# Ear Grooming Critique Please?



## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

Thinning shears should have approx. 43-46 teeth to give a good blend with minimal scissor marks when used properly. Your getting a lot of scissor marks from the less teeth and from your cutting against the grain of hair growth. I put two links below which show some ways to trim the hair. One is a pictorial tutorial and the other is one of many videos in a series that someone posted on show grooming goldens they are both older. there are several in those videos that show the ears and the hair behind it. I prefer a little more of a fluff on my ears then what you did but it depends on the hair the dog has. I back brush the hair with a slicker and then roll the ear slighty with my hand so the hair stands up a bit more then trim with slightest closure of the shear while pulling away from the ear. Keep in mind the hair growth pattern. If you need to trim against it do that first then soften it with trimming with. Take very little at a time and it lessens the scissor cuts with this technique. I do strip out any dead hair first if needed with a stripping knife just a gentle go thru to pull old hair out and smooth the overall ear. I also strip out the hair behind the ear just a bit! easy to get carried away then blend with my thinners just a tad less is more here so easy to take to much



Morningsage Goldens Grooming


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Couple things...

1. Don't trim the front of the ear too tight like that. You are only trimming the back of the ear. 

2. I leave some of the soft fuzzies at the top of the ear. You trim/thin closer at the bottom of the ear, but leave some length towards the top.

Ears make the expression of the dog. Too tightly trimmed can make for a harsher expression. And that's why we use thinning shears going up the front of the ears, but we aren't trimming everything out.


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## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

Ok, so I haven't purchased a new 46 tooth thinner yet, so I'm stuck with the 36 tooth for the foreseeable future. (Need to save up!) The first 2 pictures are of my golden, April. I let the hair grow for a few weeks and pretty much only trimmed the back edge of the ear. Third picture is a client's golden-she was last groomed in November-the ears were done pre-bath as she is nervous for the blower around her head and ears and I need the ears dry to work with. Her ear set is kinda high and she has a split in the other ear (not pictured) which makes it a little interesting to work around. Anyway, I'm again hoping for some constructive criticism to help me improve my ear grooming/wondering if you see any improvement over the last photos I posted of my dog. Thanks in advance!


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Altairss said:


> Thinning shears should have approx. 43-46 teeth to give a good blend with minimal scissor marks when used properly. Your getting a lot of scissor marks from the less teeth and from your cutting against the grain of hair growth. I put two links below which show some ways to trim the hair. One is a pictorial tutorial and the other is one of many videos in a series that someone posted on show grooming goldens they are both older. there are several in those videos that show the ears and the hair behind it. I prefer a little more of a fluff on my ears then what you did but it depends on the hair the dog has. I back brush the hair with a slicker and then roll the ear slighty with my hand so the hair stands up a bit more then trim with slightest closure of the shear while pulling away from the ear. Keep in mind the hair growth pattern. If you need to trim against it do that first then soften it with trimming with. Take very little at a time and it lessens the scissor cuts with this technique. I do strip out any dead hair first if needed with a stripping knife just a gentle go thru to pull old hair out and smooth the overall ear. I also strip out the hair behind the ear just a bit! easy to get carried away then blend with my thinners just a tad less is more here so easy to take to much
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That was really helpful. Thank you for posting. I was able to see what my main mistake is approaching the trimming.


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