# Poor Cosette -- I should NEVER have trimmed her EYE Hair



## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

Tweety is our first maltese and she was being groomed by my mom's groomer, who really had no idea how to groom a maltese. They clipped around her eyes and it is quite a chore keeping her eyes clean. She has since NEVER gone back to a groomer...

I learned from this so when we were blessed with Cosette -- I patiently never trimmed around her eyes or nose area and we happily made it through the puppy teething stages and her eyes stayed pretty clean with regular Blueberry facials. 

Also Cosette has NEVER been to an outside groomer, with the exception of one time someone took her to show me how to clip her nails. That one moment in the hands of another person has traumatized her for life. A once relaxed girl during grooming now is a nervous wreck after that person roughly cut her nails and drew blood. This is why I was forced to study up and learn how to groom my dogs at home. I cried --- :crying:

Tweety and Cosette have always sported different style grooms. Tweety the asian/town and country combo style and Cosette more of a longer rounded/squared out facial groom with a town and country body.

One silly day I decided to clip 'JUST A WEE BIT' around her eyes to get them SUPER CLEAN. Another reason I trimmed some hair off her inner nose area was to keep the hairs on her nose from curling up to block her vision. :smpullhair::smpullhair: 

OOOPS -- she after a few years of WHITE face developed TEAR STAINING and it has been about a 6 months of growing those eye hairs back out to keep her eyes clean of pesky pokey hairs

Also -- I have learned that Cosette does not look good with the same Asian-ish groom that I give Tweet. Cosette's best look seems to be more of a longer rounded face groom.

Here are some pictures that show sweet Cosette going from WHITE WHITE to tear stained and a not so flattering groom. Thankfully hair does grow out!

1st picture is Cosette rocking' her pearls and tiara
2nd picture is Cosette almost 6 months back when the awful eye trim occurred
3rd picture is yesterday with the eyes hair somewhat grown out and the remaining tear staining and a shorter facial groom (not the best look in my opinion for her shape of face)
4th picture are Tweety and Cosette BEFORE the eye trim

aaah...the trials and tribulations of home grooming


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

I find your Cosette is very like my Lola, and Tweety like Penny. Lola would not look good in the Asian either. Cosette is lovely and I was also considering cutting a little around the eye for a cleaner eye. Thanks for putting me off doing that LOL. I don't want staining for my efforts. Your two look a more similar size than mine though. Lola around 8lbs, 8.5 if I let her..lol, and Penny 3.25. so they look very different really.


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

MalteseObsessed said:


> Tweety is our first maltese and she was being groomed by my mom's groomer, who really had no idea how to groom a maltese. They clipped around her eyes and it is quite a chore keeping her eyes clean. She has since NEVER gone back to a groomer...
> 
> I learned from this so when we were blessed with Cosette -- I patiently never trimmed around her eyes or nose area and we happily made it through the puppy teething stages and her eyes stayed pretty clean with regular Blueberry facials.
> 
> ...


I LOVE your Lola and Penny! You keep them looking so lovely! You are right Tweety and Cosette are virtually the same size. Tweety hates playing and the kids call her Grandma cuz she is always sleeping -- she is 6.5 pounds. Cosette can play fetch with her little cat ball ALL DAY LONG and is more fit and she weights 5 1/2 - 6 pounds


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

Hah! mine are the other way around. Penny loves to play, Lola on the other hand can be a grumpy guts..


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## michellerobison (Dec 17, 2009)

Wow I never thought that, mine to stain more, now that the hair near the eyes are shorter.. I looked back on piccies of them in full coat and no staining... Wonder why that is?


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## BeautifulMaltese (Dec 4, 2013)

I'm confused...I never had much eye stain with Zoe, but Riley has quite a bit...so leaving it alone is the best course of action? I thought keeping it trimmed would help!


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

michellerobison said:


> Wow I never thought that, mine to stain more, now that the hair near the eyes are shorter.. I looked back on piccies of them in full coat and no staining... Wonder why that is?


I am wondering also. I remember reading various opinions on this matter. Afterr 3 years of no staining, I just assumed that Cosette would never stain. 



BeautifulMaltese said:


> I'm confused...I never had much eye stain with Zoe, but Riley has quite a bit...so leaving it alone is the best course of action? I thought keeping it trimmed would help!


I actually am not sure what the right answer is. I heard from some friends that their dogs have never stained no matter how short or long the hair around the eyes is. I have been told so many differing opinions that I just thought I would give it a try. Tweety also stains, but if I keep her eyes trimmed CLEAN it is pretty easy to keep her eyes clean. Honestly I don't enjoy having to constantly trim the hair around her eyes.

I have friends that trim all around the eyes and yet their dogs do NOT TEAR AT ALL! 

I'm guessing there is no absolute answer when it comes to tear stains (eg. food, water, cut hair around the eyes etc). I just thought I would share our personal experience, since I have learned so much from others here sharing their experience.


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## Ann Mother (Dec 18, 2013)

Hmm since never problem before take her & pics to vet & do a course of antibiotics. You have not changed her food. She might have an infected tooth. Have the vet look into it for you.


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## mdbflorida (Feb 28, 2013)

I keep Boo's eyes trimmed around the eye. When he was a puppy, we tried to grow it out but, it seem to bother him more. Now I just clean the area every day with the eye wash and he does well. Trimming every three weeks. When the hair gets too long is when it will bother them and cause more problems -unless you have it grown out and have a top knot.


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## BeautifulMaltese (Dec 4, 2013)

I agree Pat, the only time Zoe had stain was up to age 1 1/2 and then she contracted Lyme. What little stain she had disappeared with the antibiotics for the Lyme. Never had a bit of stain again.

Sometimes, there can be an infection....


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## ckanen2n (Jan 2, 2012)

I did the same thing to Gio and got staining as thanks. I think when the clipped hairs grow out, they poke and irritate the eyes! I vote for NOT clipping.


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

Ann Mother said:


> Hmm since never problem before take her & pics to vet & do a course of antibiotics. You have not changed her food. She might have an infected tooth. Have the vet look into it for you.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


We LOVE our VET. The vet has done multiple checks and agreed that there was no tear duct blockage, nor any other issues. It was obvious the pesky hairs that were growing back out were not cooperating. Teeth are all healthy and good. We brush them and inspect them daily. Good to know that an infected tooth can cause tear staining. 



mdbflorida said:


> I keep Boo's eyes trimmed around the eye. When he was a puppy, we tried to grow it out but, it seem to bother him more. Now I just clean the area every day with the eye wash and he does well. Trimming every three weeks. When the hair gets too long is when it will bother them and cause more problems -unless you have it grown out and have a top knot.



Boo's eye care routine sounds like the schedule I keep with Tweety. :thumbsup:




BeautifulMaltese said:


> I agree Pat, the only time Zoe had stain was up to age 1 1/2 and then she contracted Lyme. What little stain she had disappeared with the antibiotics for the Lyme. Never had a bit of stain again.
> 
> Sometimes, there can be an infection....


Oh I am not familiar with Lyme. I must look into finding out more about what that is. Thankfully the vet ruled out the need for Cosette to be on any type of antibiotics. And the tearing has definitely subsided not that the eye hairs have grown back out of the way of poking her.



ckanen2n said:


> I did the same thing to Gio and got staining as thanks. I think when the clipped hairs grow out, they poke and irritate the eyes! I vote for NOT clipping.


Yes, my heart leans towards not clipping too. Tweety has it clipped already, so I am keeping it short SHORT --- but the others I plan on NEVER clipping again.:aktion033:


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## eiksaa (Jun 8, 2012)

Your babies are so cute!


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## hoaloha (Jan 27, 2012)

Oh..the trials of grooming and home-grooming! I know how you feel  it takes some experimentation of seeing what works and what your personal preferences are. Similarly, I learned to groom my own dogs after a horrible experience for Obi at the groomer. And, they also used to cut his hair around the eyes short as well. Personally, I like to grow out the hair around the eye. For the area under the eye that tears run down, I will occasionally use blending/thinning shears to thin the area to emphasize the eyes. I prefer to not use blunt shears for this area because it grows out really obviously and tends to poke in the eye this way.

Tweety and Cosette are SO adorable! I like that you try different looks for each! Obi and Owen both have different looks/cuts as well but it's fun experimenting to see what works for each body/coat type/head shape. I love all the pics!


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## Ruby (Nov 5, 2013)

Gorgeous fluff!


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