Author Recognition The grooming article here was extracted and reproduced here from a feature write-up "Preparing a Black Russian Terrier for an Exhibition" by Olga Vorobjeva an expert of Black Russian Terrier grooming. Iz Teremka Kennel is grateful to Olga Vorobjeva for allowing this article to be reproduced |
Many amateur breeders know that it is very important to present a dog on a show in a proper way. It is what your pet´s career depends on sometimes. I´d love to share my experience of 10 years of preparing dogs for shows with your, dear admires of Black Russian Terrier.
It was long ago when people thought the Black Terrier (BT) doesn´t require any particular care. That is, washing him one time per year in a nearby pool, using ordinary soap is enough.And you may go to an exhibition having produced him from his kennel, on a huge chain.
Today nobody is shocked by the way the girl-participants are prepared for various shows –“Miss Russia, Universe and so on. The dog show should be treated like this, too.
All participants must be thoroughly prepared for the show: they must be taught to move, exhibit themselves correctly. Their owners schould know how to trimming, to cut the hair.
It´s like art –to prepare a proper blackie. Do you remember the 60s and the people who dressed nicel in oder to look “smart?”They were“smart”because they were not like others. The BT is “smart”in his way. He´s elegant, sporty, self-assured, like nobody else –he´s smart.
Well, now let´s talk preparations. How can one produce a stylish animal out of a bear-like “something”? Let´s start from the very beginning –trimming.
Trimming means thorough combing out and extracting expired hair, which easily and painlessly falls out. You don´t have to torture your dog with pulling out hairs which do not want to pinch off –it´s no good. And if you insist you´ll receive bruises on the body of a dog, mistrustfulness for your hands and the increase of gray hair that will appear in some time.
It should be mentioned, that while the BT was changing his appearance and while he retrained a rich decorative hair, the hair lost its Wire-like structure which it used to be (with the dogs of old standards).
When the puppy is one year old, it´s time for him to get accustomed to a new procedure –combing out his hair. The comb with rear teeth is just what you need. Don´t forget that the dog doesn´t have any personal ambitions and he doesn´t care if he is smart or not. But he thinks it´s his life, his job–to stand haircuts, combs and exhibitions –because he was born a terrier.
You are to try not to deliver any pain to a dog. If so, in 2-3 months a dog will take his procedure with pleasure –it´s some kind of a massage to him. Just find 5-10 minutes a day to take a comb and extract some inevitable spikes.
BT´s hair requires a lot of care, it´s some kind of art that can be taught. Usually, we must take into consideration the speed of hair growth, but the average date is 7-10 days before the exhibition. Before you make his haircut, the BT should be combed and washed afterwards.
Washing
Special shampoo for dogs (it´s better to use the one for show-dogs) is diluted and beaten up until the foam appears. The coat is impregnated with this foam and then thoroughly washed away. Then it´s useful to apply the rinsing balsam, which is helpful in a way of restoring normal skin functions.
You can even rinse the coat with lime juice of beer –the hair becomes stronger.
Then, wring out the coat, and wipe it dry with a towel. You can use a fan, but you must remember that drawing off the hair will result in getting the untypical poodle-like coat. When the coat is dry, it is combed and now you may use your scissors.
Haircut (Head)
Comb the hair both on the skull and muzzel in the direction of growing, extracting dead hair. Cut the hair on ears –both inside and outside. Though, it´s better to cut the inner side of the ears in the last turn, after all dog has been already cut, because small spiky hairs in his ear make him shake his head which is rather annoying.
Ears should be cut with the electric or mechanical shaving machine, but you can use scissors. The direction is from the tip of the ear to the bulk of it. If the hair hangs on both sides of the ear making the effect of “large ears”, cut it away. Be careful and do not hurt the dog!
Forehead. Start from eyebrows and with the help of a shaver make a“platform”Its width is equal to the width of the skull, and the length is from eyebrows to the ear. The rest of the forehead is cut with scissors so that short hair smoothly turns into long, from one to two cm. Its makes available the formation of a “cap”which is designed on the back of the head and makes the effect of prolonged head.
After you have finished the forehead, it´s time you cut the cheek-bones. Draw off the ear and shave the hair at the base of the ear. Then, thoroughly cut the cheek-bones, leaving about 1,75 cm. The cheek-bones must be absolutely flat. If the dog has a wide skull –cut the cheek-bones even shorter. If the skull is long and narrow –leave more hair. That will remedy the situation.
After you decided what length of the hair you´ll leave on cheek-bones, it´s time for the next step. Now the head must be given the shape of a “brick”. It is done by leveling the change between long hair on the muzzle and beard and short hair on the cheekbones.
The head should have rectangular shape if you look from above and triangular shape from the side view. The fringe must be like continuation of the forehead, emphasizing its straight lines and parallel to the muzzle.
Improper fringe distorts the parallelism of forehead and muzzle. All hair distorting rectangular shape of the head are to cut away. Them comb the head again and check your work up.
Haircut (Neck and chest)
Draw a line from the base of the ear to the junction of the jaw and the neck. Cut short from the base of the ear to the neck and try to form a “shirtfront”. Now it´s time to get down to the neck.
Comb the hair in direction, opposite to the direction of growth. Cut the excessive hair with scissors, form a mane. Try to level the section of withers, otherwise you´ll get a shaved neck coming out of hairy body. On the left and right sides of the neck long hair (2-3 cm) turns into very short. The mane must look like a continuation of the neck. The length of the mane depends on the peculiarities of the build of the concrete dog. If the neck is thin and long –the hair is longer and if the neck is short and massive –leave shorter hair.
There are such word in the standard of the breed: “…The front part of the chest overhangs the elbowline…”I think it´s good to emphasize this feature.
Draw a line from the chest bone, by the shoulderblade. Here is the border between short hair on the lower part of the neck and long hair on the shoulders. Don´t make this border sharp. All lines of the haircut are smooth, they turn one into other without any decorativeness and fancifulness, which is more suitable to decorative breeds.
All parts of body should be in the same scale. Just remember, that moderateness is peculiar to this breed. Leave 1-2 cm starting from the chest bone. Form the front of the chest with scissors. Properly cut front makes the effect of “rushing forward”.
If the chest is well-developed, you don´t have to leave long “skirt”. The sharp line of the chest (which must not be more than 10 cm lower than the elbow line) turning into stomach is good. Besides, if the chest is already well developed, the excessive mass of hair will create the effect of squat build. If you try to hide an undeveloped chest under the long skirt, you´ll attract the attention of an expert to the very feature.
The length of the hair on the shoulder is about 3-5cm.
Once again, you must consider the build of your dog, especially the width of the chest. If the chest is not very wide, do not try to make it wider by leaving more hair.
You´d better physically develop your pet.
The back is also cut with scissors to get a strict line from withers to the tail. Length of hair on the back is about 3-5 cm, the same about sides and chest. Keep in mind that you can both spoil your dog with a haircut and emphasize its positive features.
The BT has salient ribs, so do not make the body flat, but also don´t leave much hair –that will make the dog “heavy”.
The tail cut evenly, 2-3 cm are left. The inner (back) side of the tail and the geitals are cut as short as possible. If the tail is short, you may leave longer hair on its tip-
that´ll make it longer.
Haircut (Forequarters)
The forequarters should be thoroughly combed against the direction of the hair growth. Cut away the excessive hair, form a “Column”. Thick bundles of hair in between fingers are cut away. The paw must look round.
Haircut (Hindquaters)
Start cutting from the elbow, (1-2 cm above it). You may use the shaver. Cut the back side of the thighs, up to the anus. On the thigh the length is 3-5 cm , and the longer hair is smoothly replaced by shorter. If you properly cut the thigh, you can hide many faults and weakness of the build.
Id`like to mention once more that after the haircut, the BT must have nice, natural lines of the silhouette. His appearance must be self-assured and powerful and by no means decorative.
