I like my groomer but....

[KShep]

How do I ask her not to groom Ripley like a Yorkie? This is her area of expertise and I have no intention of insulting her. I just think I have a better idea of how a Cairn should look.

It's grown out a lot since this, but I'm not interested in this type of cut again. Ripley has always had a really soft coat, so maybe there aren't a lot of options, but this look is not what I'm going for.

I would look for a different groomer, but I have only tried one other place and it wasn't a positive experience. Some of these places can be pretty rough if you know what I mean. I really like this lady. She is fast and the place is so clean.

[kjwarnold]

I groom our current two hooligans myself now, but we took our first Cairn, Willie, to a groomer. I found I had to be very specific with what I wanted. I ended up going with what she called a puppy cut, which was the same length all over (not longer on the legs, face, etc.). I can't remember exactly what length I told her though, maybe 1 1/2 inches or a little more? I would find a picture of what you want and take it along. Talk about each area of Ripley, like how you want the face, legs, tail, body, etc.

Continued grooming (cutting of the coat) will probably keep Ripley soft. If you want to try for a harsher coat, stripping is the way to go. You can do it yourself or find someone who will do it. And don't let them tell you they can strip the coat with clippers. I had someone tell me that once.

Even if this wasn't the look you were going for, Ripley still looks cute! Kind of like that puppy look right after they get their first long hairs stripped off and they're growing their big boy/big girl coat!

[KShep]

Thanks! I agree with you about stripping. I try to use my stripper in between groomings which are few and far between. Also, my groomer said she would use a stripping knife on her body, but I suspect she has been using clippers!

[oscar's mom]

Ask to see the tools she uses on Ripley. I would also bring her in pictures of what you want your Cairn to look like. The Cairn calendars have great examples for this use. You can also down load articles on how to strip a coat of a terrier.

And give her a copy. Say "look what i found, this article is so interesting, do you think you can do something like this?"