# Grooming on a budget at home



## Kaite and Mitze (Mar 29, 2009)

I have been grooming my Shih Tzu, Mitze, at home for the past few years. The budget just doesn't have enough in it to have regular groomer visits. The vet has showed me how to care for her ears and nails but I usually just use clippers on all but here head and tail. I have started to let it grow out so we can go for a different look but she has the wavy hair not fluffy. Right now she looks bad but as much as I bath and brush her she never looks like a 'Shih Tzu'. What can I do different?


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

Find a couple of good grooming manuals at the library or bookstore. TEhy will have pictures of various cuts on different breeds and the specific instructions. They generally tell you what blade to use, visuals of how to hold the fur while scissor trimming, ...


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Kaite and Mitze said:


> I have been grooming my Shih Tzu, Mitze, at home for the past few years. The budget just doesn't have enough in it to have regular groomer visits. The vet has showed me how to care for her ears and nails but I usually just use clippers on all but here head and tail. I have started to let it grow out so we can go for a different look but she has the wavy hair not fluffy. Right now she looks bad but as much as I bath and brush her she never looks like a 'Shih Tzu'. What can I do different?



Shihtzu's shouldnt be fluffy, so you are good there. If you want her to look like a shihtzu, I am assuming one in full coat? If that is the case, you need to let the coat grow. When it gets long enough, the weight of the hair will make it lay straighter, though some coats just don't lay well, and still have too much body and wave to them. Personally, I think those type of coats look better in shorter trims, and are much easier to take care of. You can use an attachment over a blade to leave her body coat as long as 1 1/2 inches. You may be able to get her to look "fluffier" at a length like that if she has alot of wave in her coat.


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## GingerG (Jan 3, 2021)

If you want her to look like the breed, they have a long coat. This means a lot of brushing and combing on your part. They look beautiful that way but it will be an every day, or an every other day thing. If she''s well brushed bathed & dry, you might try a longer clipper blade, such as a #4. Its still short, but not shaved..


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## LeoRose (Aug 20, 2015)

This thread is nearly 12 years old, and the OP is long gone.


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