Here is my own bichon, Ms. Diva, needing a little work on her head. She was going to the vet the next day to have her teeth cleaned, so I wanted to clean up the face. OK, I wanted to make her look so endearing that they would cuddle her a LOT.
THE EYES
First I use a small blender to clean out between the eyes at the "stop" and a little bit of the inside corner of the eyes. The blender makes it look very natural. I also use the blender to remove hair that is sticking up off the sides of the muzzle that might obscure your view of the eyes as you look directly at the bichon face. The blender does this very softly. This is the small blender I use for this job.
The Arius-Eickert "Synergy" blender is 5.5 inches with 28 teeth. It is all you really need for these small jobs. The convex blade on the cutter results in a smooth cutting action similar to a more expensive tool. This blender is under $50. For once, a cheaper item is a great choice!
It is very important to scissor across the tops of the bichon eyes right at the eyelid and 1/4" to 1/2" to the sides of the corners of the eyes. This is what gives the dog the bright-eyed look characteristic of the breed. This has been done above. For this delicate job, I use a small, 5.5" curved scissor, the AE Proline. This is one of my favorite tools!
This small scissor is also used to create the bichon "ledge" or beveled extension that extends slightly forward over the tops of the eyes. I hear a hundred voices in unison "Is that really necessary? Doesn't it flop into the eyes? Yadda yadda yadda." It's necessary. Just do it. It is what gives depth to the dog's expression. Without a ledge, the bichon can look like it has buggy eyes. If you simply scissor straight up over the eyes, there is no dimension. P.S. this little ledge trick works really well on Poodle hats too. Here's a review (using a different subject, by the way):
Comb a little, just a wee bit, of hair straight over the eyes, thusly:
Scissor a nice gentle curve from behind the corner of one eye to behind the corner of the other:
Comb down another thin layer:
Trim it even with the first layer, making it a nice beveled edge:
Depending on size of dog and fullness of head piece, you will want two or three layers.
CLEAN UP THE MOUTH
I also use this 5.5" scissor to snip off the yuckky hairs at the front of the mouth right beside the nose. Be careful, though, as it is too easy to cut a little tongue. It is advisable to hold the mouth shut while you are trimming. And if you scissor back too far, you can give the dog a "snipey" look. Comb the offending hairs forward and scissor flush with the front of the mouth.
SHAPING THE HEAD
Now we are ready to shape the head. For this I use an Arius-Eickert Fang II Curved 8" shear.
Most often when we do heads we start with the top, or crown and scissor that first. My suggestion is to resist that impulse and start under the chin, and scissor straight across and back to the throat. If the ears are hanging down below this line, you are scissoring across them.
For this work, I am holding the shears mostly like this:
Now I start working the circle upward, focussing on up BEHIND the ear on my right side (dog's left).
At the back of the ear, you are right against the ear leather.
Then scissor the sides of the face to the length you've defined on the side of the ear. Tighten up the side of your circle.
For this work I am hold the shears like this:
Now you start at the bottom again and go up the other side, working the left side of your circle (dog's right). This is the harder side unless you are left-handed. It requires holding the scissors backwards.
Not only is this a little awkward, because the handle is not right, but not all curved shears will cut well backwards. This AE Fang II does that well. I just started carrying the Talyn line of shears and there are two curveds with double handles for reverse work. I think these babies will be great for bichon heads.
They have ergonomic handles on both sides as well as double tangs or finger rests. The psychedelic color comes from the titanium coating which makes for a very durable and smooth edge.
Here is a picture to show the length of the bichon ear when the head is scissored in a round style. My thumb is at the bottom of the ear leather. I think this was BEFORE I scissored that day.
Work the other side of the face, matching it (hopefully) to the first side.
To me, that looks just about right. But because we need to demo the last step, I rounded off the top of the head just a little.
The angle of this shot shows just a glimpse of the ear. The smaller the head is scissored, the shorter the ears.
That's my girl! I love grooming bichons!
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Hi, could you tell me where I can find this 5.5" curved the AE Proline shear? Thanks!
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