# How to groom the tail (want to thin it out)...



## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

Hi,

I am new to the forum, i have a maltese mix who looks very much maltese. I got him a groom a few months ago and they "thinned out" his tail and it looked awesome, so light and airy and healthy and beautiful. I plan on cutting the body myself but have no idea how to thin out the tail. Anyone know how?


----------



## pammy4501 (Aug 8, 2007)

I personally prefer the tail left full. Such a pretty tail, I hate to cut any of it. On occasion I have had to cut length, but never have thinned it out!


----------



## Orla (Jul 5, 2009)

I just cut length of tails - I don't like thinning tails - it doesn't look nice imo.


----------



## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

pammy4501 said:


> I personally prefer the tail left full. Such a pretty tail, I hate to cut any of it. On occasion I have had to cut length, but never have thinned it out!


Same here. I have never heard of thinning out a Maltese's tail.


----------



## mysugarbears (Aug 13, 2007)

k/c mom said:


> Same here. I have never heard of thinning out a Maltese's tail.


 
i too have never heard on thinning the tail on the maltese, but i have had to cut off length. i love a full plume. :wub:


----------



## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

mysugarbears said:


> i too have never heard on thinning the tail on the maltese, but i have had to cut off length. i love a full plume. :wub:


Maybe my pups tail is just super thick, it seems to be weighted down almost and not feathery light and fabulous.


----------



## bellaratamaltese (May 24, 2006)

I like full thick tail hair, personally When I give a haircut, I usually leave the tail alone unless there is too much matting. Can you post a pic to show us what you are refering to?


----------



## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

bellaratamaltese said:


> I like full thick tail hair, personally When I give a haircut, I usually leave the tail alone unless there is too much matting. Can you post a pic to show us what you are refering to?


Hopefully that attached correctly.









Whatever the guy did before it was adorable. wish i had a photo of that.

ah, but it looking at your photo above, i guess maltese tails have *much* more hair. lol, he's so maltese looking to me i guess i thought he was maltese in all areas. maybe not.


----------



## bellaratamaltese (May 24, 2006)

oh he looks like a cutie! Make sure to post pics of his face too!!

It looks like the groomer trimmed the tail short and left a little longer at the tip?

It will probably be easiest for you to just grow the tail out and not try to 'trim' it. Clip the body short and leave the tail longer, that is what most puppy cuts have. 

And welcome to SM btw!!


----------



## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

bellaratamaltese said:


> oh he looks like a cutie! Make sure to post pics of his face too!!
> 
> It looks like the groomer trimmed the tail short and left a little longer at the tip?
> 
> ...


Thanks for the welcome. . 

That is the tail as it is now actually, i don't have a photo of what the groomer did, it was amazing. so light and wispy, the hairs sticking up all fabulous. lol. 

here's a pic of him. : ) (when he had very short hair). He's still a pup, 7.5 mos old. : ).


----------



## Kutsmail1 (Dec 26, 2007)

It is probably a matter of personal preference, but I like a full coat period. The only time Zippy's tail gets cut is just to trim a little length when I have to. 

I guess you could maybe sketch what you remember it looked like, let the hair grow out for a bit, ad then attempt to trim a little at a time till it looks like you want.


----------



## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

here is a pic of a member here's doggy, the tail the groomer did made it look similar to this.. so wispy and feathery and light. 

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h242/mato2crazyboys/ponyo3.jpg


----------



## Johita (Jul 10, 2009)

I love it when their tail hair is long. Unfortunately Aolani's hair is so cottony that when I comb his tail I end up thinning it out when I try to get rid of his matts. For a cottony boy he doesn't really mat on his body, but more so on the tail - weird.


----------



## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

Johita said:


> I love it when their tail hair is long. Unfortunately Aolani's hair is so cottony that when I comb his tail I end up thinning it out when I try to get rid of his matts. For a cottony boy he doesn't really mat on his body, but more so on the tail - weird.


my guy is cottony too. . it's tough, so i want to keep him short. and the wispy tail is divine with a short cut on him. : ).


----------



## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

Johita said:


> I love it when their tail hair is long. Unfortunately Aolani's hair is so cottony that when I comb his tail I end up thinning it out when I try to get rid of his matts. For a cottony boy he doesn't really mat on his body, but more so on the tail - weird.


So do i take the scissors and just take tiny tiny bits of hair from the base of the tail all around?


----------



## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

It looks like it's just cut shorter. I extend the tail out so it's in line with the spine and brush the hair on the tail toward the floor. THen I cut some length off straight across. When the tail goes back to it's natural position, over the back it looks like that, depending on the texture of the hair.


----------



## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

The pictures you posted just show a short tail, not thinned out at all. Brit is right about holding the tail straight out and trimming. If you cut out shorter sections from his tail it will be choppy and uneven.


----------



## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

LJSquishy said:


> The pictures you posted just show a short tail, not thinned out at all. Brit is right about holding the tail straight out and trimming. If you cut out shorter sections from his tail it will be choppy and uneven.


okay, i'll give that a shot. it's about 3.5 inches now, what do you think? the groomer said thinned out,but maybe i'll just do more brushing see if that will be enough plus the cut, how short should i go?. i'm nervous to go short, but i'll do it cautiously. 3.5 seems close to pretty short as it is, no?


----------



## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

tobysmom said:


> okay, i'll give that a shot. it's about 3.5 inches now, what do you think? the groomer said thinned out,but maybe i'll just do more brushing see if that will be enough plus the cut, how short should i go?. i'm nervous to go short, but i'll do it cautiously. 3.5 seems close to pretty short as it is, no?


3 1/2" is already pretty short...I'm not sure what kind of groomer you have, but I have never heard of anyone "thinning out" a dog's tail. It just doesn't make sense. The only way to actually do that is to use thinning shears and like I said, it just doesn't make sense. It will also mat easier if it's all different lengths like that.


----------



## tobysmom (Jan 1, 2011)

LJSquishy said:


> 3 1/2" is already pretty short...I'm not sure what kind of groomer you have, but I have never heard of anyone "thinning out" a dog's tail. It just doesn't make sense. The only way to actually do that is to use thinning shears and like I said, it just doesn't make sense. It will also mat easier if it's all different lengths like that.


Dunno, but whatever he did it made the tail look like exactly like that pic. The whole cut was amazing, the groomer is fantastic.

i may just have to go back and pay the $75 for another cut just so i can ask him. lol. grrr. The cut was awesome, but i want to save that type of expenditure for another time, i can't do it too often.


----------



## Deborah (Jan 8, 2006)

How long do you let the hair on a Maltese tail grow? I'm basically asking when is the tail too long? How much you cut off when the hair is too long?


----------



## bellaratamaltese (May 24, 2006)

Deborah said:


> How long do you let the hair on a Maltese tail grow? I'm basically asking when is the tail too long? How much you cut off when the hair is too long?


For me, the tail is too long when it's longer than the rest of the coat. I've had to trim Lucy's tail more than once because while her body has been shaved on several occasions, her tail was never cut so i have to trim the tip of the tail hair so it's even with the rest of the coat. Otherwise, i don't think it matters! That is the only reason why I would trim a tail for being too long.


----------



## CloudClan (Jan 31, 2007)

One thing I would caution you about is if the groomer is actually using thinning sheers on the tail you may be setting yourself up for more matting. Matting happens more often when the fur is cut at different lengths in the same place and thinning shears will do this. You may be able to get the same effect of getting the tail fur to lay down better by brushing it under the blow dryer when you give him a bath or even doing what some of us do who show, iron his coat with a flat iron.


----------

