# Good deal on excellent shears



## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

I ordered a video on how to clip a Maltese and another for Shih Tzus. I have three that I clip year round now so wanted to know some of the accepted techniques to do a proper job, not just bumbling around till I think it looks right. I thought maybe I'd better think about getting some really good shears and thinners etc. I asked my groomer/breeder friend what she would recommend. She liked various lines, but only certain ones within those lines met her criteria. She said her best ever shears came from Talyn and cost her $350 - $400. She said she got hers at a show or grooming seminar and she thought Canada had such a show but she'd look into it further for me. While she looked I went looking too and googled Talyn directly. The most expensive shears on their website were $269 and if you purchased them online they were $169. So I phoned and asked about the price difference and why my friend would have paid so much. He said you pay what the traffic will bear from distributors and at shows but they sold them directly for the online price. I ordered the "best ever blenders" which is a fairly aggressive blender to blend hair from say the clipped body into the long legs. It will work well also for other jobs such as giving a sanitary clip without giving the fluff a baboon butt! Next I ordered the blenders that have teeth on both sides instead of only one side. The salesman said that is what the groomers are using on such things as faces to "soften" the scissor lines on the face. I contacted my friend and she agreed these would be very good shears to get. Then I saw a curved pair of "super steel" that were sharp on both sides so if you are rounding around a foot at the foot of a long leg you can cut both ways. I got the 7". I have some CC curved ones that I think are 6" that I really like for most times but I find every once in a while they don't cut one way and they will "push" the hair along when you are trying to cut it. I'm sure some of you who groom know what I mean. So I decided to get these also. So the three Talyn shears arrived yesterday and last night I tried out the curved shears on one of my Tzus. Beautiful!! Now I can hardly wait till the video appears and I get to try the blenders/thinners out on my Tzus. I just did Majic so I won't get a chance to use them on him for awhile. Anyway, I thought if any of you are really into grooming and clipping your own fluffs you may want to take a look at their lineup as $169 is a very good price for these shears. They do have some others that are a few dollars cheaper too.

By the way I do have a lot of grooming stuff (as was commented on when I posted pics of the CC Kool Pup). Please remember that I have had little dogs for over 30 years and I've just added and upgraded my equipment as I went along and now probably have more stuff than some professional groomers. But that does not mean I'm a professional groomer but I have always done my own grooming ever since I had a bad experience long ago at a groomers. As I have upgraded my equipment I have found the better the quality of the tool, the easier the job….so I'm always looking! The website to look at is: Grooming


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

Wow ! lots of different shears. I wish I would know how to do the blending.
Where did you get the video for the Maltese ?


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

Let us know how you like those new shears.

I refuse to shop any more this week.....re......click

Ooooh....ahhhh....nice....uhm, as I was saying imam NOT going to shop...click....oooh


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

Here are a bunch of links if you want to know how to do particular breed cuts etc. This is the website I ordered the Maltese and Shih Tzu instructional videos. There is a video clip to show what kind of stuff is on the DVD. These videos cost $69 I believe but my groomer friend recommended them. Now I haven't gone back to see what other videos are available altho I ordered one for the Tzus too so there are others you may like: Super Styling Sessions || Award Winning Pet Grooming DVDs and Seminars || Sue Zecco & Jay Scruggs

I got a video from Jodi Murphy, a very well known groomer, on how to use thinning shears. This is how I learned so it is well worth having and viewing before you start using thinning/blending shears. I went to the website: jodimurphy.net/shop/category/instructional-series

This website is where you buy the DVD for thinning shears and other instructional DVD's. Select Vol. 10 for Maltese, Vol. 21 The Puppycut, Vol. 2 Thinning Shears, and you may be interested in Vol. 31 Snap on Combs and Vol 5 Smooth road to shavedowns. I think there is one on Scissoring Techniques too (something I need to learn to do!). 

At the time I bought Jodi's Thinning Shears DVD she was pushing Precision Cut shears which were ones with her name on them. I bought two and have been using them fairly successfully but thought I needed just one more. When I went back she is now pushing Geib shears. My friend said that Geib shears are okay if you buy the top level in their line, otherwise she doesn't like them. She has never used Precision Cuts so didn't have an opinion. That is when she brought up how good the Talyn shears were. Jodi Murphy DVD's are $39 I think or something like that. They are cheaper but as I have not seen either DVD on Malts I couldn't compare at this time. I guess it depends on how much you want to spend. I think I will probably get Jodi's too after I have absorbed the one I have ordered. As I won't be training in Obedience and Rally anymore (health issues) I will now devote more time to grooming. Jodi has a very "down to earth" way of explaining things that I like.

When I cut my Tzus down my friend who is also a Tzu breeder instructed me thru pm's on the Tzu forum and when I cut down Majic I found this online and used it for a guide. Maltese Dog and Puppy Short-Cut 

To cut down from a show coat I found it easier to make rows of ponytails along the body (i have both breeds in a short body and long legs) and then I cut them all off at about the same point (just ahead of the elastics) so the hair was much shorter and you could see what you were doing. Then I used snap on WAHL metal combs (don't even bother with any other brands) on the Tzus and for Majic with my index finger and the next one to it I grabbed a section (small) and cut off anything protruding above the fingers when put flat on his skin. I did it all over his body, every few sections I'd grab sections at right angles to the first cut so I could catch any uneven hairs. It takes a bit longer but it was a technique I used on my Peekapoo years ago when I got mad at the groomer and took his trimming into my own hands. Depending on your malt's coat this may work for you too. Maltese hair is just "different" than Tzu hair and I can't really explain it in words but these methods worked for me.

Hope this gives you a bit more info and the only things I have to say about whether you should order stuff this week is that the faster you order it the faster it comes and if you are determined to groom yourself you will SAVE money, LOL!


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## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

Sorry the website for the Jodi Murphy videos didn't post properly. Go to: https://jodimurphy.net/shop/category/instructional-series/


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## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

*More on Eye Envy*

Years ago when I had my first Maltese and Shih Tzu and was plagued by tear stains Eye Envy was recommended to me by my breeder. At the time I was pretty new to tear staining and didn't understand it. I couldn't get Eye Envy in Canada and had to order it from California I think. I also remember that the largest size you could order was 4 oz. So you can imagine for the price, shipping and the wait I wanted fast results which of course weren't forthcoming. I gave up early in the game and went on with my search. Now all these years later I've tried just about everything you could imagine and I still have two malts that stain. I think Majic's is somehow because of his bad teeth (he's 6 and I've had 4 dentals and lots of teeth out and he's had tonsillitis twice) and possibly food allergies. I've had his tear ducts flushed twice with no improvement too. Annie had hers flushed at her first dental and it was discovered that her tear ducts are so small that no wonder they cause trouble. Then last fall when my Golden, Jazz, got Lymphoma, I put her on a cancer diet which is really a very sensible human grade food items it worked so well to cure her cancer that I thought maybe it was worthwhile to feed all my other 5 fluffs the same thing. Her diet is a cooked diet that resembles stew. It immediately started staining their faces and getting in all the beards of the Tzus so I experimented with another diet for them which had cooked meat but mostly raw veggies and fruit and some brown rice so it was drier and wouldn't stain. The food worked out fine but the staining was almost impossible to remove. I've tried washing faces with Spa and all sorts of whitening shampoos and other products at least daily and all I was doing was drying their faces out. So I looked up Eye Envy again and found I could now get a big bottle and in it was available in Canada. So I ordered it and the powder. I've been swabbing their faces for a week now and it is unbelievable how much of the staining has disappeared. I'll count myself lucky if I only have tear staining to deal with in the future altho I think I'll keep some of this product on hand now for periodic cleanup! I'm also hoping if my malts have food allergies that the new diet will help with the tear staining. It is hard to tell what is tear stain and what is food staining! Just thought I'd comment on Eye Envy…..


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

I tried to buy a shear from this website. Either I am stupid or that website has some problems. I googled Talyn shears and tried other links that got me to the same website and it still does not work. You can click "add to cart", nothing happens, you can click "check cart" and nothing happens.


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

They look good to me too. The add to cart doesn't work unless I am losing it....


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## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

So sorry Janine and Maureen. I forgot I had a problem too but I wanted to ask questions so I first of all sent emails (go to home page and click on "email" button) and then I really wanted to talk to a salesman (I like to find out all I can when making fairly important purchases!) so I found their phone no. which is 785-748-0864 and the guy to talk to is Michael. He is very helpful. He will tell you all sorts of things from how to hold your shears properly to not doing any adjusting before doing the test that you will find in another tab where the email tab is called Scissoring Tips. They do all their sharpening too. I think it says they do it for $15 plus $6.50 for Shipping whereas I had to send a pair back to CC that had "dead" spots and it cost me close to $40. Both places insist that you have them sharpen their own shears or warranty is not valid anymore altho the Talyn guy said he could soon fix my CC curved shears that sometimes won't cut in one direction and just push hair ahead of them. I don't know if they are only sharp on one side or not but the new Talyn ones are sharp on both sides and did a very nice job of rounding Connor's feet. Sorry, sorry for not noticing your posts before now. Emails and phone calls are always a good way to get info you are interested in and you don't have to commit to anything!!


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

Thanks Joyce, was it a decent place to buy from to mail to Canada? Some are good, others you really get dinged for.


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## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

I'm very interested in what you think of the DVDs, I was looking at the same one. I do pretty good with the clippers, but need help with scissoring big time!


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## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

Maureen, I don't know the shipping charges yet. There was no invoice for the charges included. He did say he was driving to Chicago (they are based in Kansas) the next day and he'd drop it off on the way. He probably had the package already prepared so couldn't include the charge. He only valued it at $100 on the declaration for duty but I never got charged anything by customs (lots of times things slip thru but then I'll be hit for duty, taxes and handling on some of them so it evens it out). He mailed it Priority Post. If you let them send things by courier (any purchases from the US) you will get hit with a charge for brokerage fees that totals 30% of the value of the package. They say it is to get it thru customs with no problems but then they turn up on your doorstep demanding payment before they will give you the parcel!! That is another reason I like to talk to the person selling stuff to instruct them to send it by Parcel Post. It generally comes almost as fast. Sometimes the couriers get lazy and drop our parcels in the town closest to us (10 miles away) and we have to go pick them up. They phoned me Friday morn. saying they didn't have an address so they wanted to tell me they were dropping my parcel off in that town. I told them my address is……and I wanted it delivered since I had had to pay extra. They still hadn't delivered by Mon. early afternoon so I had to phone them (and couriers are supposed to be a faster service!!). It is more bother to do this than just come by mail to our village, within walking distance of our house. Then to top it off when the parcel finally was delivered it HAD my correct address. Just another attempt at laziness! The shears came in just over a week which is super fast for either ground mail or courier. I picked parcel post as that is the cheapest method to get things from the US so I just have to suck it up whatever the charge was if I wanted the shears.

Lydia, today I got the DVD's for Maltese and Shih Tzu grooming and clips. The Maltese description says: The Maltese is among one of the most popular breeds we see in today's grooming salons. This DVD features two different Maltese pet trims with totally different head styles. The use of snap-on combs and thinning shears are the keys to achieving easy and manageable pet trims. Sue and Jay will give many pet grooming secrets in dealing with the drop coat breeds in this DVD as well as what tools to use to keep the Maltese coat looking soft and natural.

I will add my own tip. If you are purchasing snap-on combs get the METAL WAHL ones. They are the best and if I remember correctly they cost somewhere between $30 and $40. I will view them and then try out their techniques on the Tzus as they need a clip. Majic was just done a couple of weeks ago so his hair isn't long enough yet. I'll get back with my review on these DVD's at a later date.


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

Well I left a message and Michael called me. I bought the thinning shear (the key-hole shear). The new one is 6.5" but same price $169. The website has a problem and it will take a few more days before it is fixed.


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

doggyluver5 said:


> Maureen, I don't know the shipping charges yet. There was no invoice for the charges included. He did say he was driving to Chicago (they are based in Kansas) the next day and he'd drop it off on the way. He probably had the package already prepared so couldn't include the charge. He only valued it at $100 on the declaration for duty but I never got charged anything by customs (lots of times things slip thru but then I'll be hit for duty, taxes and handling on some of them so it evens it out). He mailed it Priority Post. If you let them send things by courier (any purchases from the US) you will get hit with a charge for brokerage fees that totals 30% of the value of the package. They say it is to get it thru customs with no problems but then they turn up on your doorstep demanding payment before they will give you the parcel!! That is another reason I like to talk to the person selling stuff to instruct them to send it by Parcel Post. It generally comes almost as fast. Sometimes the couriers get lazy and drop our parcels in the town closest to us (10 miles away) and we have to go pick them up. They phoned me Friday morn. saying they didn't have an address so they wanted to tell me they were dropping my parcel off in that town. I told them my address is……and I wanted it delivered since I had had to pay extra. They still hadn't delivered by Mon. early afternoon so I had to phone them (and couriers are supposed to be a faster service!!). It is more bother to do this than just come by mail to our village, within walking distance of our house. Then to top it off when the parcel finally was delivered it HAD my correct address. Just another attempt at laziness! The shears came in just over a week which is super fast for either ground mail or courier. I picked parcel post as that is the cheapest method to get things from the US so I just have to suck it up whatever the charge was if I wanted the shears.
> 
> .


Thanks Joyce, I will likely order in a few weeks now because I am moving towards the end of the month and things are getting tight. But yes, USPS is the only semi safe way I find from the states, unless the seller includes shipping and duty in advance like Amazon does.


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## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

Janine is the one you bought got the stock no. 4307 and called the "best blending shears"? or did you get the 3307 with teeth on both blades? i got both and after talking to Michael and my groomer friend I worked out that the 4307 is a fairly aggressive thinning shear, meaning it removes a fair amount of hair at a time, it doesn't fool around, so the job goes faster. I think I will be using it on the area around the anus (I used my others for this job too) as it makes a more natural look rather than a scalped look from clippers or straight shears. Be careful tho that you don't cut the area. I think on a girl, if I was to do Annie, I'd do all around her vagina too to keep it cleaner, but Annie is staying long except for some face trimming for now. It will also do a good job of blending the short body into the long legs if you are doing that type of cut. For the top of the head blending into the ears and neck I think I'd try the ones with the teeth on both blades ( 3307) first as it is a gentler shear that is used to soften lines especially for faces. You can always go to the more aggressive thinner if you need to. I hope you like your shears!


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

There is only one key-hole shear and it is the 4307 and that's the one I bought. I don't have enough dogs to make a second shear worthwhile, so this one has to do. I just bought a straight shear from CC a couple weeks ago. So this is it for now.


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## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

I hear you! I've been doing numerous dogs for a lot of years so I've collected all my tools over a long period. I happened to get a little bit back this year from the gov't so decided I wanted these shears so this was as good a way to get them as any. It always seems all my extra money goes to my dogs in one way or another.

I bathed the two malts tonight and tried out the "key hole" shears on Annie's rear end and her other private areas and they effectively removed the hair fast and made a nice job. You have probably made the best investment if you only wanted one right now. I see from your signature pics that you leave Charlie's hair long on the legs too and this is the shear you would use to blend the short body hair into the tops of the long leg hair. What size of shears did you get from CC? I have an 8" straight shear with the holes in it from CC. I don't use it much for the malts as Majic's hair is short and Annie's hair isn't all the way to the floor but I used to use it when showing my one Tzu to cut along the floor to make his hair all even for showing. I use it now for both Tzus as I leave the hair on the very front and rear long too to appear they are in full coat when viewed from the front or back (legs are left long too) so I have to trim it straight across there too.


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## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

Well I watched the grooming DVD (Super Styling Sessions w/Sue Zecco and Jay Scruggs) for the Shih Tzu. I'm glad I have the hair on my Tzus fairly long so I can try out some of the shorter cuts or at least use some of her tips to refine them.

Janine I think you probably got the best shears. Sue Zeccco does all the grooming in this DVD (shows three different cuts) and only uses one thinning shear which takes off a fair amount of hair fairly quickly. Mostly all she uses is this shear and curved shear and some clippers and Wahl metal snap on combs. The straight shears aren't used much. I imagine the malt video will be a lot of the same stuff.

She uses a big long comb and Jodi Murphy also uses one that looks the same and sells it on her site for $15 which is fairly reasonable. Her website: https://jodimurphy.net/shop/large-dog-comb/ if you are interested at all. I bought it when I got her shears and mostly have used it on my Golden. I guess I should use it for grooming.


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

I think the next thing I am going to buy are the metal snap on combs. I hate, hate the plastic ones and never use them even if it means the hair is going to be shorter. The Wahl clipper I have has three settings. I use number 3 for the body and frankly never used the two other settings.


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

Joyce -- how are the new Talyn shears working out?

How long have you had the CC ones with blades on all 4 side? -- they look scary but wonder if the functionality works the way they were designed to

I just ordered some CC Merlyn 6" Blenders -- I like the chunkers/coarse VG10's -- but I wanted bigger blenders -- my little CC pixies are a might bit too small and makes fine detail work take a little longer then i'd like

I am curious mostly about your new Talyns and the double sided CC shears...


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

I cannot give you a review on the Talyn shears, I am no expert in blending. I am not even sure I use the shear in the right way. I need some help here.
View attachment 196410


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Click on the picture to make it bigger so you can read what I wrote.


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

Here is what Talyn says about the Key-Hole shear :

_"The Key-Hole blender has Y shaped teeth and holes at the base that allow the un-cut hair to slide through un-harmed. Both blades on Talyn shears are concave, giving a Clean Precise cut with no splitting, bruising or damage. They leave no marks on the hair !"

_Since I don't have a CC thinning shear I cannot do a comparison. By the way I cut my bang shorter with it and it looks fine.


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## MalteseObsessed (Mar 7, 2010)

MalteseJane said:


> I cannot give you a review on the Talyn shears, I am no expert in blending. I am not even sure I use the shear in the right way. I need some help here.
> View attachment 196410
> 
> 
> ...


:HistericalSmiley::w00t:Your comment about cutting your bangs! I love it!!!:thumbsup:


The way I was trained -- the SOLID blade ALWAYS is the closest to the dog for SAFETY as well as for best function of the blending shears

Now there are blenders and chunkers where there are cuts on BOTH sides -- so I don't get how safe those are.

They say that the blade with the grooves and cuts can potentially hurt the dog if using on the skin side -- this is why the SOLID blade should be closer to the dog --- so they say

This of course wouldn't apply for texturizing and thinning and blending where hurting the dog isn't a factor... did the Talyn folks share that too??? 

I'd be curious to hear what your groomer friend says about the proper way to use the blenders...

They sure are pretty though. I order the CC Merlynn 6 inch blenders! I am hoping they are better then all the junky no name blenders i only use on my kids ...


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## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

Janine, you need to get the DVD from Jodi Murphy on working with thinning shears. She works on a Spaniel, a Shih Tzu and a Golden Retriever and shows you the proper way to cut with your shears for the different jobs you are trying to accomplish. I have watched it many times and learn more each time as I become more experienced at using them. I have a Golden and use it for around her ears and the tops of her feet. My Tzus I mainly use them on their heads and they are great for doing butts so they look natural, not like a baboon. I use them on Majic and Annie there too and on Majic's face for blending. I also blend the body hair and the long leg hair on my Majic and my two Tzus so there is no definite line where the short all of a sudden turns into long hair. It is blended and very subtle. I also got the blenders from Talyn that have teeth on both sides as the salesman said that is all the rage for the groomers right now. I really like them and use them on the faces to remove scissor marks. They make a nice job and aren't so aggressive as the pair you and I have. It is nice to have the aggressive ones to remove hair (like on the butt) faster but the other ones are more a detail shear to soften scissor lines. The website for this DVD is:https://jodimurphy.net/shop/volume-1-scissoring-theory-techniques/
and it is about $35, well spent money in my opinion.


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## doggyluver5 (Feb 1, 2013)

Janine, I forgot to ask if the Talyn salesman emphasized how the shears should be held? Go back to the website and read up what they say. It really does feel more natural the way they instruct you to hold them. Needless to say I wasn't holding them right!


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