"Marcus"
We base our grooming of all breeds on the AKC (American Kennel Club) breed standards and the current show profile. We believe that how breeders are presenting their breed in the show ring demonstrates how they are envisioning the breed characteristics. We use these breed profiles as our fundamental reference for our pet grooming.
Marcus is a very nice boy who cleans up well. This is a tidy groom that is fairly easy to maintain. His body was clippered with a #7 blade on the Laube Speed Feed trimmer. The legs, chest and undercarriage were sculpted with the #6 snap-on comb that comes with the Speed Feed trimmer, and outlined with scissors. The sides of the face and ears were clipped with a #10 on the Speed Feed, and the top of the head with the #7.
Marcus Front View
Here's Doc!
White Schnauzer
This pup came for his first groom at 8 months. His coat was thin and matted. We chose this "informal" look that suited him well. His body was clipped with a #5 blade.
"Sophie"
Like the dog above, this white Schnauzer has a thin body coat, and mats very easily. We used a Laube Speed Feed trimmer with the #7 blade for the body. The numerous small mats were brushed out with a Mars Flexy King brush (see below). While stunning, the white Schnauzer fur seems to mat in a NY second.
"Coco"
This chocolate Schnauzer was bred for color and diminutive size. The trimmer placed next to her helps to show how tiny she is. This is Coco at 6-7 months. She is not expected to get much larger. Coco's owner has asked us to groom her eyebrows so as to reveal the cream color inside the brows. She also likes more of a "puppy" look to the face, whiskers and furnishings.
"Sport" gets a hand strip.
Although we hand strip several other breeds, Sport is our only hand stripped Schnauzer. Hand stripping is the traditional means of grooming most of the rough coated terrier breeds. Of these, the Schnauzer coat is the most difficult, in my opinion. We do our best with Sport, and fortunately his owners love this look. His head is custom groomed, NOT to the breed standard.
Check out Sport's ears!
There are two reasons we do not clip Sport's ears clean and perfect as we usually like. The aesthetic reason is that we want to soften the look of his ears. Okay, bluntly put, we don't want him to look like a donkey. Sport has a LOT of ears! The safety reason is that Sport is not a good sport about having his ears clipped. He jerks around and endangers himself. There is a time and place for compromise, and when a dog is totally distressed about something like having his ears shaved, we compromise. For Sport, the result works. Always, our work is individualized to suit each animal and can be modified to the client's request.
For Schnauzer mats and tangles we recommend the Mars Flexy King brush.
The Flexy King is uniquely constructed of longer pins on a smaller, flexible pad. It is very well-suited for picking apart mats in the Miniature Schnauzer coat. Lightly spritz with a detangling spray, such as EZ Glide by E-Z groom, and gently work apart the tangles in small sections. Pick, don't press with the brush, and finish with a comb. The Flexy King
can be purchased from the author's shopping cart. Click HERE to go there.
UPDATE MAY 1, 2011
Here is a picture of what we call a "Japanese" style head on a Min. Schnauzer. The owner has never liked the traditional terrier head style and always asked not to have the ears scissored, and not to clip the face. I agonized over how to make this request work until I admired some Japanese styling. Japanese styling goes for round shapes and "cute" looks. It inspired me to try to attempt this on my Schnauzer client. Here's Bailey. We also call this "grooming outside of the box!"
PS. Base price for Schnauzer grooming at Transformation Pet Center is $55.00.
Transformation Pet Center is located in mid-town Tucson, Arizona. Grooming is by International Certified Master Groomer, Barbara Bird with assistance from Yvonne Rodriquez. We can be reached by phone at 520-795-5743 or email: petpals@dakotacom.net.
Hi Barbara...Thank God for my new speed feed blade..now my battery seems to be dying and doesn't charge anymore..where do I order another battery? I need to ask you; how come I can not get my Schnauzer ears to come that clean with my speed feed? I am always amazed when I look at other grooming and I can never achieve that clean shaved look. What am I doing wrong???? Regards, Janie @ Wag 'N Wash.
ReplyDeleteIf it's not one thing, it's another, right? You can order replacement batteries for the Laube Speed Feed from www.shop.bbird.biz. If you email me at petpals@dakotacom.net, I can send you a PDF file of a handout I wrote about care of the Speed Feed that includes tips for battery care.
ReplyDeleteClipping Schnauzer ears can be nerve-wracking, even for the seasoned professional. In order to get a smooth clip on the Schnauzer ear, I use the #15 setting on the Speed Feed and use my other hand to flatten the ear leather as I clip. I am sort of clipping off the edge of the ear onto my hand on dropped ears. It's hard to explain. Then I trim the edge with scissors, using my fingers as a guard and guide.
I have put this procedure on my list of things I need to video for publication on YouTube. My YouTube account is under the name "GroomClassroom" if you want to check out what I have there and/or be notified of new entrees.
Thanks Barb I will send you an e-mail..out of the two batteries; one does not work at all and I have no power anymore with the other..I love that darn thing but there is always something happening to it. Yes and notify me of new entries to Groom Classroom.
ReplyDeleteI need some major help with pulling the hair out of my mini Schnauzer's ears. Reba is a sweet heart until I go to do the deed. She bites, screams, pulls and has a major melt down. Does anyone have any suggestions? I try not to stress her out to much, but it is not a happy time for either of us. Thanks for any advice.
ReplyDeleteGinger
Hi Ginger! I feel your pain. I feel Reba's pain, too. For some dogs, the pulling out of ear hair is a "deal breaker".
ReplyDeleteOne approach is to buy a mini trimmer, or a tiny moustache scissors and trim out as much hair as possible and hope for the best. I groom a Bichon who has not had his ear hair pulled out in over 10 years and he never has a problem.
Another approach is to let the vet do it. Then the vet tech becomes the "bad cop" and you don't have to take the blame.
If you are determined, you could try using treats. Use something very small and bite sized. First do a little brushing or something she tolerates well, and say "Good" and give a treat when she behaves. Then move to the ears. First just touch the ears. As soon as she lets you touch, "good" and treat. Then try touching the inside of the ear. Do a lot of this, maybe only touching for the first session, until she associates touching her ears with the good treat.
Next time, go a little further, actually putting your finger in the ear canal. Treat if she accepts that, no treat if she pitches a fit. Eventually you would start to pull just a couple of hairs.
Once you start working on the ears, try to give the treats ONLY for ear work. Maybe you can shape her tolerance this way. And, maybe not. It's worth a try!
How did you keep the beard of the white schnauzer on the 2nd pic so white?
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog as I love anything U post about Schnauzers. I love the Japanese style..I do this on he Schnoodles I do as they don't like their ears touched with the clippers like Sport and I don't want to have an accident good God no.
ReplyDelete