Keeping your schnauzer's wiry, salt and pepper, grey or black topcoat healthy and shiny with regular brushing is the easy part. However, since the leg hair is longer than the body hair, keeping mats and tangles at bay in this area requires more work.
Step 1
Brush your pooch with a pin brush. This brush type helps remove mats and tangles. Starting at the hip bone and working towards the foot, brush the hair in the opposite direction of natural growth.
Step 2
Comb the wiry topcoat with a metal comb. If there are many tangles, hold the hair out from the skin and work from the end of the hair towards the skin.
Step 3
Grasp your shears with your dominate hand and pull the long, wiry hair on the leg out away from the skin. Shear off about an inch of hair to start. You can always take more off later, but putting it back on is impossible.
Step 4
Work from the top of the leg towards the bottom. Trim with the contour of the leg at the hock. Cut an upside down V shape on the inside of his legs, leaving the hair longer at the base of his foot. Angle your scissors away from his body to get a straight line.
Step 5
Trim around the foot in a circle at a 45-degree angle, leaving the hair as long as the leg hair. Do not shave or close cut the foot like a poodle’s. Comb or brush the hair backwards on the entire leg and make sure no stray hairs remain.
Step 6
Turn the schnauzer’s foot over and trim the hair growing between his pads. Also, clean out between his toes by trimming the long hairs.
References
Tips
- If you are unsure about using shears, consider blunt-ends scissors. They are rounded at the end to help prevent nicks.
Warnings
- When starting out, don’t attempt to shave your schnauzer. You could clip him too close or cause nicks in his skin, leading to irritation.
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Amanda Maddox began writing professionally in 2007. Her work appears on various websites focusing on topics about medical billing, coding, real estate, insurance, accounting and business. Maddox has her insurance and real estate licenses and holds an Associate of Applied Science in accounting and business administration from Wallace State Community College.