How much to trim feet?

Walter is a rough coated Saint and has extremely hairy feet. I know the fur between his pads should be kept short, but how about the feathering on the back of the foot and the fur growing over the nails?

From a show prospective, we trim all hair under the pads (so that the underfoot hair is level with the pad). We also brush up the hair between the toes & finger pluck the hair out, then lightly trim the hair with thinnng scissors to tidy up. Behind the foot (on the pastern) & the back of the legs, we again just trim off the 'wispy bits' to give a tidy look to the leg & foot.

Unless of course you have a smooth, in which case none of the above is required lol

There is that LOL! Although I do still trim the underfoot hair, doesnt gro as profusely as a rough coat, but a little trim in needed

and their tails!

ourfairview wrote:

and their tails!

Does the tail need trimming too? And how about the ears?

Thanks so much for the detailed explanation saintlvr! I'll give it a shot this weekend.

When I do my saints feet they always look jagged, is that because I used ordinary scissors instead of thinking ones?

Hi Marles,

Yes its very likely. You can get 2 types of thinning scissors, double edged (which have teeth on both sides) & Half tooth (with one side like a normal straight scissor & the other side with teeth. We use normal scissors for shaping the foot & to trim the underside of the foot & backs of legs, the thinners we then use to trim the actual foot & back of legs too.

We dont trim tails on any of the dogs, they shouldnt need it really, not even a smooth. As for the ears, they bacome very fluffy, you can strip the hair with a stripping comb, or just uyse your index finger & thumb & 'pluck' the longer hair out to leave the smoother darker hair.

If i remember, next time i do a dog I wil try get some pics to show you what i mean ... failing that, when Bunny starts to need to be trimmed, i will take pics, but that wont be for a while yet.

Hi Kathy,

Thanks so much! Sorry about the "thinking" scissors hehe! That would be really helpful to see photos, I get a bit carried away like when pruning then look at them and think omg i have butchered them

lol thinking scissors!
i always round the end of my smooths tails
cheri

I need to watch someone pluck!! i use thinners but I think id have better luck on the "bed head" ears if I plucked.. feet too !

Saintlvr wrote:

Hi Marles,

Yes its very likely. You can get 2 types of thinning scissors, double edged (which have teeth on both sides) & Half tooth (with one side like a normal straight scissor & the other side with teeth. We use normal scissors for shaping the foot & to trim the underside of the foot & backs of legs, the thinners we then use to trim the actual foot & back of legs too.

We dont trim tails on any of the dogs, they shouldnt need it really, not even a smooth. As for the ears, they bacome very fluffy, you can strip the hair with a stripping comb, or just uyse your index finger & thumb & 'pluck' the longer hair out to leave the smoother darker hair.

If i remember, next time i do a dog I wil try get some pics to show you what i mean ... failing that, when Bunny starts to need to be trimmed, i will take pics, but that wont be for a while yet.