Does anyone groom and clip short hair breed dogs for the show ring, such as boxers or dobermans, if so could they PM me please as I need some advice. Thanks.

Would be pleased to see the replies on the forum, I had no idea that boxers and doberman were clipped but would be very interested to know how and where.

Likewise; I had no idea you'd put clippers anywhere near a smooth-coated breed. You certainly don't with dalmatians, and grooming for the showring is simply a bath and making sure the nails are short and the teeth clean.

Thought it was me being very unobservant - remember the day I noticed that some of the gundogs had their necks shaved (very unattractive) and asked my fellow steward about it and learned it was the popular way to show the dog (must say I did wonder why as to my eye it did nothing for them at all)

I suppose they might need their feet tidied of a few stray hairs??? I had no idea either, will be very interested in the replies.

I've shown my short coated breed (obvious from my user name :)) for nearly 30 years and have never clipped or shaved or the like!

Smooth dachshunds don't get trimmed either, there is nothing to trim

Elkhounds do not get trimmed either but one could carve ones name in the coat if you liked but anything other than a brush and comb is frowned upon.

> Would be pleased to see the replies on the forum, I had no idea that boxers and doberman were clipped but would be very interested to know how and where.

not for the showring but I do sometimes get asked to clip the fur of short coated dogs such as Jack Russells!! some people don't seem to like the thick ruff that can develop. Very strange if you ask me.

u never would clip those two breeds.

The reason I like the my lankie as much as I do is that the only grooming she requires is a brush through and a rub over with velvet.

Hi Triona.  I have one of the breeds you mention but in over 30 years I have never had to resort to clippers!  My lot are house dogs so I rarely bathe them.  Before a show I make sure their ears are clean, trim the facial whiskers and, depending on the coat, I may trim their underbelly line and 'trousers' (long, straggly hairs down the back legs).  However,  I have seen a few of my breed in the ring recently who have obviously had their 'trousers' totally removed with clippers leaving what I can only describe as bald patches up their hind legs which, frankly, look ridiculous. I hope this is not going to be the next "fad".  We have enough problems with the excessive application of stage make up in order to make the dogs have symmetrically perfect markings and black pigment :-(

Yes, I've been asked to clip quite a few terrier types, shame if you ask me as the shaggy look is cute!

>Before a show I make sure their ears are clean, trim the facial whiskers

I would never cut off the vibrassae; they're an important part of a dog's way of understanding the world.

At a recent open show I was a little shocked to see all the dobies next to me having their whiskers shaved off to match the length of the facial hair with tiny clippers or even a normal mans razor. I had never really thought about that happening before-but then I have never owned a short haired dog.

> remember the day I noticed that some of the gundogs had their necks shaved (very unattractive)

I still use thinning scissors - am sure there are some that are getting very clipper happy but thinning scissors and hand stripping for me!  Painful and slow but looks so much better

like others re: short coated dogs - never known anyone clip and certainly not for the show ring wouldn't have thought - woudl be interested the reason why

Why exactly do people trim/cut off the whiskers, what's the reasoning behind it?

Didn't the kennel club do a statement a while ago about not wanting owners clipping whiskers for cosmetic reasons in short haired breeds?

You're quite right, Jo.

I hate to see dogs with their whiskers cut off. It is this sort of thing that makes a laughing stock of show people to JP. Mind you I think all dogs should be shown washed brushed and natural. I think the more we over-groom our dogs the worse our reputation with Joe Public becomes.To a degree I can accept the poodle clips have some historic basis but you can bet your life poodles used in the field 100 years ago had less of a shaved coat and the fur left over the joints would have been closer cut than today's highly coiffured examples. Excessive hair growth on some breeds like the Yorkshire terrier and American cocker have been selectively bred for and along with it comes the intense grooming. Working American cockers or Yorkies would never be able to do their job with the profusion of coats we see in the rings today.
Aileen

Mind you I think all dogs should be shown washed brushed and natural.

Think I understand where you are coming but some breeds have to have a bit more than the wash, brush and go treatment or they would be so uncomfortable it would be deemed cruel. Just as sheep need sheering for they own good so do some dogs need clipping or stripping for health and comfort.

Yes some would and I have no problems with that as the breeds stand today. However it still comes down to breeders breeding for ever more profuse coat and putting some breeds into the position where they need all this work. In the wild some breeds as they stand today would quite possibly die because of their coats, think of an old English trying to catch prey with the coat they have now they could easily get tangled in the bushes never to escape, Nature would select the shorter-coats for ease of wear-ability  or a  as with breeds who cannot birth naturally because of what humans have done to their body shapes. Cutting of whiskers and over trimming of dogs just for aesthetics is not something I see as right to do. The people (Judges) who see more as better are not always right. If you see it through to its final ending then some breeders would breed purposely for whisker less dogs, as they did for coat-less dogs, large headed dogs, very tiny dogs etc... it is time we humans stopped messing about with  breeds because of a particular look that in reality would be a hindrance to a dog. By all means we can try to produce dogs that have all the necessary attributes needed to do a certain job of work, but to breed all the time from longer and longer coats or less and less whiskers is doing nothing for the dog and everything for our preferences.
Aileen
PS Wild sheep breeds have much less coat than the purposely bred heavy coated ones we keep for wool production. Humans made them so that they Needed to be shorn

Many years ago when I groomed I got a call from a man asking if I could show groom his boxer?  I said I could bath him and dog would have a good shine to the coat but for the life of me I hadn't a clue what else would need done!  He brought me his dog along with a long list of things to do including whiskers off and to thin out all the twirls of hair on the coat especially the ones on his hip bones below his bottom!  I kid you not!!!

A few years ago at dog training club we had a lot of Staffie exhibitors. They were forever using cordless clippers on their dogs' tails before shows. You often saw them do it at club, think it was one breeder tidying the dogs up she'd bred. WHY it was deemed necessary I never found out.

I know a few Doberman and Basenji people who either clipper or trim the stray hairs on the dog's tail and tidy the feet a bit. Usually just those finishing touches that probably wouldn't make a bit of difference in the ring but make the exhibitor feel better knowing their dog is as tidy as possible. As for the whiskers, I have only seen one dog where the presence of the whiskers actually made the face look really strange, they were very dark and stuck out in multiple directions... not something I'll ever be able to explain in words but it did make the dog's expression look bizarre. Other than that, people do it to make the face look cleaner, though once again I doubt it actually makes a bit of difference in the ring.