MAINTAINING A FLUFFY BICHON

Fluffiness is the essence of the bichon breed. Yet many bichon owners are horrified to pick up a dog from the groomer that has been shaved close. How did that bichon come to lose its fluff?

This was done with a #5f blade, scissored head (of course). Anything closer than a #5 is what we could call a "pinky" clip, where the pinkness of the skin is totally exposed. Pink skin being more susceptible to sun damage, we like to leave at least the 1/4" of the #5 blade. There are times, however, when the groomer has no choice but to go right to the skin. The blade must be able to get under any matted fur. When not combed (and especially when bathed but not combed), the undercoat of the bichon can "pelt" or become solid mat. That is when you get a "pinky clip", aka "smoothie".

Claude looks like that after the groom, because he looked like this before the groom:


Not only had it been 10-12 weeks since his last (close) groom, but Claude had not been brushed/combed much, if any, at home. His owners are a young working couple with several other dogs. They all get tended to, brought in for grooming, and are very loved. This bichon, however, is more of a pack dog in the yard than a pillow dog in the home. He gets a haircut that reflects his lifestyle. They want him short and lower maintenance.

The interval between groomings, as well as home combing, very much dictate what the groomer can realistically accomplish. In contrast, we can look at Pierre, who is groomed every two weeks:

Now there's a fluffy bichon. He's a lot of work though, and this owner pays $50 every two weeks to maintain this look. They do a little combing at home. Very little! Pierre has a show type clip. Here's another view:


Here is Bailey who is groomed every four weeks and his owner is religious about his combing. He is also able to maintain a very full groom.


There is more to maintaining fluffiness than the grooming interval. One major consideration is coat type. Some bichons have a coat texture that mats quickly. If those same dogs have poor tolerance for combing, they must be kept shorter. This is Jordie, who comes every three weeks and must be kept short.

In this picture, Jordie was groomed with a #3 3/4 blade. A similar length can be achieved with a Laube #1 1/2 snap-on comb.

Grooming interval, coat type, tolerance for combing, owner skills at combing, and lifestyle considerations all factor into how fluffy a bichon can be. As groomers, our challenge is to find a style that works with all of these factors and to educate our clients to have realistic expectations of the finished result.

P.S. Many thanks to my friend and internet list-mate, Jenifer Watt of Watt-A-Dog Grooming, UK, for the background work on the picture of Pierre. Jenifer replaced all my ugly shop clutter to reveal Pierre in his magnificence. Have you ever wondered what that ugly round thing is in the background of many of my shop shots? (See top photo) That's the motor to my ancient Edemco stand dryer, Model 7000, that has been in service for about 25 years. As ugly as it is, it has performed reliably for ages and the dryer is largely responsible for the lovely finish I get for my scissored grooms.