ivyyoon

hello,

just wondering what your grooming rituals are....
my vet told me that trimming whiskers and shaving insides of ear are common.
ive been using small nail clippers to trim whiskers, but havent shaved her ears.
i think lexi is scared of the noise...
also, does anyone trim the bottom of their underside?
any tips would be appreciated~
thanks!

Wegs813

I will be the first to admit that I am very new to dobermans, but to this point I have only clipped her nails and occasionally brushed her coat with a rubber brush.
What is the benefit to trimming whiskers?

micdobe

Whiskers are usually trimmed for conformation showing, because it makes a cleaner outline. Basically, for shows you trim off any excess hair or whiskers that "stick out" from the clean outline of the dog. So that would be the whiskers, the hair inside the ears, the hair on the bottom of the "skirt", and hairs that stick out anywhere. This isn't required for showing, but it's what most people do.

Other than that, there isn't any benefit to doing it unless you really like to look at your dog everyday with that "clean outline" look. Personally I don't usually notice my dogs' whiskers in day to day living, and so I don't don't trim anything but the toenails unless the dog is getting ready for a show.

Murreydobe

It gives them a "cleaner" look.

Part of the show grooming that's done with dobermans is trimming whiskers, the inside of and along the edge of the ear, under the tail, their belly and along the "skirt" on their loins, their neck. You can also lightly run the clippers over their entire underline and the back of their hind legs..basically you're just trying to take off any stray hairs that stick out from the overall outline. If your dog has good pasterns, you can show that off by trimming the back of them.

But I don't do any of this when my dogs aren't being shown. Sometimes a dog's just gotta be a dog!

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CH. Birchrun Who's On First, aka Razzle
Foxfire N KO Simply Madness WAC, aka Connor

ivyyoon

i see...lexi is just a pet, not show dog, but i must admit she looks great after a few trims! i do it maybe once every 2wks...im sort of a neat freak.....i apologize to lexi : (

i think its also the environment of the city where everyone's dog looks so fashionable and show like~
also she's our photo production studio dog and we have many fashiony type clients so i like to keep her clean cut....those are my excuses, apologies to lexi again!

when u say clippers do u mean scissors?

Murreydobe

No..clippers made specifically for grooming dogs. Most of them have detachable blades, and you have to be careful to use the right blade, depending on what you want to do. I generally use a #10 blade for everything but the inside of the ears...you can't do any harm with a #10, as far as taking off too much hair.

Although some people do use scissors to take the hairs off of the muzzle..I'd really caution against doing that unless you're pretty experienced and the dog is pretty calm.

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CH. Birchrun Who's On First, aka Razzle
Foxfire N KO Simply Madness WAC, aka Connor

ivyyoon

hmmm thanks for the info! im thinking i shouldnt do it myself and just get it done by sophia or grooming professionals.....lexi is usually calm around the small nail clippers but with electric shavers she gets scared.
i cant clip her nails anymore, b/c i cut quick the last time, and now im too scared to do it!

brumwolf

Funny you should bring up this subject as i have just come upstairs from nail-clipping and whisker removing of both Tia and Mischa ready for showing first in the ring tomorrow(it's Mischa's first major show) apart from that it will be a spray of water and a wipe down with a wet wipe just prior to entering the showring(and maybe a little coat shine shhhh)I have a special pair of scissors for doing the whiskers,they have rounded points so you do not stab their cheeks as they jump around a lot for a trim.I'm lucky i don't have to trim ears(floppy ear brigade me)!!

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My favourite quote "If it's not a Doberman,It's just a dog" Anon

ivyyoon

what a coincidence~
thanks for tip, i might go get a pair of rounded tips......
and Best of Luck to Tia & Mischa!!!

Okie-dobie

ivyyoon, you can buy battery operated mini clippers to do the whiskers. They are very quiet, I use them on my Shiz tzu around her eyes and they only cost about $25.00