The three sizes of Schnauzers (miniature, standard, and giant) are frequent visitors to grooming shops everywhere, with the Miniature version being the most popular. These sturdy little dogs make good pets and have specific and frequent grooming needs.
One aspect of their grooming seems to be confusing, and that is how to trim the furnishings properly. To traditionally maintain their coat, and always for show grooming, they are hand stripped, but pet owners usually opt for the easier and less expensive method of clipping the pet, and that is what we will be discussing here.
The top of the head, ears, cheeks, and throat are clipped fairly close, and the jacket may be clipped with a guard comb or, more commonly, a #5 or 7 blade. Skip-toothed blades will leave a more natural finish, but most pet groomers prefer the “F” or finish blades. The jacket is trimmed uniformly, going down towards the furnishings to expose the large muscles of the shoulders and thighs. The legs, a bit of the fore chest,and the undercarriage are left longer than the body (unless the pet is terribly matted or the owner requests a “one length all over” clip.)
The trouble is that some people are taught to leave a skirt on schnauzers. You will find pictures of this tough, tenacious breed all over the internet, looking as if they are wearing a fluffy tutu or hula skirt. Not only is this the wrong look, but it also leaves a lot of unnecessary hair, which will most likely become quite tangled between grooming visits.
The trick is to blend, blend, blend. The ideal look is that the longer hair of the furnishings appears to grow smoothly from the shorter jacket. No sharp line should divide the two areas. You can achieve this more easily by using a longer blade on the pattern (I like a #5 or a #2 guard, depending on the coat texture) and by letting your hand guide the clipper so it falls straight down the side of the dog as you work, not following tightly to the curve of the chest, but rather gliding and skimming down towards the table. Pro Tip: Blending the furnishings and jacket nicely is almost impossible if you clip the coat with a #10 blade.
Try this to trim the furnishings on pet schnauzers correctly. After setting your pattern on the jacket with your guard comb or blade, use your comb to lift the longer coat up and away from the legs and along the side of the undercarriage. Next, use thinning or chunking shears, and while the comb lifts the hair, trim the desired length off. You can see a lovely demonstration of this technique done by the famed groomer and Andis representative Diane Betelak on YouTube.
The longer hair on the undercarriage should not hang down further than the elbow on the dog, which will give you an excellent guideline. The coat should taper up towards the tuck-up and blend seamlessly into the fur on the legs. The bottom line is that Schnauzers, no matter the size, should not be groomed with fluffy skirts. Check out pictures of winning show dogs to understand the proper outline, and let that translate into how you groom the good pet dogs on your table.
