help on trimming ears
 

After reading so many posts about careless groomers, I have decided to try and do some of the grooming myself. Whenever she needs her body cut, I will take her in, but that won't be for awhile as she is only 15 weeks. Last weekend I trimmed the hair around her eyes with some round-tipped scissors I picked up at PetSmart. She needs her ears tipped, bum shaved, paws trimmed and the hair on her tail is really growing so I thought I'd trim that too. The thing I am most nervous about are the ears! I was up all last night searching for past threads but I still don't understand what exactly I should do. Does anyone have pictures or instructions on how to tip ears? Lucy has some pretty big ones, I'll try to post a pic. I am really nervous about this so I would appreciate any help that you could give! And I'm sure Lucy would appreciate it too so she doesn't have to walk around with lopsided ears.

Do her ears stand just fine? If they still need a little help to keep them standing, just shave the upper third of the back of the ear - just go straight across and up with a personal shaver. You can trim all along the edges of the ears with scissors. You can get some ear powder to put inside her ears so you can pull the hair that is in the canal out. You need to keep this pulled out, so she doesn't get an infection. I suppose this is as clear as mud? :D I used to do Muffin's hair, but she was good and would stand nicely for me. Kacee is still a wild child and I take her to the groomer monthly. You can kind of see how the groomer cuts it in the avatar.

Yep, actually trimming the ears is the easiest part of grooming for me. I have a cordless (and quiet) clipper especially for ears and butts...don't need a lot of power for those areas. I put my thumb inside the ear and support the ear and clipper from bottom to top. BTW, the thumb is on the same hand that I am holding the clippers with. Hubby gets upset trying to hold wiggly babies so I hafta hold with one hand and clipper with the other. I love the tip 1/3 clippered..YorkieUsa's avatar looks like mine...same pattern.

Me too Rini - I love trimming their ears - when I finish I can say it looks wonderful and they didn't hate it...

Sarah515...What I do is shave down the top 1/3 of the ear - inside AND outside - It's really easy to do - I use a Wahl trimmer - you can get one at Sally Beauty Supply for about 10 $ - just hold the ear FLAT against your thumb - or whatever is comfortable and shave UPWARDS - in the direction the hair grows -

you want to just shave against the FLAT part of the ear...It sounds harder than it is - the idea is to keep them from wiggling and it can help if you wrap your baby in a towel to keep the squirming to a minimum and shave FAST...it gets easier after you do it a few times -

Do NOT shave edges - the teeth in the trimmer will gouge the ear edge.....I just go with the flat of the ear right off the edge in a sweep -
These are the trimmers I found work best for me - & a pic of Chanel & Cheri each with trimmed ears - they grow fast so practice and any mistakes you make will not be there very long - and GOOD Luck !


just don't shave against the ear edge if you try this !!

Can I add ....those are some outstanding wings on your little guy ? :D :D :D

Villette, you splained it so much better than I. That is how I do it, Lucy!!!

Villette, I have followed your advice and I am finally getting there with Shelby. Can you post your grooming list again. Things we should do or ask groomer to do if we get brave enough?

thank you Rickyyyyy ! I got in the shaving mood with that post ....and think I'm gonna go get out the vrooms-vrooms right now -

Chanel LOVES me doing her ears .....and Cheri will look at me like I'm fixin to shave her bald...then she avoids me for the next hour to make sure I got all the grooming inclinations out of my system

Villette knows her stuff. After hacking poor Gus's ears up twice,,, I finally got it down with V's help. Gus no longer has to walk in shame with hacked up ears. and he no longer looks like a bat! Good luck to you.

Thanks, Villette!
 

I am excited to know where to get the trimmer, that's awesome! Thanks for the step by step instructions, you ROCK! :D

LOL HE never looked like a bat !! :eek: A Bunny Wabbit maybe... but not a bat ! lol - oh wait - I forgot - I used to call Cheri Bat-Girl when her ears were bigger than her head too !! :)

This List is what I usually gave groomers - it's Basics only... not for full cuts
Shave Top 1/3 of ears
Pluck inside the ear
Sanitary cut on tummy
Shave a LITTLE on their butt - :) but...no Baboon Butts !!!
Shape feet and trim under them too - this gets overlooked sometimes
Clip nails – carefully
Check Anal Glands – IF you trust the groomer

Cut per YOUR direction - not what they think looks good

Type it up and TAKE IT WITH YOU

That helps me to have decided to groom Cali myself as I don't want to leave her at a groomers. I bought scissors at the dog show and trimmed her paws and by her eyes, but I have not been able to do her ears, my sister comes and does it for me. But i'm going to try now. Thanks Villette. Maybe we should have a thread where we all post our first attempt at ear trimming!

I wet my dog's ears and then (with my thumb and finger) pushed most of the hair out past the ears.

Then, I very carefully cut off the hair that was sticking out past the ears.
This was no easy feat because my dog is a real wiggleworm. It took me about four sessions to accomplish this task.

I actually got quite a bit of hair off and was very pleased with the end result - also, his ears went up almost immediately and have stayed there.

An added bonus was that I thought my dog had the biggest ears in the world, but once I removed a lot of the hair that was growing out and past them, his ears aren't so big after all.

I have given my pup an all over haircut. It has helped get rid of his yucky baby hair and he looks 100% better. Again - I can never get it all done in just one session.

The best advise I got here - was from the person who melted some cheese in a saucer (almost until it was hard) and let her dog get busy licking on that while she groomed. It's amazing how much you can get done when your pup is busy trying to get cheese off a plate.

I have groomed several of my other dogs and am sure I can keep my Yorkie in a puppy cut myself. It sure helps that he isn't very big. If I ever decide to let his hair grow out - that's when I'll need help.

Good luck!

Carol Jean

oooohhhh.....I can see it now - I am NOT a groomer so don't hold me to anything !! :D :D :D I can see the little yorkies asking their moms now - "I GOT to get ahold of that Villette - grrrrrrr....where is she"?

On eyes - I actually LOVE the little personal trimmers for women (Sally's Beauty Supply again) to clean up their little faces - mine has a little comb on the end and looks like this below - it's very quiet and only takes off a little bit at a time -

then I use the 1/4 Trimmer for right in the corners of their eyes if the hair is sticking them - I tried to let Cheri's face hair grow out but hers just grows in the air like Bean Sprouts ..so I do trim between the eyes too

Here are the other 2 trimmers for their faces that I personally like to use

Can you use the personal trimmers for their ears?

yes but it would take forever - the Wahl trimmer (1st pic) is actually perfect for ears - you can swipe them a few times and voila - done - I like to get close to the edges but it's the easiest for accuracy.... and the Personal Trimmer is better for little bits of hair - like between their eyes etc....sometimes Cheri gets those wild hairs that stick straight up and the personal trimmer is perfect for keeping their faces looking neat -

I gave up growing her hair close to her eyes - she's outside so often I want her to be able to see so I Do trim that hair on Cheri more than I have to with Chanel

When I refer to a personal trimmer, I don't mean those little pencil-sized trimmers. I'm talking about a woman's rechargeable trimmer. It's bigger and because it's rechargeable, it is quieter to use on a skittish puppy. I really like them because they have a number of attachments to use on them.

wow, thanks for all of the replies! Lucy's ears seem to be up fine, but they are gigantic and the hair makes them look even bigger. I love her little furry ears but I really don't know what to do with the hair otherwise. I think I'm going to wait until after NYE to cut them so if I do mess up, 50 people don't have to see, lol.

I started my grooming with Vilette's advice. Best ever, of course. I wanted to add, for my wiggly ones, I usually wrap them up in a towel and hold them with my legs. Better than any help around my house. Also, the first time I did Zowie, I brushed all her hair up on her ears, and it was bad. Brush back towards her head and dont trim the long part you want to leave.

Be sure to brush them well before you take them to a groomer or they will shave them. I made that mistake once. That was the last time I used a groomer, my guys brush out so easily, but they said he was too matty - NOT!

Also, sorta shave away from their little butt hole, that always makes mine squeal if I try to go over the little poofy part.

Villette:

Do you also use the powder that gets put inside their ears?
If so, where do you get it?

Thanks.

Kate

excuse me for being dumb but what is the purpose of the ear powder?

Well, my groomer uses it and says it helps remove the hair, near the ear canal.

Maybe she is the only one who uses it???

Anyone???

Kate

I think the powder just helps soothe the ears after pulling out all that hair. I am going to buy these tools and see if I have the guts to do this myself. I bought a Wahl electric trimmer and video but it is so noisy that my little jumps sky high.

haha - mine did too at first - I got them used to it by sitting there running the trimmer letting them get used to the noise - it took a few tries and I never forced them -

Once they got used to the noise - I started doing parts that were really easy - like the butt - Do a little at a time to get them used to the noise and they aren't so skittish.

and Kate...I haven't been able to pluck out ear hair - but my vet or groomer does it - I heard the powder makes it easier but I have no idea why. I would think any grooming supply has it but I let the pro's handle that stuff - but I DO shave inside their ears and neither of my girls mind the noise of the trimmer now.

To add to the benefit of grooming basics yourself - I USED to spend 70 bucks (2 girls) every time I went to the groomer - the last time they went - We were just starting to be in really bad financial shape ...and the groomer barely did anything ....

I really wondered why I was paying her... when I could do the same thing PLUS - the girls wouldn't have to spend hours at the grooming place - it's really worked out - I pretty much can do all the same things... and I don't spend that 70 $ every 4-6 weeks anymore & they don't have to sit in cages.

From what I am reading, you are very good at trimming them.

I am curious, just how often do you take your darlings in for grooming. It sounds like you can do most of it yourself.

Kate