Time for grooming on friday

[mrskti]

I know that some of you strip and some of you clip. I'm taking Ellie and Dori in friday and I'm getting them clipped. I'm hoping they can do sort of a faux strip look. Does that sound possible? Or am I stupid??? Dori's fur is just out of control, she's little velcro dog, everything and i mean everything, sticks to her. I'm hoping getting her clipped helps that. Ellie has such thick fur, she's sorta yakkish, so she should look pretty good. It will really make her grey pop out. I'll try and get before and after pics. I get so nervous when they get clipped, I dont want them looking stupid if they do them so short.

anyway, just wanted some reasurrance!!!!!

[Eliz222]

I haven't taken my to the groomers, so can't help ya there. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Mars Coat King on my two. It does a great job of keeping their fur from becoming too Yak looking! Have you tried it? You can buy it online and I don't know what I would do without mine.

[curlyantillysmom]

Shoe where do you get your mars king coat can you email the site you got it from please . ricknjane9@comcast.net . We look forward to hearing from you.

[tena]

Sophie has been to the groomers twice. The first was for a full body clip when she first came. The hair on her back is just now getting longer and Cairn like.

Since then she has gone to have her under tail trimmed and her face shaped. I second the MCK idea. It really helps keep the volume of hair down. Sophie is simply a pet and I'm aiming for a tidy coat...I do no hand stripping.

[mrskti]

Well I have a MCK and I do use it, but they need their faces done a little and their ears tipped and their bums done and their feet. There is no freakin way I can do it alone. Dori's muzzle is way too long and she looks so cute with it clipped up a little. I basically just want them tidy too, they are soooo way far from show dogs!!! I'd be worried they'd look bald if stripped, and I dont want that.

[Tracy A.]

Well I have a MCK and I do use it, but they need their faces done a little and their ears tipped and their bums done and their feet.  There is no freakin way I can do it alone.  Dori's muzzle is way too long and she looks so cute with it clipped up a little.  I basically just want them tidy too,  they are soooo way far from show dogs!!!   I'd be worried they'd look bald if stripped, and I dont want that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree that Heads, Tails, Rears and leg are the hardest to do.... all the areas they don't want you messing with!

[kayharley]

What is it about those areas that cause such concern? Our Cairns should be trusting us by now, no? Don't they realize that we would never hurt or cause them major discomfort?

I cannot even touch Elliott's precious tail without getting major feedback (snarling, growling, snapping at air...never me) And that's just his tail. Who do I call to help with the butt hairs?

As far as stripping versus clipping...I admit to using sissors and thinning shears on their legs and clipping the hair on the tips of their ears. And I cannot bring myself to pull those delicate hairs on the underside either.

I guess whatever works for you and your Cairns to keep their coat healthy and keep them looking like Cairns...

[mrskti]

Well I got them back home safe and sound, and they said they did fine.....i think they lie!

They look cute, except I think their faces are too short, but my husband says no......oh well....it will grow back. They look and feel so nice and clean now. I like how they did the bodies and such, just a little short on the face. I could never get the guts up to clip them......uhm, there....like they do. They certainly are "tidy" now!!! I'll try to get a shot of them to post.

[Lesley]

I take Rusty to a local groomer - as a walk in. This week, she did his ears, bum and under, clipped his nails and only charged $15.00- definitely worth me not having to fuss and struggle by myself. I'll finish off with a shedding blade - and also Mars King. Use the thin scissors on the legs also

[Padfoot]

The Mars blade thing has always scared me. It looks difficult to use. Is it?

I have a mobile groomer come to our house every so often when Viggo starts looking particulary yak-like. She knows not to use clippers on him; just scissors his ears, face, feet, butt, and I think an overall trim of the undercarriage. His face always looks overly neat when she's done, but after about a week, he looks normal again, except now he can actually SEE without all that hair in his face.

I think if I just brushed him more often, he wouldn't get so bushy-haired, but since his stomach problems, I can't give him the little Natural Balance tidbits that I used to feed him while I brushed to keep him calm. I have yet to find a suitable replacement for those treats, and without that distraction, he is a BEAR to handle, even for a simple brush-out. I used to use just a wire brush for that, and tons of his undercoat would come out.

This reminds me -- does stress cause these dogs to lose hair? I have had a couple of occasions where these non-shedding Cairns have absolutely covered me in loose hair! In particular when I picked Viggo up from the kennel after a two-week stay last year -- I was dying, holding him in the car on the way home, because literally the hair was FLYING off of him all over me, the car....it was amazing (and awful). That was when he got really really sick with his stomach crud & I swore I would never leave him for that long again (and we haven't). Anyone else experienced this?

[tena]

MCK is one of the easiest thing to use. You pul itt through their hair like a comb, its that simple. NOthing to cut you or the dog.