# How are schnauzers groomed?



## barqui (Sep 6, 2011)

Does their fur naturally grow longer around the mouth and on the belly? They always have a distinct look... just curious..


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

The standard:

_Coat
Tight, hard, wiry and as thick as possible, composed of a soft, close undercoat and a harsh outer coat which, when seen against the grain, stands up off the back, lying neither smooth nor flat. The outer coat (body coat) is trimmed (by plucking) only to accent the body outline.

As coat texture is of the greatest importance, a dog may be considered in show coat with back hair measuring from 3/4 to 2 inches in length. Coat on the ears, head, neck, chest, belly and under the tail may be closely trimmed to give the desired typical appearance of the breed. On the muzzle and over the eyes the coat lengthens to form the beard and eyebrows; the hair on the legs is longer than that on the body. These "furnishings" should be of harsh texture and should not be so profuse as to detract from the neat appearance or working capabilities of the dog. Faults--Soft, smooth, curly, wavy or shaggy; too long or too short; too sparse or lacking undercoat; excessive furnishings; lack of furnishings._

I did a combination of shaving and trimming on our pet schnauzer (she was not show quality and didn't have the right coat to strip/pluck). The longer hair of the beard, legs, feet, eyebrows, ears, and tummy were scissor trimmed. The rest of the body was shaved.


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## threemuttcorp (Aug 31, 2012)

i have never laid hands on a show schnauzer. however the pets that come into my grooming shop are shaved short (number 10 or a number 7 blade) and we leave a skirt, which is their belly and leg, and we leave eye brows and a beard. the head is shaved in a 10 blade and so are the ears.

the skirt is trimmed and thinned out however the owner likes it, and the beard is trimmed.

it is very common in my area for clients to want their schnauzers a 10 all over, and a very short schnauzer face left.

some schnauzers we see dont even get schnauzer cuts at all but "personality clips"
anything goes! sometimes we leave ears only, sometimes they have boots! sometimes even mohawks


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## boxerlover876 (Dec 31, 2011)

From what I've seen at shows it's mainly stripping. Either hand stripping or with a tool that sort of looks like a tongue depressor. And then blowing out all that's was stripped. I believe they might have trimmed the beard, but only to shape it. And this was one of the top mini schnauzer breeders in the country as I have later learned.


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## threemuttcorp (Aug 31, 2012)

oh yeah, wanted to mention, i dont have any idea how to hand strip, and out here in kentucky farm lands no one has ever asked me about it. id love to learn it tho...


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## Daenerys (Jul 30, 2011)

Here's a good video of a pet schnauzer being groomed in the "proper" schnauzer cut (but not show-quality grooming, just pet grooming). Its a four part video, so kind of long, but she goes through every part of the hair cut and you get to watch and see the before and after look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnEkT8duh8M&playnext=1&list=PL268F9EEDA88C9326&feature=results_main


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

barqui said:


> Does their fur naturally grow longer around the mouth and on the belly? They always have a distinct look... just curious..


 They do not grow naturally in that pattern. It is clipped or hand stripped to the pattern. If ungroomed, the hair everywhere grows long and they will look like a water buffalo.  lol


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## threemuttcorp (Aug 31, 2012)

but but, i love the water buffalo look  hehe


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