# Grooming Westies



## ilove_yorkies (May 2, 2007)

Hello any one I have 3 Westies and on one of them I tried to use my sheers to cut her hair well poor thing I made a mess out of her. It is just too expensive to take all three to a groomer. Can any one teach me how to groom westies?


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## Ginny01OT (Dec 3, 2006)

I had a westie and although I went to a groomer from looking at the picture you need to trim all those longer hairs (how, I don't know). Regardless he/she is just adorable, I loved my Westie, had her for 13 years!!!


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## ilove_yorkies (May 2, 2007)

Well thanks her name is Annie. Sorry about your westie, they are really sweet dogs. All three of my westies need make overs really bad. I have the sheers and sissors now I just need to learn how to do it.
Thanks


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## ashes (Apr 15, 2007)

if youre looking to groom a westie at home youre probubly going to want to just cut him short unless you have got alot of time to practice their cut. it is a very involved cut to do a standard westie cut. the head needs to be carefully scissored and the skirt and legs gradually blended from the body. but thats the standard westie cut.
If you dont care about them looking exactly like westies id suggest keeping them in some kind of a puppy cut. all you need to do the puppy cut is a clipper, #30 or #40 blade, and a clip on blade(id suggest a #1 or #0 size clip on). if you have all of these just put the clip on the clippers and run it all over the dog. it evens him up all over but leaves the hair 1-2 inches long. as for the head, id just concentrate on the hair that covers the eyes in any way and any hair that gets in his food or water around the mouth. just be VERY carefull!! the cut is very easy to manage and can keep them from getting matted.
anyways! thats my suggestion  if you have any other questions about the puppy cut method just let me know. i hope i helped!


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

I agree that you need to invest in some clippers, not just use scissors. Scissoring a dog takes a lot of practice and us newbies don't usually get it blended in enough. It ends up looking choppy. When I first started grooming my dogs they looked pretty funny. But I found that by doing a little, looking at it for a day or two, then going back and blending more, or trimming the missed parts...made me better at grooming over time and didn't stress the dog with long periods of time on the table. (Find a place that you can work up high like a counter, breakfast bar, or patio table...you can put a rubber bath mat down so your dog isn't sliding) Take your time and have patience. It will come with time!

And yes, my husband used to come home, take one look at the dogs, and ...shake his head!!!


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## merrow (Feb 18, 2007)

hi there i dont think ppl who dont no what they are doing should go nr there pets but this is just me 

right i would invest in a good pair of thinning scissors not cheap one but a good £30 ones right 

if u dont want to clip and want to scissor for a a better look i would get ur thinning scissors and thinn all over the body down the back from the neck to the tail off the legs but leaving feathing this is the best way for it not to look chopped as it looks more natural. as it snips te haire in diffrent places each time u snip so what i doo is snip snip brush so u can see the afect and u ill be able to see how much to take off once uv got the body short to the ur lenght then it will lay nice and flat 

if we tart from the back and work forward right 

so with the dog standing and head up thin down the neck so it lays really flat and blens in to tthe body this is still using ur thinners do this down to the brest bone then using ur comb brush down the cheast feathing and trim off the ends so its in to a small v shape sort off

thn pick up a front foot and using ur thinners thin the front of the leg and the inside so it lays flat down and dosnt stick out u can use ur scissors then blend it its up to u rember to thin and brush all the time to make sure u dont take to much hair away at a time do this on both legs it will help define th dog then all u are left with is the feet with u just trim round to there shape and remove hair from pads then wiith the dog standing get ur hand run down its leg and then tip the foot so it swings it food so u can see the pad then the hair from the feathing that hangs over the foot trim away when he dog is standing the fething shoudnt touch the flor then pick up the leg and so its pulled out infront of the dog comb down the feathing so it hangs down and then trimm ff the ends a little at a time put the foot down is its ok leave it if it needs to be shorter pick the leg up and do it again. so the legs should be smoth on the front and insides then neat feathing on the out side of the leg 

not body feathing u want to get ur comb and brush down then tim the feathing to what ever lengh i have rember about there man hood put ur hand on it just incase if uv thinned the body and not shvaed it then this will look more natrual.

back leg should be the smae lengh as the body all the way down with feathing left at each side of the leg at the edges trim the foot and pad then brush out the feathing and look at the shape of the back leg and follow it round juat trimming off the ends then once u see the shape just take it as short so it looks right with the rest of the body

hocks right i flick the hocks out and then trimm them down so they blend in do this on both hocks 

right after uv done both sides of the dog ten do the bum 

right stand ur dog so ur looking at his bottom  lift his tail and on each side of him bum is a cowslick of hair where it swirls round u need to thin these so they looks like a swirl on each side sorta thing hard to describe this will keep the bum free from hair when u did he ody u should of come down the back legs so that shoul all lay flat so all u need to do is trim the bum feathing which u trim to a upside down v then get the tail and flick the hair out from it then trim it away with ur scissors so it looks like a carrot .

just look at ur dog make sure it looks all balanced and redo any bits that need it 

then for the head hardest part i find

right i shave my whw ears if they have lots of hair here with a 7f then trim around the lug so they are well defined becarefull 

hen get ur thinning scissors and thin the hair on the top of the head so it lays neat get ur comb and flick up the cheeck hair and around under the ear then thinn a bit her brsh it down and so again untill it lays flat when uv done this on both sides thin away the hair over the eyes like the eye brows so they are where u like them and holding the dog firmly clean out the hair inbetween the eyes and on the nose o it neat 

then all u need to do is put the shape in so using ur scissors or thinners if u think u might mess it up u want to make the head look round so u want to try and trim from the mouth back to the ear so that u get a msall semi circle thing going on do this on each side till it looks right 

im sorry if this dosnt help but its a hard thing to decribe if u want to shave the body its the same feet and feathering u just shave the the body and under the head to the brest bone 

rember be carefull 

some groomers will do u a deal if u have a few dogs its worth inging we give money off if ppl have a few dogs 

there are some ace grooming books out there with a step by step guild and if u google a pic that will help loads so then uv jusy got to copy the shape 


hope this has helped i dont no if it makes scence or nt as i have man flu and am going back to bed to ie lol


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## Kika (May 3, 2007)

I have westie  
Beautifull dog ! 
I love westie !


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## ilove_yorkies (May 2, 2007)

The only blades I have at this time are a #10, #7fc and a finishing blade. These are way too short , aren't they? Thanks for your help.


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## merrow (Feb 18, 2007)

if ur going to shave then i would go with a 7 as the shortest i like the 5s on a whw back personaly but i always like to thin or trim them as they d get prone to the skin probs and shaving can add to it 

xx


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

They are short, but you can also get blade guards which will give you more range in length with the blades you already have. Check some of the online catalogs. A lot of groomers use PetEdge.com

they also have some good books on how to groom. I would look at the catalog for what books they have, try to check them out at your library to see which 
one(s) you want to buy.


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