Which cut is best at the groomers?!

[BaxterLover]

I'm pretty new to this forum, hi all. My roommates boss was going to take his cairn terrier puppy to the humane society and so I stepped in and said I would take him. I have never owned a cairn terrier so this is a pretty new experience for me! I had a few questions on what I should do to groom him. I bought a two-sided brush that is supposed to take up the wooly hair- but it's not working very well. All the pictures of other cairn terriers show short hair on the ears, but Baxter looks like Wicket. Which cut is best for him- so I can just start all over with him? The previous owners obviously shaved or cut all the longer hair off, and all he's left with is the fuzzy hair underneath....Please help!!

[tena]

Sophie was clippered really short all over when I first got her. She was terribly overblown when she arrived.

It has taken almost 8 months to get her fur in shape. A Mars Coat King is excellent for getting the under coat out. I have the groomers shape her face, trim her ears and her under tail area every couple of months or so. I brush her weekly and MCK her every couple of weeks.

[dufunny]

I take Siggy to petsmart about once every two or three months and just ask for the Cairn cut. I have yet to upload a picture of him...but he looks just like toto

[Scully'sMom]

I have used a groomer for both of my Cairns she is extremely knowledgeable on a "proper" Cairn cut...i.e. the "skirt" on the sides.

Unfortunately she fell asleep after her grooming so you can't see all of her. It's not too short....

[Barney's Mom]

From your description of the puppy, it almost sounds like he has been stripped. If all he has is fuzzy hair and no coarse hair, that would be a good indication. If he has truly been stripped, I would say just leave his coat alone, until his hair is long enough to need grooming. You could get a sanitary cut done around his bottom, but I would say don't worry about the grooming right now.

How old is your puppy? Barney is going on 5 months and hasn't needed any grooming yet. I brush him about twice a week, and when his hair is long enough, I will purchase the Marz Coat King for him. I trim around his bottom with grooming sheers, and between his toes.

Unless you are going to show your dog, hand stripping isn't too much of an issue. I think most people on this forum say that the Coat King is as good as you need to get.

Good luck with your new baby! How could anyone take a little Cairn to the Humane Society????

[mrskti]

I hate to sound stupid cause I do it so often, but I thought the skirt cut was a Westie cut??? When I took the girls for the first grooming they did this cut on them, of course the looked cute, but I didnt think it was right. The last time they did their bellies, ears, undercarriage and bumm, they looked really good.

[bradl]

This would do nicely:

For a shaggier, old-school look:

Clip-type groomers often mangle the poor head (I do too, but I'm not a groomer). Here's a nice looking head:

Anything along those general lines. You can see there's plenty of room for variation, but the essential outline still looks ... Cairnish.

[mollysmom1]

Your cairn is just gorgeous. The face is a true cairn face. I think that I need to shorten the length of Molly's facial hair so that her face is more rounded. The other thing I'm wondering about ,Brad, is that I've read different opinions about cutting the hair out of the ears. Some of the literature says definitely yes-it prevents ear infections, others say no because leaving the hair in prevents infections.

I'm also wondering if I trim the hair that is growing on the outside part of the ear-lower 2/3 I guess, with scissors. Or do you use electric clippers to shave this hair?

[Mollyrocker]

I like the "old school" look the best..now to achieve it...

[bradl]

Erm, none of the above are mine! They are just pictures I reused from the gallery. The old-school one is ENG CH Brindie of Twobees who was apparently born in 1949. I simply adore that dog - it's a picture that never fails to make me smile. No, he was NOT my childhood dog

On the head, I pretty much only pull hair with my fingers. Top third and bottom two-thirds alike. I tend not to pull hair rooted inside the ear. Like you, I read both views and tend to believe whatever I read last.

As always, taking ANY grooming advice from me is possibly a crime in thirteen states. How I wish some CTCA members would take an interest in the forum, if only to address the topic of grooming. But they don't so per usual, I'd advise hanging out at dog shows. Many will answer questions while they groom their own dogs.

[rubyruby]

Grooming continues to be an issue with me. I did not expect that in addition to brushing, they would require constant - constant - grooming. I look at pictures of Ruby when I brought her home (at 2) and I cannot get her face to look the same, i.e. that short plump look. I bought the MCK and I also bought a package of rubber fingers. Last Saturday I took her outside and pulled the hair just on her head. I couldn't believe the amount of hair that was coming out. Can I assume that if I pull the hair (gently) and it comes out, it was meant to come out??

[wheezie23]

Brad, I printed those pictures out for my personal point of reference. Out of all three of my cairns, Scruffy is the one that looks the most proper when it comes to coat. I have the most difficult time getting the legs to look right.

Ruby, I use the rubber finger cots around the head, and the first time I was also amazed at how much hair came out, and how easily it came out. Yes, if it comes out easily, it was meant to be pulled. I find that if I just pull around the "cheek" part of his face, hair just keeps coming out. Pretty soon, I'm staring at a nice, round cairn face! Good luck!

Thela

[mrskti]

well i'm printing off these pics for the next time I get them groomed!!! I love the last face shot....that's how i want their faces to look!! darling dogs, just darling.

[Tracy A.]

During my last grooming lesson, I brought my CTCA grooming guide iwth and made hair pulling/direction notes about which way what is blended. By no means am I close to being any good at grooming, but I did learn that I was taking off too much hair on my own. I thought that you remove everything that can come out- which doesn't leave you much to blend with!

I also learned that just like a human hair cut, a Cairn's different sections are blended together. Also you really need a grooming table or in the very least an eyehook with a grooming noose to keep your dog still-

I have a few Head notes from my lesson, they are: Head like half moon. Cairn doesn't have a beard, so chin flat part of moon- Take curve of moon back to knot in back of head, and down to jaw notch on each side. Then do half moon going other way on head to get overall spiked hair look. Smaller half moon on muzzle, so fan like effect. Comb hair forward over eyes, and level. Cairn's have bangs, not eyebrows.

[rubyruby]

Oh....now I'm not confused al all.