# What length is your furbabies hair?



## belibaby14 (Mar 21, 2007)

I would thought it would be interesting to know at what length everyone leaves their furbabies hair. And what kind of cut they have.


I am looking for a new cut for Belinha. Her hair is currently about 3 inches long. I really like to put clothes on Belinha so I wouldnt mind going a little bit shorter. Especially now that the weather is warm. If anyone have any ideas or a suggestion, I would love to hear it.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

Tracy, you could always just cut the torso a little shorter so it won't mat with clothes and leave the legs longer. That way you can grow it out more easily if you want later. That's what I do with both Toy and Cosy.


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## The A Team (Dec 1, 2005)

I like them shorter (for the ease of grooming) but not shaved...







I also like my dogs with their faces trimmed and the beards gone - it just suits them better. Good luck.


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## LitGal (May 15, 2007)

I keep Haiku's hair quite short. After a haircut, the fur is about 3/4 to an inch long. The longest I let it grow is about 3-4 inches. In the winter she needs to wear sweaters to go out, in the summer it's very hot, and she doesn't like being brushed, so keeping her trimmed makes sense. I have her face trimmed so that it's in proportion to the rest of her body.


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## ohhmyyitsLEA (Jun 19, 2007)

Does anyone want to post any pictures? I to am in the same boat as belibaby14. =]


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## GreenFuzzer (Jun 16, 2007)

2MaltMom, 
I really like the cut your babies have in your signature. Which seems to lead me to a ton of questions.... Do you do their hair cuts yourself or do they go to a groomer? Are the scissor cut or clipper cut? If clipper do you know what blade is used? I'm thinking about getting a 3/4" HT Andis Ceramic Edge blade if anyone knows if this would be appropriate I would greatly appreciate your opinions on it. I feel the same way about the beard, but Gracie also doesn't have a top knot, she either gets ear bows or hats.







Thank you for any tips you can give me.


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## tamizami (May 1, 2007)

> 2MaltMom,
> I really like the cut your babies have in your signature. Which seems to lead me to a ton of questions.... Do you do their hair cuts yourself or do they go to a groomer? Are the scissor cut or clipper cut? If clipper do you know what blade is used? I'm thinking about getting a 3/4" HT Andis Ceramic Edge blade if anyone knows if this would be appropriate I would greatly appreciate your opinions on it. I feel the same way about the beard, but Gracie also doesn't have a top knot, she either gets ear bows or hats.
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I would love to hear what all the pros on this board use, the grooming tips are great! I used to insist and also do scissor cuts on Shiva, but since mine were a little "choppy" looking, I recently bought an Andis clipper with #10 blade on it. I thought the key to the clipper is having a good guide comb to 1) keep the hot & vibrating blade away from the puppy and 2) guide me to a perfect 2" or 3" clip. So far it has worked well, but the buzzing still makes her a bit skittish.

We recently added a new puppy to our pack, Baby Stewie (Stuart Little). He is 6 months old and never clipped. I'm considering trying to grow Shiva and Stewie into a longer coat, but am not sure about the hair just under the ears on the head, but not the beard. Any advice on what to do with that hair? It looks a little strange on Stewie since its longer than his ears and beard. I would greatly appreciate any tips on cutting for the longer coats, I've ordered many of the products recommended for combs (cc buttercomb), brush (#1 all systems pin), shampoo, conditioning, detangler/de-matting and dirt repellent. Thanks to all of you for the great advice!!


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## Carole (Nov 1, 2005)

Bella looks best with toso clipped to about 1 inch.....and legs/feet scissored in long and fluffy I leave her head (beard ponytail) longish.

Krista we keep 2-3 inches as she is such a long/tall/thinnish Maltese that if I cut her shorter she looks even longer...plus Krista is more cooperative about her brush outs than Bella. I also leave Kristas head (beard and Ponytail longish). I am thinking of getting rid of Krista's pony as she is just a little stinker about it and won't quit messing it







up when I am done fixing it. She will be two in October and Bella had outgrown this by this time.









It really is true that you have to find the clip that works best for your particular Maltese's figure and your lifestyle.


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## GreenFuzzer (Jun 16, 2007)

> I would love to hear what all the pros on this board use, the grooming tips are great! I used to insist and also do scissor cuts on Shiva, but since mine were a little "choppy" looking, I recently bought an Andis clipper with #10 blade on it. I thought the key to the clipper is having a good guide comb to 1) keep the hot & vibrating blade away from the puppy and 2) guide me to a perfect 2" or 3" clip. So far it has worked well, but the buzzing still makes her a bit skittish.[/B]


I give is there a trick to using the guide combs? I have never had luck with them going through a dogs hair not just Gracie's, I have also tried them on my kids Lhasa-Poos and they just glided right across the freshly combed, clean dry coat. I have tried going with the coat and against it both on the few times it does actual comb into the hair it acts like the thickness of the plastic combs are to thick to nicely glide through the hair. I have a Oster Golden A-5 2 speed and the combs that came with that also a couple of universal combs from Sally's. TIA


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## belibaby14 (Mar 21, 2007)

> Tracy, you could always just cut the torso a little shorter so it won't mat with clothes and leave the legs longer. That way you can grow it out more easily if you want later. That's what I do with both Toy and Cosy.[/B]


I really like your idea but I have a hard time grooming Belinha's legs. She hates to have her legs brushed. I have a appt. for her for saturday. And, I think Im going to tell the groomer to have her clipped to 1 in. But she might have to have her legs shaved because its very matted.


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## RexsMom (Jun 8, 2005)

Rex's hair is about 3/4 inch long. I like keeping it short, it is so much easier to deal with. The 4th of July picture below is from last weekend to give you a better idea on his length.


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## THE GiZ&THE CHAR (Dec 14, 2006)

Both my boys have their hair about an inch or 1 inch 1/2 long on the body right now. I'm "trying" to let it grow possibly an inch more but no more than that. Charlie knots far too easily and is already but every night, I torture the poor baby by trying to undo the mess. *Sighs* Gizmo is knot-free as of now. They're ears are about 4 inchs long. Their face is about 2 1/2 inchs long and their hair on top of their head is about 3 inchs long. Charlie's tail is about 3 inchs and Gizmo's 4. I'm in the process of letting their face grow out long along with the hair on their head and keeping the body short. It's taking a while and they look goofy but oh well.










Good luck!


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## Melly (Jun 29, 2007)

> Does anyone want to post any pictures? I to am in the same boat as belibaby14. =][/B]



I just got molly cut for the first time and only cause of the adult coat/matting issue. We really wanted to grow her coat out. But she was a mess every day. After reading some posts here it looks like I got ripped off. I paid $60.00 for wash, nail clipping, ear plucking, and cut. We took her down to half the length and cleaned up the face. I don't like the way they squared off the ears, but otherwise I like the cut.


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## Melly (Jun 29, 2007)

Here's a few more where you can see the body a little...


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## tamizami (May 1, 2007)

> > index.php?act=findpost&pid=397513
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Sorry for the delayed response, I have a hard time finding my "active" threads on the board! I just had to make sure the guide comb was shorter than Shiva's hair (took me a couple of tries) and once I did that, it worked fine. Shiva has a pretty silky coat, too, so I wasn't sure it would work. But I watched the groomer use them once, thats how I got the idea to use them. You have a better clipper than I do, so I'm sure thats not it. Maybe one of the pros has some tips?


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## maltese-lovers (Jun 18, 2007)

Maza's hair is long about 5 inches,but it is hard to keep it without mats.
So,we think hair should be no longer than 2 inches if you don't want mats....We love Cosy's,Archie's and Abbie's hair style


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