# First Haircut



## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Hi, Lexi is getting her first haircut tomorrow night. I have read about so many people that have had bad grooming experiences that I am kind of nervous about this. I grew up with a lab mix, so Lexi is my first dog that ever need to have a haircut. Right now her hair is about 3 inchs long and it is starting to mat really bad. She HATES it when I try to comb her out.







So I have decided to put her in a short puppy cut. My problem is that I don't want it too short. I would like to keep some of the "fluff". For those of you with dogs in puppy cuts how long do you keep the hair on the body? Also any suggestions for head and legs? If anyone has a cute picture of their dog in a puppy cut I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks for your help!

Lexi's Mom


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

try looking at my dogster page for sprite. just click on the link in my signature....if you like it---i'll tell you how i cut her hair. the only bad grooming experience is that the groomer treated my dog bad. she got ear infections or horrible mats. its sad. the only groomers i found that were nice and careful (but didnt cut well) were at petco.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## Maxismom (Mar 24, 2004)

Maxi gets a grooming every 3 weeks i have them cut him in a short puppycut and i brush him every day whether he likes it or not and believe me he doesnt i have to literally chase after him but its important
my friends toy poodle had to get shaved yesterday because she doesnt comb him and the groomer which works out of my vets place shaved him and she was livid, as he gets groomed every 3 weeks with Maxi
i was surprised he went and did that but if she won't let you brush her than keep her short and get it done every few weeks


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## Caesar's Mommie (Apr 8, 2004)

We haven't taken Caesar to the groomers, we did his first cut. It wasnt the prettiest







, it was kind of choppy at first, but after a few days it looked a lot better. We tried shaving him with clippers, but it wouldnt take his hair so we just used scissors. My husband cut while I held him. Caesar did really well we were surprised.







There have been a lot of bad storys, but at the same time people probably dont think to post the good visits. The reason we did Caesar our selfs, is they wanted to bring us in for a small cut where they just cut his face, bottom, and feet and charge us $25 ( I already keep all of those cut myself), and then do the full body cut at a later visit. So we figured he is used to us messing with him anyway and we thought we'd give it a try ourselves and if its too terrible we will just take him in to have it done professionally next time (hes not a show dog just our lil'baby). Thankfully it worked out pretty good, and he behaved better than we thought. Good luck and let us know how it goes.


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! I really appreciate it.

Doctorcathy: Sprite is very cute. I love the hair cut. Please give me as much detail as possible. I found a really nice groomer at PetSmart. Lexi has been to her once for the puppy package. She seemed to really like her.

Maxismom: I have been "forcing" Lexi to hold still so that I can groom her. But unforuntaly her hair mats so easily lately. Seems to be where her harness is and her but. A week ago she was so matted and would not let me work at the mats that I finally got fed up with it and cut the mats out. I could not believe that it took 2 1/2 hours to get the mats out of this little 4 lbs. dog. Just as I would find a mat and reach for the scissors, while trying to hold the mat and Lexi with one hand she would wiggle away and jump off my couch (her new "trick"). I would then have to chance her around the about apartment trying to catch her. We were both VERY happy when the grooming was over.







The next day I made the appointment for the haircut. 

Nichole: I am also a computer geek. I type everything! I will probably end up making the list on the computer. I already went through the user album and found some pictures and saved them on my computer. I think I will probably go with 1/2 inch to an inch cut. I would like to stretch the space between haircuts as much as possible.


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## Mystify79 (Apr 6, 2004)

:lol:


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

Lexis mom--tell me about the mats! :wacko: eventhough sprite and ellie are in a short cut---they still get mats. anyway--i havent shaved sprite in a while (so i guess her hair is longer). i usually shave her with the 1/2 inch blade. but for the hair to be sorta long, you just use scissors. i put her in a stand, brush her hair with the part in the middle, and then i try to flatten out her hair so that it looks straight. i then try to get as even as possible (i sit down, while sprite's on the kitchen table) and i cut the hair so that it's a little tiny bit longer than where her stomach is. the top hair is going to be longer than the hair near the stomach (just like our hair, the hair on the top of our heads is longer than the hair near our necks). and then i look at how long that looks, and i try to get the chest even. i usually just grab the hair, pull it taught and cut away. and with the arms and legs....the arms, i have her stand on two legs, pull her arm straight and cut at the bottm of her arm (so near her elbow). and with the legs, i have her stand on all fours, pick her her little foot towards you, and cut the hair (near the knees). you just try to cut it straight across. it will look a little choppy...but after 10 minutes of running around...it looks even and straight. and then i use a Wahl trimmer shave for the feet and butt. if you want to cut the hair around the feet and hands, you hold their hands out and cut in like an oval (i try to get as close to the nails as possible.) and with their back feet...its a little harder--but the same concept. i work with looking at the bottom of her feet. i'll try to take pics this weekend of how i cut her hair and i'll post it somewhere. the face is a little difficult---the neck are is still hard for me to get. i usually grab chuncks of hair and cut till i think it looks sorta normal. and i really like to cut their ears short (I think it looks cute.). i hope this helps. after i cut their hair (if it didnt take me an hour)i would bathe them. or i wait a week and bathe. just have fun cutting their hair. it always grows back. lol.


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## kit001 (Jul 6, 2003)

I agree with doctorcathy, I did however spend a little money and bought a round portable grooming table as I have two small dogs to contend with and it turns a full 360 degrees so it does make it a bit easier to work on them. 

The only way to learn and to get it just the way you want them to look and not have to worry if someone hurt him/her while they were grooming them or not getting all the shampoo out and what not, is to keep doing it yourself. You will eventually get the hang of it and your baby will look just as you want them to. I know that Morgan loves the time I spend with him when I am grooming him. It is "our special time" together. In the beginning, I made mistakes and yes, I even hurt him, once shaving his paws, (I cut him a little), but he loves me and he forgave me, I think I felt worse than he did! And yes, next time he saw the clippers coming his way, he was a bit leary, but I had trimmer in one hand, a treat in the other and a soft voice. When I was finished, he filled my face with kisses, (I think it was a thank you for not snipping him again!) 

It's like anything else you do in life, practice makes perfect. Like docotrcathy said, it is only hair an dit will grow back.


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Her appointment is at 6:00 PM tonight. I will take a picture of her and post it tonight or tomorrow. Thanks again for all your help!


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Well Lexi and I made it through her first haircut. She looks so cute! It was funny when I went to pick her up I almost did not recognize her. The groomer brought her out to me and then went behind the counter. Lexi was started to follow her! She did not want to leave. I told the groomer that we would definitly be back. 

I have some pictures that I wanted to post but it won't let me! I tried put one as my avatar but it seems to work but after I click the add button my old avatar is still shown.







I will keep trying though.


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## LexiAndNikkisMom (Apr 13, 2004)

Ok, I got around the picture problem by opening an account at Dogster. Lexi's link is in our signature. There is a picture from the day I got her and 2 from last night.


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

That's a cute haircut!! im sure lexi is going to like getting groomed now (it wont take too long).







im glad she likes her groomer too. thats always a good thing.


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## Caesar's Mommie (Apr 8, 2004)

Awww she looks really cute, the groomer did a great job! I'm so glad it went well!


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## TikisMom (Jul 22, 2003)

Great cut.... sooooo cute









Judi


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## Toby's Mom (May 7, 2004)




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## puppy*luv (Apr 8, 2004)

That is a great job!! She looks so cute & happy!!


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## kit001 (Jul 6, 2003)

So adorable!


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