BICHON PARTS - REAR VIEW

Here is a view that is not frequently captured in pictures, but is most often seen when you live with a bichon. So let's take a look!


Yep! There it is, a bichon heiney! What we are looking at is how the legs are scissored straight, inside as well as outside, and how the backs of the feet are tidy. There is also a little curve where the legs meet, nice and tight - no "diapers". If a male bichon is intact, the testicles are cleaned off, and they sit right in the curve. You want the little curve, and you want the inside of the legs to be neat.

It's very easy to neglect this area if you do not look right at it as in this picture. We spend most of our time grooming the profile of the dog. Also, there is something in our culture that inhibits us from looking directly at assholes. But if you go to the dog show, you can't help but notice ...lots of very exposed, clean...assholes. They are everywhere!

When I use the T-strap of my LIPS support system, it goes around the flank of the dog with a piece between the rear legs to attach to the rear pole of the LIPS. This is great to minimize wiggling and turning, but that back strap has to be unfastened and I have to groom where the strap goes. I learned this the hard way. Most often, when a dog leaves my shop and I don't like what I see as he/she is leaving, it's because I have not cleaned up this view.

Now I make it a point to check out the rear view before I take the dog off the table. It's a whole lot easier than running to the front door to stop a client from leaving while you snip off the stragglies. "Wait wait, I can't let you leave yet!"