# What the heck are they doing to this Chihuahua?



## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

????????????? somehow I don't think that's necessary for a short haired dog... I'm just really wondering what they are doing/why they are doing it on the poor dog's face... any ideas?


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

They are shaving off the whiskers, a popular grooming step in some breeds in the show ring.

Also, that's a long haired Chihuahua.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Yep, shaving whiskers.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

I've never heard of that before! Is there a purpose for shaving whiskers..?


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

Ooh... It was on a site about grooming Chihuahuas for average owners so I never would have guessed that lol


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

SydTheSpaniel said:


> I've never heard of that before! Is there a purpose for shaving whiskers..?


Cleans up the look of the muzzle in show dogs.


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## LoMD13 (Aug 4, 2010)

I think Lola gets that done, just takes a second! For a dog that's used to grooming, it's really not "poor dog". Poor dog is the dog that doesn't get any grooming and needs it.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

Laurelin said:


> Cleans up the look of the muzzle in show dogs.


Ahh okay. I never knew that was something typically done for shows.


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## Kyndall54 (Apr 26, 2013)

I never knew about shaving whiskers until this year when we met our rough collie breeder at a show. I thought it was weird too, but it does make them look cleaner!


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

LoMD13 said:


> I think Lola gets that done, just takes a second! For a dog that's used to grooming, it's really not "poor dog". Poor dog is the dog that doesn't get any grooming and needs it.


Oh I know, I thought they were shaving the already short hair off of the dog's face before I posted it and I was just really confused. I knew about shaving whiskers but since it wasn't labelled as such it wasn't the first thing I thought of.


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## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

Do they shave all the whiskers?


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

SDRRanger said:


> Do they shave all the whiskers?


Not sure which "they" you are referring to.
Did they shave all the whiskers on this dog? It appears so.


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## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

They as in handlers/groomers for dog shows with small dogs. Just wondering if the muzzle is bare or if they just trim the wild ones


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

SDRRanger said:


> They as in handlers/groomers for dog shows with small dogs. Just wondering if the muzzle is bare or if they just trim the wild ones


It depends on the breed and on the groomer/handler. In my experience, IF they trim whiskers at all they trim them totally off.


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

From my understanding most breeds do have all the whiskers trimmed. I think Border Collies are the only exception. There may be others but that's the one I know of. It's actually a DQ to trim a Border's whiskers for conformation.


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## ChaosIsAWeim (Feb 12, 2011)

SDRRanger said:


> They as in handlers/groomers for dog shows with small dogs. Just wondering if the muzzle is bare or if they just trim the wild ones


For those that do it, yes. We do it with the spaniels. 

I don't trim my weims whiskers off, some people do. I do shave the bulldogs.


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## RabbleFox (Jan 23, 2013)

Kayota said:


> From my understanding most breeds do have all the whiskers trimmed. I think Border Collies are the only exception. There may be others but that's the one I know of. It's actually a DQ to trim a Border's whiskers for conformation.


It's also a DQ to trim a Rat Terrier's whiskers, fun fact! They need them to help navigate underground and in small spaces between hay stacks. Apparently it's kind of like a mole's whiskers?


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

Oh hey I didn't know that  And yeah that's pretty much what whiskers are for in any dog! Nighttime/tight space navigating.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

Kayota said:


> From my understanding most breeds do have all the whiskers trimmed. I think Border Collies are the only exception. There may be others but that's the one I know of. It's actually a DQ to trim a Border's whiskers for conformation.


Not quite, I would say in Aussies it's about 75% of handlers don't trim and about 25% do trim. Mostly the dogs handled by bigger handlers that are trimmed, there are a few breeder owners who trim as well tho. I do not and will not ever trim.


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