# Very long eyelashes.....



## Katzie (Jul 18, 2010)

Every time I brush and comb Kirby I notice that his eye lashes have grown a lot longer. They are now about 1 and 1/2 long on his upper eyelids. Is this normal? I didn't even notice eye lashes when we got him or after his first grooming. Do they cut them when he gets his next grooming? 

Also, sometimes when I comb his beard, a whisker comes out. I read some where that the whisker are very sensitive and not to cut them. Is that true? He never seems bothered if one comes out.

How long does it take to grow the face hair out so that there won't be anymore little hairs irritating his eyes? I kind of have to get his face cleaned up one more time because he's getting neutered on the 24th, so I don't think it's a good time to try to grow his face hair long now. I'm just wondering how long it will take when I do let it grow after his neutering. I've seen so many adorable hair cuts on here with the longer hair on the head, legs and tail and the body shorter. I think I'd like that cut too.


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## almitra (Apr 24, 2009)

You can snip eye lashes off as it opens up the eye area and their pretty round eyes show up better. I do it each time I groom (weekly). Not mandatory at all, tho.


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## VioletVera (May 10, 2010)

My puppy Violet has beautiful LONG eyelashes... she's so cute when she bats them at me, makes her look so girly and innocent!

I didn't know they keep growing longer and longer. When it's time to get her groomed again, I will have to ask the groomer to slightly trim them... I have trouble getting a flea comb in the corners of her eyes to get the eye boogies out let alone coming at her face with a scissor... 

Any advice for trimming face hairs in between professional grooming? Or advice for getting out the eye boogies? All she wants to do is bite the comb and squirmes horrible if I try to hold her little head...


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## Aarianne (Jul 22, 2005)

VioletVera said:


> Any advice for trimming face hairs in between professional grooming? Or advice for getting out the eye boogies? All she wants to do is bite the comb and squirmes horrible if I try to hold her little head...


This may sound gross to some, but I feel like I have the best control simply scraping eye goo off gently with a clean fingernail. A warm damp facecloth helps if they're dried on. My dogs are so used to me doing it now that they pretty much present their faces to me when I do it and stay nice and still. 

I usually hold the muzzle gently with my index finger and thumb so I can direct the face to the angle I want, then go for it. I wouldn't touch the moist skin around the eye... I just gently scrape the eye goo off the hair when it gets to that point. 

Mine were pretty squirmy as pups too and now I do all the grooming myself. You just need to be patient and start with very short grooming sessions. Only do it when she's calm. I still do grooming in phases so they don't have to sit still too long for me even though they'll sit still as long as needed now. I still give a little treat when I'm done.

You have to use your best judgment, but try not to just release and give up if she resists a tiny bit or she'll learn that resisting stops it, so she'll always resist. She obviously doesn't want someone poking around her face if she can help it since she doesn't know what you're up to at first. 

I would get her as calm as possible lying in your lap, then try a little trim or touch/hold her face for a few seconds the way you might if you were going to trim or clean eye goo, then stop/put the scissors down and go back to whatever soothes her--a little calm stroking/snuggling/belly rubbing and praise for a bit or maybe a small treat. 

I give mine the same little warning in a calm voice each time so she knows it's coming but that it will be over shortly. I don't make a big deal out of it--I just talk through what I'm doing and I think they're used to the change in my tone of voice from start to finish at least so they know what's up. If it seems like she'll let you do more, great... if not, that's ok... tidy it up another time and let her go play. It's best to try to always end it on a good note of course. Just keep it short and sweet while she learns to how to behave when being groomed by you.

Hope that helps.


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## Aarianne (Jul 22, 2005)

Katzie said:


> Also, sometimes when I comb his beard, a whisker comes out. I read some where that the whisker are very sensitive and not to cut them. Is that true? He never seems bothered if one comes out.


They do seem quite sensitive on my girls. I cut them when I'm trimming the muzzle if they're sticking out or mixed in with the hair that I'm trimming. I'm just careful to not to tug them as I'm trimming. I hadn't heard that you weren't supposed to cut them. 

If he isn't bothered when they come out, they're probably just ready to come out anyway. I have accidentally tugged a few coarse ones out with a flea comb before and it clearly hurt my girls, so I stopped using a flea comb in that area and stick to my tiny pin brush.


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## VioletVera (May 10, 2010)

Aarianne said:


> This may sound gross to some, but I feel like I have the best control simply scraping eye goo off gently with a clean fingernail. A warm damp facecloth helps if they're dried on. My dogs are so used to me doing it now that they pretty much present their faces to me when I do it and stay nice and still.
> 
> I usually hold the muzzle gently with my index finger and thumb so I can direct the face to the angle I want, then go for it. I wouldn't touch the moist skin around the eye... I just gently scrape the eye goo off the hair when it gets to that point.
> 
> ...


Hi Aarianne, thank you for your great advice. Violet is calmest at night after her last outside potty break, usually about 10:30. I think I'll try using my fingernail to get the goo out (if she squirms too much from the flea comb) and maybe even try doing a little trimming with the rounded tip scissor I bought at the pet store just for her. I think the problem was I was trying to do it after a walk (when I use a bath wipe to clean her dirty paws), but she was too wound up from the exercise and she was way too squirmy.


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## bellaratamaltese (May 24, 2006)

I just my fingernail to get the gunk out also. I also trim the eye lashes, I don't let them grow long


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