He is beautiful! That's what I wanted to do with my Lola (she is 6 months today) but I took her to the groomer for the first time on Thursday and the lady cut it all out when I specifically told her not to. So I'll have another 8 months or so to grow it back out =/ lol

I know it is hard when they just do not listen. I had to cut Galen's coat but I told her not to cut his face and she did. Now we are growing it out too

With these little guys I think we're always growing out something. My new grow out has been his tail. I used to keep it short but I just love seeing it swish when he walks. It was pretty long by December but he kept getting poop stuck on it when he had a moist BM. Deuce's BM's are affected by how stressed he gets . . . like when my grandson is at the house. Well anyway I just had to trim it a bit shorter. Hopefully this solves the problem. His hair is always a work in progress.

What a handsome boy! I always keep the nose hair long, I find it's easier to maintain and looks nicer. Couver once had his nose hair cut by the groomer and it did take forever to grow out!

I'm going to try this look for my dog. How long does it take to grow the hair out this long?

This is where Cesar is currently. In the picture he hasn't had a bath in over 2 weeks and I usually keep his eyes cut, but as I said I want to grow his hair out.

What do I need to do to maintain it in the meantime while it grows? Should I take him to the groomer to have it trimmed periodically? What about paw hair maintenance?

Sorry for hijacking your thread. I just want to be sure you see my post because your dog's look is what I want.

Here are some pictures of Lola's hair's progress, it was cut on 11/12/13, so around 11 weeks ago. Her hair is very silky and seems to grow fast.

All those messy loose hairs by her eye/nose are short hairs, they're not from her topknot being messy (although it is a bit messy by her ears).
I brushed her face right before taking the picture and she promptly rubbed her face on my bed.

I'm also wondering, did the groomer clip all the way around her eyes? I circled the area I'm talking about in one of the pictures. I don't think she did but the hair seems to have gotten longer since she was groomed...

I still want to smack the groomer... I told her so many times to only cut the border of her face plus wrote it down and she still messed up. She didn't even do it properly, part of Lola's eyebrow and eyelashes got cut too, no reason for scissors to be anywhere near that area.

Well Cesar looks pretty young. So it may take a while to get there. The first thing I would try is to get rid of the discolored tearing he has. For me I guess I was lucky. I changed his drinking water to Baby Water and the brown discoloration stopped. They say sometimes that is due to the dog food but that wasn't the case for us. Keep it clean. I used to clean Deuce's eyes every day. Now he doesn't require it that often. If you grown it long and it is discolored it looks a bit messy. Secondly tell the groomer no cutting around the eyes or nose. If you have to stay there while they do the job then just do that. Be nice about it and say you would like to observe and just see their reaction. My groomer - when I used one- was very happy to allow me to stay and watch. That's part of how I learned how to do my own grooming. Grooming is not hard. It's actually very relaxing for me and Deuce. It's our bonding time together. He's so used to it he just lays down and let's me do my thing. My hubby helps me when I have to trim his boy parts as I don't want to cut too close. I have purchased good tools and do a little at a time. I love my battery powered little shaver. I even do a great job on hubby!!!!!

There are some hairs around Deuce's eyes that seem short. They haven't been cut by me and I'm the only groomer. It may be just a natural thing for some hairs. Advocate what you want with your groomer and be specific - never assume.

It's all the way around both eyes. I think it was cut because it grew.

I specifically told her at least 5 times don't cut by her eyes or nose, only cut the border of her face and I wrote it down. How much more can I advocate? You were lucky, most groomers won't let you watch, I had a hard time trying to find a groomer who didn't want to keep my epileptic poodle for 6+ hours.

I'm done with groomers, I'm not paying $70+ to have my dogs hair messed up and be treated like garbage.

IDThink those hairs around the eyes were cut. Turbo's eyes look like that & I've been growing his hair...we're keeping his top knot.;)

Maybe that's why some groomers don't want the clients to watch, bc they'll learn by watching & the groomer will lose business!:D

I guess I've been fortunate - I'm retired. The groomer I've used has been great. I told them I wanted to do it myself upfront. Let me me honest - they are so busy they're probably happy I don't come there. Most of the folks don't even consider hanging around since they have to work. I do bring Deuce in to get his nails clipped and ear hair plucked. 12 bucks and we're done - less than 5 minutes. Maybe a bit pricey but I can just walk in. They have to make money somewhere. They're good people.
Mary

He just turned 4 on January 10th. Thanks for the advice. He gets water from the filtered tap on my sink. I was reading about how to fix that in the past and I found this powder you can put onto the food to change the Ph balance in his body and supposedly it stops it but I never got it.

I will try the baby water.

Teddy broke off a lot of hair above his eyes, so I have been having a hard time with his topknot. Then we got tiny scrunchies from Jenny/Mimimomo toplinepet.com.

The tiny scrunchies are perfect for putting closer to his eyes and getting those little wisps up. Then I put a second one farther back. (He hated when I tried this with the regular latex bands and ended up breaking more hair)

This should help his hair grow back.

Yes, I agree that the hair around the eyes has been cut. Her eye lashes and the hair around them seems to be missing.. It looks fine in the pictures but when it starts to grow in those short hairs can be bothersome. Groomers generally feel they know what is best and it can be difficult to find one that will actually do (or not do) what you request.

I have been trying to grow out my bellas nose and eye hairs and it seems like its taking for ever. How long does it take?

She defiantly cut the hair by the inner corner, I'm not sure about the area under her eye and part of her upper eye. Her hair looks pretty bad in person, she frequently has this random hunk of hair infront of one eye, it's not long enough to do anything with yet.
The only way I can explain the inner eye hairs are she started doing it then realized I told her not to or her scissors slipped. I really hope it's the first one.

I'm just done with groomers, I've only had 2 good experiences in 16 years.

Stunning!

Thanks for the suggestion. Trying it.

I use the little scrunchies from time to time, usually at night. I do like to put a bow in Gracie's hair most days but they just don't stay unless you use a tiny grooming band or first.

Here is a link to some pictures and a video that show how to put them in so they stay:
How To Put In Dog Bows : Dog Bows, Quality Dog Bows - Yorkie, Maltese, Shih Tzu - by BowBiz

I use the 1/4" latex free grooming bands. Latex free is smoother and the tiny hairs don't get caught so easily as with rubber. You can place the first one quite close to the face and the the next one right behind it. You will be able to get more of those tiny hairs as they grow out. If you use a clip on bow you place it between the two pieces of hair. It is much more secure that way.

The way to keep the hairs from breaking is to always remove the bands carefully with some band sissors everyday. Don't leave them in over night or for more than 12 hours. The scrunchie is a good thing to use at night.

Toplinepet now has the latex free bands. She also has the band scissors and scrunchies.

We always give Gracie a treat after grooming or topknot placement. It is a good distraction to keep a puppy from trying to remove the band. Always make sure that nothing is tight or pulling hairs on the head. We want them to be comfortable as well as beautiful!:)

I looooveeeeeeeeeeee his hair!!! It is so thick and beautiful, gorgeous dog!

His head hair is very thick but the legs are not as dense. I just did a little cut today because my girls thought his face was too long. Actually it was getting a bit messy for eating and when he drools playing ball. So I gave him a trim. Can't capture a pic yet but will put it on here. I've been braiding his topknot because I don't want to cut that too!!! Very cute look I think.

So do you use the scrunchie in the front and latex in the back? Been usingi the scrunchie and a braid but he can shake that scrunchie down quite a bit. He's a madman with his ball and toys. It doesn't come out but gets very loose.

LOVE his braid! He's such a cutie, a total doll!
When I use the scrunchies, I need to re-do their hair mid-day. I can stretch it enough to go around the hair to get it tight, but it still gets loose.

I think there's some kind of hair gel for dogs that is used by people who do grooming. Would something like that help keep the hair out of Pixie's eyes while it's growing out? I'm sorry I can't remember which online site had it for sale! Maybe cherrybrooke.com?

What is Baby Water??? And where do you get it?

It is on cherrybrooke.com
It's by All System's. Just type in hair gel.
Says it works on fly-away hairs and is invisible.

You can get the nursery water @ target or walmart. It's Gerber PURE water for mixing. It works great for some dogs, lessens eye boogers & red yeast.
I wouldn't use top knot gel so close to the eyes. If it gets in the eye accidentally, it can cause irritation. Besides, it won't hold down the hairs between the eyes, it's designed to hold fly away hairs from top knots. The only thing that will hold it down is the weight by the hair when it's grown out. It will take lots of patience & daily multiple wiping w/a baby terry cloth moistened w/a little water. As a last resort, you can try a tiny bit of vaseline to weigh down the hair, also comb it everyday to train it to go down.

Thanks for the answer about Baby Water! I had never heard of it!

As to Vaseline vs doggie hair gel, isn't Vaseline a petroleum product? The hair gel contains glycerin and hair conditioner. Any thoughts on that? I am absolutely new at all this!

Most hair products have some form of alcohol in it, also fragrance.

Although they're good for the hair, the glycerin & conditioners in the hair gel will irritate the eyes. I wouldn't use that to weigh the nose hair down. When I grew out my Yoshi's eye hair, I just kept dabbing my fingers in water & would use that to smooth down the hair around his eyes. I did it multiple times a day, but it does work & it's safe. Vaseline will work if you can't be by his side to do the water thing. Vaseline is petroleum-based which isn't toxic or an irritant. It's just a little gooey. But it'll do the trick.