Silly Dachshund

[rosestockwell1991]

I have a client that has a silky dachshund and they keep him super long and in pretty good condition! Currently I trim out mats as needed and do as good of an outline trim as the little guy will let me. I was wondering if any of y’all have done any silky dachshunds? I wanna help the family out a bit because it’s hard to brush out his legs because he’s so low to the ground and fussy but I don’t know how to go about shorter legs and longer body without it looking weird. They come in every 4 weeks and he currently takes me about 4 hours (he just had his second ever groom today- hopefully the time will whittle down as he stops fighting me- he has mastered the art of getting as low as possible!!) I struggled a lot with his paws today because he was fussy and also I think the texture is just… weird.

Basically I just wanna know what kind of haircuts I should bring up to them next time around! They like the long natural look but leg upkeep is a lot. Sorry for rambling a bit his barking is still piercing my brain LMAO

 

[adventist707]

@rosestockwell1991 I do a couple dachshunds with feathery or silky coats. One of them is obese, very nervous, and can barely stand for more than a minute. I'm no expert and struggle with them being so low to the ground as well. But I've learned to use a belly band as much as necessary and to just do what the dog will let me on paws because it's hard to hold their leg in a position that's both comfortable for them and will allow me to do what I need to do. I hold the dog up between the back legs when the belly band needs to come off for trimming the tuck-up area. I allow the dog to stay low for things like drying and trimming the ears, and then when it's time to stand up, it's time to stand up: belly band, taut grooming loop, groomer's helper to relieve neck pressure, lift them up by the chest if they try to flop back down to let them know it's time to stand for now. With the necessary breaks and working quickly on dogs that cannot stand well, of course. Sometimes you can convince the dog to let you do nails/paws while they're laying down, if they're more comfortable that way.

I usually use a 5f blade in the direction of the coat on all of the paws and the shorter leg feathers (front side of the front legs and from the hock to ankle of the rear leg). Then an outline trim. I use curves sparingly to set the length of the bum/pants/tuck up area, lift the front leg forward and use straights to set the belly line, and then lots and lots of combing and thinning (pretty much always cutting with the grain of the coat) to neaten everything else up, including paws. Some of my clients like a shaved belly to keep clean, I can only really do that if it's safe to gently lift the dog onto its hind legs for proper access (dog is not elderly, overweight, or has back problems). Otherwise I may try to skim the belly short the best I can with my mini 5-in-1s. Some other doxies I clip all over ranging from a 5f to a 3/4" comb and then thin out the clipper marks on those more difficult coats. You can also give the illusion of a full coat by leaving a full underline/chest/mane/upper legs and still have a shaved belly hidden underneath there and a short bum/lower & inner legs for the sake of maintenance.

 

[rosestockwell1991]

@adventist707 thank you SO much for this thorough explanation

 

[wickedwoman]

@rosestockwell1991 I hope I get this right on linking a photo. I know I posted her on her awhile back. I have a silky wirehaired. I typically leave her long, shave if I need to.

https://imgur.com/a/Loon8cx

This is two of the grooms I've done on her. The short cut was a 1/2" all over.