SCWT PET TRIM - THE 'BENJI' LOOK

Not all owners of Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers like the breed standard profile. Take "Darcy's" owners, for example. They love their shaggy pooch, and don't want the terrier trim nor the face fall that goes with the breed. They are willing to go with monthly grooming to maintain a slightly longer, informal look. At Transformation Pet Center, Tucson, Arizona, we call this the "Benji" trim, as we started doing this face trim many years ago when the movie of that name came out.

Miss Darcy


Here's a better view of the whole dog:


This style is obtained by using a combination of snap-on combs and scissoring. The exact size of the comb attachment depends on how much I want to take off. Some times I use the clipper vac and a Wahl "A" comb, and take her down all over. On this day, I mostly scissored using chunking shears. This style of texturizing shear works great on SCWT coat. It leaves a natural, feathered edge that does not show cut marks.

Here's what the chunkers look like:


Darcy was first bathed with Espree Doggone Clean shampoo and rinsed with Show Sheen horse grooming spray diluted through the Bathing Beauty recirculating bathing system. She was dried with the Laube Magnum Force dryer. I create a little more force by using a cone attachment from a K9II dryer over the round nozzle that comes with the dryer. The bath took about 5 minutes, the drying about 20. Comb out was another 15-20 minutes. She was somewhat matted, but it brushed right out, thanks to the detangler that was rinsed through the coat and dried. Scissoring and shortening took about 20 minutes. Total time was a little over an hour. That was good time.

Here are some of the tools I used for brushing and combing:
Chris Christensen 16mm T-Brush

This brush is used for line brushing or layering, from the feet up the leg and the underside, up the sides. It brushes out minor tangling without brutalizing the hair cuticle and breaking hair, which just increases matting. You would be amazed how well this brush combs out the SCWT coat when the hair is "treated" with the silcione-based detangler.

Mars Flexy King Brush


Wooden Handle Poodle Comb

This comb is one of my favorite tools of all time. I can groom just about anything with this comb, and it is less painful to the dog than more finely spaced combs.

All of these tools are available from the Birdie shopping cart. Click HERE to go there.

Barbara Bird, is a Certified Master Groomer (CMG) with International Professional Groomers, Inc. (IPG). She has been grooming since 1971. She's too old to do the math, but is still doing great grooming at Transformation Pet Center, Tucson, AZ.
For an appointment, call 520-795-5743

PS. Caveat: I am aware that one ear is shorter than the other. I thought I had corrected that, but whoops guess not enough. I will get it next time. You do not need to bring it to my attention. If I waited for my grooming to be perfect, and to get a perfect photo, I would not have a blog. As Lisa Leady said on Groomer Has It (Episode that aired 6/6/09), "I'm not perfect". If she can admit it and still stand tall, so can I. Lisa Leady is one of my role models, and is one of the most awesome groomers in the Whole World. Go Lisa!