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Taking The Plunge

Posted: 08 Apr 2019, 12:38
by GoEmGo
Hello all.

Monty is now 15 weeks old and he is the most delightful pup with the most wonderful expressions that make us smile every day. However, he is in need of a bit of a trim now methinks! I have always been keen on grooming him myself, and although daunted at the prospect of the first haircut, I intend to clip. Clipping seems like the easiest option and seems to create the same look albeit a different feel of coat. I hope I'm right in assuming this.

I don't know if there is a difference between white minis, like Monty, and other colours, but Monty seems ridiculously soft. I brush him every morning and evening and he turns into a cloud! He has had a couple of baths (which were eventful!) and he enjoys getting brushed and having his ears and paws massaged so I'm hopeful he will take to grooming. He also has a natural wave to his coat. Should I do anything pre-initial clip? I will be using a no.4 or 5 blade on his jacket.

On another note, we have discovered that Monty becomes very barky when the Haribo advert comes on. It's actually quite comical. When the adults speak in the very childlike voices talking about cola bottles and fried eggs, Monty goes all guard dog. He takes a very wide stance and barks like there's no tomorrow towards the gogglebox. He can be sleeping and wake up bolt upright. Advert finishes and he settles straight back down. He gets on well with our niece and nephew who are 3 and 6, so I have no idea what the Haribo advert triggers in him!

Some pics of Monty:


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Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 08 Apr 2019, 13:24
by Schnauzer Sam
Good luck with the trim. Being white, Monty won't suffer from the fading that happens with the other colours. I think this is the best video for how to clip a mini schnauzer. Well worth a watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cNVGLkIvwI

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 08 Apr 2019, 15:33
by Dawnspell
Make sure you get him used to being around the clippers with them being turn on and off etc before you even go near him to clip.
Is he black skinned or pink skinned ? I never liked clipping Barneys ears or neck too short as his black skin would show through.

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 08 Apr 2019, 15:49
by mikegoodson1
Good luck with the clipping, I have never had the confidence to try it myself - and I have to say again, Monty is just the cutest pup, there is something special about the white Schnauzers, they do look cracking.

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 08 Apr 2019, 18:02
by GoEmGo
Thanks for the replies.

Sam, that video is great. Already watched it twice.

Alison, he has black patches of skin on his ears, everywhere else is pink. Maybe a touch darker on his under side. I am definitely going to clip longer in the first instance. I think I am most nervous about the ears and sanitary areas.

And thanks Mike, he is adorable. We are very lucky!

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 08 Apr 2019, 18:06
by Oscar 12345
Emma, as Alison has said, do get him used to the clippers before doing it for real otherwise you might find you have less than a half finished job and then can't finish and even worse a pup scared of the clippers. Groom/brush with the clipper on in the background, move it closer and closer, switch it off and run it all over him and treat treat treat .... This might take several days to completely desensitise. Also you don't have to do it all in one go. Give him a rest every now and again. When I clipped my first schnauzer I did it over a few days. Obviously you need to clip the jacket in one go but you can do ears, face, butt etc. at different times. Whatever suits you. A full groom/clip for my schnauzer and scissor work would normally take 2 hours but just doing the jacket for example would be 10/15 mins with tidying up so that he didn't look silly when out.

My last schnauzer had a wavy coat and I liked his coat to be as straight as possible prior to the clip. If you want to do the same the tip is to do a very quick rough clip on jacket with a longer coarse blade and then bathe him and blow dry the coat in the direction of growth until almost dry and then blow dry in the opposite direction and then blow dry in the direction of growth again. You will find the coat then lays beautifully and then when you finely clip with finished blade it clips beautifully. It will of course get it's wave again if the coat gets moist. It is important not to have any matts in the coat prior to clipping so running through with a comb rather than a brush is important. You clearly aren't going to be able to do all of this straight away because Monty will need to get used to the hairdryer but it is worth knowing if you want a straight coat.

Good luck and I can't wait to see what he looks like and don't worry if you make a mistake, Monty won't care and as Alison always points out, it will grow back (as long as you don't chop an ear off of course - gosh that's not funny sorry)

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 10 Apr 2019, 15:46
by GoEmGo
:YMPRAY: Fingers crossed all will be ok. I will heed all the advice given!

I have ordered the Andis AGC 2 Speed clippers and a 4FC blade. Think I'll go for this length for the first cut. 9.5mm seems a good length for him. Hopefully he doesn't look bald! I'll miss his fluffiness but he is more than ready for first trim. I'm aiming to have a go next Thursday if the clippers arrive tomorrow. Going to try and acclimatise him to them over seven or so days. Will definitely post pics (good or bad) post hair cut!

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 10 Apr 2019, 17:47
by Oscar 12345
Just make sure he doesn't turn out like that border collie on the spec savers advert.

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 02 Jun 2019, 22:25
by GoEmGo
It has been a little while since I've posted a photo of Monty. We had a second go at a trim yesterday, and while this is far from technically 'good', he sat like a little statue while we used the Andis clippers on him. This was just a 15 minute trim, just to keep him looking handsome! We will never be experts but we are happy with his cut.


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Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 03 Jun 2019, 06:38
by zeta1454
Monty looks lovely - it is great that he sits still for clipping too :-)

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 03 Jun 2019, 09:11
by mikegoodson1
I cannot believe how much Monty has grown already - lovely picture of him :)

Looks like the grooming is coming on well, he looks very dapper.

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 03 Jun 2019, 09:15
by Oscar 12345
How smart he looks, you have done a really lovely job there.

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 03 Jun 2019, 10:34
by Schnauzer Sam
Great job; he looks adorable.

Re: Taking The Plunge

Posted: 03 Jun 2019, 11:17
by Dawnspell
Well done you, he looks good.

After trying to convince my neighbour for the past 8 years she should clip her poodle cross herself instead of paying a fortune at groomer, she finally took the plunge last week. Now shes wishing she'd done it years ago and saved herself £60 per groom =))