# Direction to scissor coat? (her breeder would shriek!)



## Cobalt (Jul 27, 2007)

Do I cut in a certain direction? I am trying to remove about an inch or hair all over. Across her body or down her body or both ways? 

My Tibetan Terrier is still blowing her coat and matting quickly at 12 months. I tried to scissor her using a comb under the scissor so I wouldn't cut her and it looks pretty good but I was not expecting much.

She was just groomed 3 weeks ago and I don't want to take her in so soon. Next time, I'll ask for her to be cut shorter so I can manage her coat longer. 

Thanks!


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

I'm only familiar with Poodles and Schnauzers, but I would think never cut across - it'll look chopped. I brush and then fluff up the hair before scissoring, using a 10" shears.


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## ohrats9 (Dec 19, 2007)

Cobalt said:


> Do I cut in a certain direction? I am trying to remove about an inch or hair all over. Across her body or down her body or both ways?
> 
> My Tibetan Terrier is still blowing her coat and matting quickly at 12 months. I tried to scissor her using a comb under the scissor so I wouldn't cut her and it looks pretty good but I was not expecting much.
> 
> ...


If she is matting up *do not cut the hair*. You will simply exacerbate the issue as lots of different length hair promotes more matting. First, brush the entire dog. Then comb out the entire dog. When you hit a mat you cannot get the comb through get your brush and work it out starting from the bottom. If you cannot get the comb through the hair right down to the skin, there are still mats. 

Another thing to remember is if/when she gets wet she needs to dry completely and be brushed and then combed completely or she will mat up. 

Tibetans can have high maintenance hair. If you stay on top of it with the combing, it's not so hard. Once the mats are in, it gets tricky. But once you start scissoring mats without first combing out the hair, it becomes impossible. 

Once you are able to comb the entire dog out, you can scissor. You do so by combing all the hair up and scissoring vertically. Never horizontally. Don't pick at the hair with your scissors. Use a smooth motion starting before the area that needs to be cut. Each time you comb the hair up, you'll see which hair still needs to be trimmed because it won't be the same length as the other hair. I used to practice smooth scissoring along the edge of a round table just to get the feel. Combing up is your secret weapon when scissoring a drop coat. You cannot do it to much.

I don't know if that helps or not.


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