Cairn advice

[bubbaleahia]

I have a handful of cairns that I groom, but none of them get groomed in the same style, or the "standard" breed style. On Thursday I am grooming a cairn who has been coming to the store for daycare for the past six months (he is a puppy). We have maintained his coat with puppy partials, but this will be his first full groom. Please give me suggestions on how you would groom him. His hair in long, but not grown out to even all over.
Thanks,
Liz

[goldiphlox]

Hi,
I actually get alot of Cairns. And when I groom them, people just love them.So i must be doing something right.lol anyway, the Cairn haircut is very similar to a westie cut. but when i do it i use a plastic #2 c/o on the back and blend in very well right down the sides, similar line as westie. i don't want to see any line. very natural looking. i want the sides to flow right down and blend with the hair on the sides that is alittle longer. do you know what i mean. carrot tail, not too big. just wider at base, you know about that. similar face to westie, but i use thinning shears heavily on the cairn face, so that it looks very natural do not shave corner of eyes.the hair under the dogs muzzle should blend nice into the neck. use thinning shears.the cairn should have a skirt, but alittle more natural and following the line of the dog then straight across, and not heavy chested. and the rump should not be heavy either. follow the contour of dog. usually the length of what's left on legs and skirt only need alittle shaping. ocassionally, i get a cairn that thinks it's a Havanese and then the skirt and legs need alittle more trimming! but usually it doesn't grow that long.......hope this helps....

[neanea]

I love doing the few cairn's and westies I have.

While I have only been grooming for a short time, I get so much satisfaction out of doing these fiesty little grooms

Here's my thing:

Depending on the length the owner prefers on the back, I'll either do a 3/4" so or a #5 down the center of the back. This all gets blended into the skirt by skimming down the sides. I also contour the rump area to show off the cute little butt, LOL.
The head and face are done with thinners and the ears are tipped with a #15. The legs are lightly shaped and the skirt comes up in an angle off the front of the back leg and slopes up to the front leg (a little lower than the elbow). The tail is a carrot tail and I like to strip the tail. It makes it courser and adds to the texture so well. I also try to card the backline slightly to help with the texture as well.

Here's a couple of pictures of my favorite caine, Zoe, which I have posted pictures of before.

http://www.petgroomerforums.com/chat/showthread.php?t=2990

Have fun with this little fella!

[Raggs]

I actually don't do any Cairns where I work now. One comes for daycare but she gets groomed somewhere else...

The ones that I used to groom would just get either a Westie Cut, or just a trim on the skirt, face and feet.

From what I'm told by a show groomer. Cairns aren't supposed to be cut like other terriers.. They should have their full coat.

Just ask the owner what she wants and do it that way. Show her pics of a Cairn and ask a bunch of questions.. That's the best way to do it.

[Pixie]

NeaNea, your little cairn was just adorable. Love the shot of her head.

I only do one Cairn and it is just a b/b, nothing more, so can't help ya too much. But you have gotten great advice anyway.

[bubbaleahia]

Cairn

Thankyou for the replies, I have been thinking about both of them. I know that owners want to take length off, but I will keep both ideas in mind when I find out how much length they want off.
I love this site!!
Liz

[ejmj30]

First off, furminate or card the coat, maybe even hand pluck some of that back hair if it comes out easy, which I imagine it will if he's older than 6 months and hasn't been groomed yet. Then I'd say go over with a longish snap on. I love my Cairns, and I prefer them to look really natural, not heavily groomed at all. The trick to achieving that is combs, not blades. No matter what length blade you use it will be too short, IMO, and for my tastes. I like the dog too look like it did when it came in but neater and more manageable pretty much.

Here's a pic of one I do...I hope the link works, if it doesn't, go to my website, go to gallery page, and she's under pets A-E

http://picasaweb.google.com/LittleShopOfHowlers/PetsAE/photo#5030841604912281442

She doesn't have a whole lot of coat on her legs, I don't do anything on her skirt or legs except to round off the feet, I wish she had a little more coat to balance her, again IMO.