Jun the Groomer

Hello everyone, I’m Jun the Groomer! 🙂 You may already know this, but dogs are my passion and I love sharing relevant information that will help your dogs look and feel their best. It’s such a pleasure for me to share with you how I get my little guy We-Me, our ShihTese (Shih Tzu / Maltese mix), looking cute and fluffy while still keeping  an easy to manage length. My hope is that after reading this article, and watching my YouTube video that goes along with this, you will be able to create a Teddy Bear look of your own 🙂

Tools you’ll need: 

Slicker Brush, Face/Flea Comb, Resco #80 Comb, Greyhound Comb

Wahl Metal Comb Guard Attachments: 0 Comb (5/8″ or 16mm), C Comb (7/8″ or 22mm); Andis UltraEdge 30 Blade (.5mm), 10 Blade (1.5mm); Andis AGC Super 2 Speed Clippers

Blending/Texturizing Shears, Top Paw Thinners, Master Grooming Tools 5900 Series 8″ Curved Shears

**NOTE: These are just the tools I use, but you can use any brand or equivalent tool you like to do your grooms. The specific brand doesn’t matter, as long as you like the product and it works for you.

My wife and I made a video while we were living in Atlanta to help those who want to trim their dogs short, but not too short. It’s a 2 part video, and the first part shows how I prepare We-Me for the bath so we can give him a haircut after he’s all clean and dry.

We-Me before: 

We-Me after being combed before the bath:

As you can see, just by combing him out with the Resco #80 Comb he’s already looking cleaner and softer than before.

We-Me after the bath: 

The question I get asked most often is, “What shampoo did you use?” or “What products did you use to get them so clean?” My answer is always the same: “The products don’t matter as much as the prep. As long as you’ve done a good job preparing the dog for the bath, brushing and combing out the dead hair & clearing out the dander inside the skin, you can use whatever products you like as long as they are made specifically for dogs and they use quality ingredients. It’s like asking a painter whether you should use Behr, Glidden or Dupont to paint your walls with. The painter would most likely tell you that you can use whichever brand you like as long as you prep the walls properly.”

In part 2 of our YouTube video, I demonstrate how I complete the haircut. I used a 2 comb guard (3/8″) on the body and an O comb guard attachment (5/8″) for the legs and the head in the video, but for this recent haircut I used an O comb (5/8″) on the body and a C comb (7/8″) on the legs and head. By using a longer length on the legs and head, it gives a much cuter and balanced look than using the same length for everything. When the legs and head are the same length as the body, it makes the dog look like they’re standing on chicken legs with a small chicken head. The length you choose is really up to your personal preference – the finished look is still the same, just longer or shorter.

The Haircut:

With the O Comb guard over a 30 blade, I start behind the ears and under the chin working my way down the body in diagonal lines tracing the body.

Once the body is trimmed down, it’s time to trim the legs using the C Comb over the 30 blade. I like to go reverse on the inside and back of the legs to give it a shorter cut than the front and outside of the legs. This gives the dog a neat and clean look 🙂

Using the thinners, cut a diagonal line.

Repeat on the other side.

Once the eyes are trimmed, you can trim the visor.

After the visor is trimmed, I trim the rest of the head.

Once the Body and Legs are trimmed, I use the C Comb to go over the head before finishing with shears. I trim in between the eyes first, then comb the hair above the eyes forward to shape the visor. Then I round out the muzzle, tidy up the ears and make sure the neck is blended nicely into the body. A good Teddy Bear Trim, in my opinion, should not have any sharp lines or anything popping out at you. It should all look smooth and blended, and each part of the dog should flow smoothly into the next like a beautiful symphony.

We-Me’s always so happy to be done with the grooming session! 🙂

It’s such a great feeling when the owners are happy with the haircut 😀 My little princess, Annabelle, approves of his new do!