PET STYLING OPTIONS - BEVELING THE POODLE EAR

This is a styling option for poodle ears that I call "beveling". The dictionary defines "bevel" as "a sloping surface or edge." In this case we are creating a bevel from the bottom of the ear into the side. The result is to give the shortened ear a lot of bounce and style.

Here is Paco the Poodle with his ears long. Really long.

This is the traditional ear "look". I have trimmed the bottoms lightly straight across.

That much ear looked a little out of balance to me on a poodle kept this short (#7 or #5 body and legs). The owner agreed, besides she doesn't want to have to do any grooming between Paco's monthly visits.

I took off about three inches of ear length. Then I used my 6.5" curved shears along the bottom of the ear pointed upward and created a bevel. This shows how I placed the shears. It doesn't HAVE to be a curved shear. I work with curves a lot.

I scissored at this angle all across the bottom of both ears. The front and back of the ears were rounded.

Here is the finished result. Don't look at the dent in the topknot.


I SAID don't look at that! Instead look at the bottom of the ear on your right, dog's left. That really shows the bevel effect. It makes the ear look very full. This seems more balanced to me, and it is a more youthful look for Paco. Beveling the ear bottom can be applied to any drop-eared dog. I'll fix the dent in the topknot next time. :-)

Arius-Eickert shears like the ones pictured here, as well as many other choices can be found at www.bbird.biz

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