, you guessed it, more mats!

Here is the finished product!


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