# Good westie haircuts?



## westieloverxo (Nov 22, 2009)

Good day everyone. Well, I've been learning how to groom and a while ago my boss showed me how to do a westie cut on my own westie. Well, it seems as though her hair is starting to grow back- fast at that- so I'm going to have to bring her into work soon; probably before Christmas. Anyway, this time around though I really don't want to do a westie cut seeing how her hair seemed to grow back so fast so I was thinking of doing something shorter. 

I was looking around the Internet looking for alternative westie cuts and I couldn't really find one I liked; all of them made the westies look like little sausages. I was thinking perhaps I should give her a puppy cut though leaving some fluff to her seeing how it is getting colder nowadays. I was thinking maybe a 3 or maybe 4 blade would do the trick - or would those blades not really do anything? {please, I'm still learning about blade numbers so my knowledge isn't all that best with them. don't laugh at me, lol} but would that be too short for her, or a westie in any case? It seems as though the westies that come into the store I work in get a full blown 7f shave down, which personality I think looks hideous and would never do that to my westie but I'm not the one paying for the cut. 

Also, what really made me want to make this thread is, if you are a groomer reading this, what kind of cuts for the westies that come into your shop do you do for your customers? {aside from a westie cut and hand stripping, if you do that} What does your puppy cut generally look like? Do you generally keep the skirt and make it shorter or just shave it off? Do you have any pictures that you can perhaps show me and maybe give me an idea on what would look best for my dog? What would you suggest? :] If you need a picture of Coconut to see what her coat looks like to get a better idea as to what to do, I'll post one.

Thank you for the help
I appreciate it :]


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## flyingduster (Dec 10, 2009)

I'm not sure if I can help at all, you're wanting a trim style that looks good on a westie, but isn't the traditional westie clip?? IMO the only style that looks good on a westie IS the westie style. The only variation I do to the westie trim in my shop is when I shave off the furnishing and do a short westie-style head, and I only do that on a handful of idiotic dogs who can't be groomed without a muzzle. lol!

I have seen photos of a schnauzer or scottie style done on the heads of westies and it looks butt-ugly if ya ask me! hahahahaha! Each to their own though I guess as it was what the owners wanted! lol.

You can most certainly do a SHORTER westie trim if you want it to last longer. Use a 5 or 7 blade over the back and it'll take a lot longer to grow out than using a 3 blade. You can trim the furnishing up a little shorter too to make it last better. If you want it a bit fluffier but still in-keeping with the style then by all means use a 3 or even a snap-on comb to just smooth & flatten out the back a bit but still leave length. 

And just a note, there is only ONE true "puppy cut", and that is the puppy cut done on show poodles up until they are a year old and put into the continental trim. Anything else is NOT a "puppy cut" and shouldn't really be called it. You can trim a dog to look more puppy-ish, but it's not a certain style called the puppy trim.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

westieloverxo said:


> Good day everyone. Well, I've been learning how to groom and a while ago my boss showed me how to do a westie cut on my own westie. Well, it seems as though her hair is starting to grow back- fast at that- so I'm going to have to bring her into work soon; probably before Christmas. Anyway, this time around though I really don't want to do a westie cut seeing how her hair seemed to grow back so fast so I was thinking of doing something shorter.
> 
> I was looking around the Internet looking for alternative westie cuts and I couldn't really find one I liked; all of them made the westies look like little sausages. I was thinking perhaps I should give her a puppy cut though leaving some fluff to her seeing how it is getting colder nowadays. I was thinking maybe a 3 or maybe 4 blade would do the trick - or would those blades not really do anything? {please, I'm still learning about blade numbers so my knowledge isn't all that best with them. don't laugh at me, lol} but would that be too short for her, or a westie in any case? It seems as though the westies that come into the store I work in get a full blown 7f shave down, which personality I think looks hideous and would never do that to my westie but I'm not the one paying for the cut.
> 
> ...


When people say they want a "puppy cut" on a westie, they usually mean a #3 all over with a short, westie-style head. I don't personally like it too well. I usually go over the back with a mars coat king, then hit it with a #5/8, #3, or #4 and then mars coat king again to get it laying nice, and use thinning shearers on the head and furnishings. With a shorter cut (if I use a #5 or #7 on the back), I will skim the furnishings with a guard comb and blend the back/sides/legs together with a blade in the "middle" range. (If I used a #5 on the back and a guard on the feathers, I'll skim the transition line with a #3 for example). 
http://www.groomertogroomer.com/oct2010/frames/oct_2010.html#/44/
This might help you out, you can obviously tweak it however you'd like, but westies really aren't that time consuming once you get a handle on the pattern


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## TonyBaby (Aug 24, 2007)

I agree, a Westie really only looks good in a Westie cut. And there's not much to it, so there's no real good way to do what I call a "modified" on a Westie. All my Westies get varying length Westie cuts but one. That one gets a #7F all over. They don't even want her having a Westie head so I do a #4F on the top of the head and #1 Wahl comb on the sides of her face. I shave her ears totally with a #10 and she gets a short carrot tail. It felt so wrong the first time I took off her Westie head, but it's what they wanted. This dog is uber fat and does not look like a sausage I don't think. But I wanted to say if it grows fast, just do a #7 blade on the back and take the skirt up to the rib cage. That's about as short as you can go without taking the whole body short.


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