STEP BY STEP BICHON GROOMING - Part One

OK, we started with the previous article on doing the feet. What next? These are the steps as I do them. This process is not set in concrete, it is just what works for me.

STEP 2: SET IN THE TAIL.
I make a small ring around the base of the tail, to set it off from the line of the rump.

Holding the tail up, you can see how you now have a clean line for the rear:

This becomes more important with the next steps. For a whole article on setting in the tail, refer to:http://groomblog.blogspot.com/2005/02/setting-in-bichon-tail.html

Step 3:SCISSOR THE CROUP.
Maybe you don't know this term "croup". It's the area in front of the base of the tail.
This is the before shot:

See how it looks rather rough and square? You round that area gently which leads into the next step of rounding the butt. It also sets the length for the top of the back, aka the topline.


Step 4: ROUND THE BUTT
Now you come down the backside and round the "buns". How much you leave there is a decision based on the dog's anatomy. If the dog is long backed and short legged, you leave less, if the dog is square or long legged you leave more. I happen to love Bichon buns, so I like to leave a little more there than on show dogs. Today it looked like this:


STEP 5: SET IN REAR ANGULATION
What in the heck is "rear angulation"? It is the curved-in, bendy, area of the back of the rear legs. Rear angulation is the part of the anatomy that gives the dog drive of movement. Many breed grooms give definition to the rear angulation to emphasis the power of the dog's movement. All terriers have well-defined rear angulation, poodles have very exaggerated rear angulation. The Bichon Frise rear angulation is less than the poodle, but clearly there. Here's mine on this day. After scissoring in the rear angulation, scissor straight down from the back of the hock to the table.

Getting the rear angulation correct is a huge challenge, so don't be discouraged if it takes many attempts. Keep working on it, and I will devote a whole article to this area in the future.

STEP 6: NOW SET THE TOPLINE
Scissor from the line of the croup to the withers making a level topline. (top of back) Bring it down the sides a couple of inches while you're at it.


STEP 7: SET THE TUCK-UP
Easy for me to say. The dang tuck-up is one of the hardest spots to master. Yes, I'll write a whole piece on it later. The tuck-up is that area of the underline that extends from the front of the back leg to approximately the last rib. On the Bichon Frise, the tuck-up is distinct but a gentle curve, not nearly as radical as the Poodle tuck-up.


STEP 8: SCISSOR THE UNDERLINE
The Bichon Frise undercarriage (underside from tuck-up to front legs) is fairly straight, not deeply curved like the Poodle, nor angled like the terrier undercarriage. In many Bichons, you can go quite short here.


STEP 9: SCISSOR IN WAIST
If you look at a finished Bichon from the front, you will notice an indentation or waist at the area of the flank, right in front of the rear leg. Sorry, I did not get a good picture of this. Stay tuned.

STEP 10: NOW FINISH REAR LEG
Now that you have everything surrounding the front of the rear leg well defined, you can scissor down from your topline, making the sides of the rear leg very straight, and the front of the back line straight to the foot. There are debates as to whether the front of the back leg should be curved opposite the rear angulation, but what I am seeing in the current trend is pretty straight. This one is straight and looks good to me!

Here it is from a slightly different angle.

What seems to be lost in this pic is the rear angulation. It's there, but there needs to be more blending of the side of the leg into the rear angulation. This is something I would hopefully correct on the final "go-over" of my scissoring. :-)

STEP 11 : CLEAN UP REAR VIEW



Before leaving the rear quarters, turn the dog so that you can clearly see the back of the backside and clean the inside of the rear legs and create a clean inverted "U" shape. The area under the rectum extending to the top of your "U" is VERY short.

In everything we do, from combout, to fluff dry, to scissoring or finishing, it is important to regard the legs as having four distinct sides, front, rear, inside, outside. The inside lines of the legs are just as important as the outside.