# What else could I do with his face?



## Ayanla (Jun 11, 2009)

Odo is a maltese/poodle mix. I normally have him groomed in a short puppy clip on his body. I have her trim the fringe on his tail, and then for his head we shorten up his ears and do a teddy bear (I think it's called) cut. See pics below.

The problem I'm having is two fold. First, Odo has a serious issue with tearing. His face is chronically wet. I'm going to have the vet look at it, and I have a feeling it may be a tear duct issue, but it'll be in March for his 1 year checkup, as I don't think it's a crucial issue at the moment. So in the mean time he has constant gunk from his eyes caked in the long fur of his muzzle.

The other problem is that his eyes are constantly obscured and the hair actually pokes into them, which may be making the tearing even worse. His groomer suggested I "train" the hair to lay in a part by wetting and brushing it, which I do religiously, but it doesn't matter. As soon as it's dry it's right back in front of his eyes.

Is there any other way we can clip his face that won't look horrible but will help with either of these issues?

It's kind of tough to see what I'm talking about in the pictures, as I tend not to take many pictures when his fur is all over the place, but hopefully this gives some idea.


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

The only option I know of for keeping hair down away from the eyes is you have to let it grow LONG... the weight will keep it from springing back up and the "training to a part" will work a lot better with weight behind it.


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## flyingduster (Dec 10, 2009)

yup, either grow it long enough to hang down (it's like growing out a fringe; it takes forever but then all of a sudden it's gone) or keep it trimmed short all the time.

You can trim just in front of the eyes short if that's all you want too.


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## kazuldra (Jan 4, 2010)

I agree that the only way to really train the part is to let the fur on the muzzle grow out longer and put some weight on it.

However, if you're willing to experiment with his hairstyle, you have a few other options as well.

His muzzle is longer, like a poodle's, so you could try a clean face. That can look sort of feminine, though, and can also destroy some of the character that a fluffy face has. To make it look a little more masculine for you little boy, you can give a clean face paired with a mustache (donut and french are my personal favorites).

Another option could be to give a schnauzer-style head a chance. Of course, you would lose the fluff on top the head, so this may not be entirely appropriate for what you want.

If you have a groomer who's willing to play around and try some new things, you can always ask her/his advice. I always like to offer fun solutions for my clients and their babies. 
_
NOTE: I did not groom the dogs pictured in the links. I found the pics via Google for example purposes only._


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## rubberduckey273 (Dec 30, 2009)

letting the hair grow out is an option, but it looks like he has the fluffy cottony hair type that might make that difficult. remember, if you try it and it doesn't work out, you can just go back to having it trimmed short. you can ask your groomer to make sure the hair right in from of the eyes is trimmed short, and if it grows quickly you could ask your groomer if you can come in and have them trim it in between groomings.

as for the eye goo, i use a flea comb to comb that out of the hair as needed.


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## Ayanla (Jun 11, 2009)

I can't imagine his fur ever having enough "weight" to pull it anywhere unless I let him grow one of those long fu manchu styles down to his knees. When he was a pup, his fur seemed like it was going to go more towards the maltese side, but now that he's older it's clear that he's got a weird hybrid cotton/wavy/fluff thing going on. 

I'm considering trying the clean face look once just to see if I like it. I guess worst case I have to let it grow back in and he's no worse for the wear. Most people already think he's female, so outside of putting pink bows in his hair, I don't think it's possible for me to make him look more feminine. There's something about being a 7lb white fluffy dog that just screams "girl" to people. I have the opposite issue with my female Boston Terrier, who everyone thinks is male.

I've been using a combination of nightly face washing (with just plain water so as not to irritate his eyes) and combing out with two combs (one a little wider tooth, and then a flea comb) to keep the goopies mostly at bay. 

I'm going to see if his groomer has any ideas outside of these (which are very helpful by the way). I don't want to do a schnauzer cut, as I really love his little poof on the top of his head. I'm not against experimenting or trying something different, I just don't have enough dog/grooming experience to really have much of an idea aside from "shave it off".

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I appreciate it.


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## PetGroomer (Jan 31, 2010)

you can always ask for a shorter, rounder face with the top of the nose bridge scissored shorter but not shaved. Or even thinning out the top of the nose bridge a little bit more might help it sit closer to the nose and not spring up quite so much.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Having the round face like you have now, but shaving the ears is actually VERY cute and does look boyish. I know most clients shudder when I mention "shave" the ears..but its actually very cute.


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## Triskit (Feb 1, 2010)

I had a client that had eye watering/goo problems, someone advised him to grow his dogs eye lashes out... he did and to worked for him.


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## Shazamataz (Jan 23, 2010)

I may be a little biased but I always preffer short faces of poodles and poodle mixes.
My white boy gets terribly mucky eyes sometimes so he is always kept with a short face, whereas with my girl Prada she doesn't have any eye problems so I can leave it a bit longer in between clips with her.

I remember back when I had my Shih Tzu in show coat it was a nightmare keeping her face dry, her beard and moustache was always wrapped so she didn't dunk them in the water bowl.


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

> I've been using a combination of nightly face washing (with just plain water so as not to irritate his eyes) and combing out with two combs (one a little wider tooth, and then a flea comb) to keep the goopies mostly at bay.


What works very well is to flush the eyes with sterile saline solution (get the one for sensitive eyes), then wipe any gunk away with a soft cloth or cotton ball. 

I provide distilled water (for drinking) with apple cider vinegar in it (not much, just a teaspoon or so), and preferrably the ACV that's unfiltered with the mother still in it that you get in the health food store. It changes the ph, and you won't see the staining. The saline solution also helps with preventing the staining, and will actually somewhat lighten stains there prior to use.

Allergies could be causing the tearing, or the hair rubbing the eye. Your groomer should be able to use the clippers to scoop away the hair at the inner corner of the eye to keep it from irritating, and possibly scarring the cornea. 

BTW, he's a cute little guy! I don't know about a shaved face - it's going to be a shock when you see it, and will dramatically change his looks! I prefer and love shaved faces on Poodles, but did have a mini poodle I fostered who looked much, much better with facial hair!


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## Jennet19 (Feb 8, 2010)

I wouldn't shave his face. His head area looks just like my schnoodle's and I just trim around his eyes with a small scissors in between groomings. I now have my groomer cut his face very short but not shaved and it does well. Hope this helps.


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