One of the biggest parts of owning the Russian Black Terrier is grooming. Whether you have one purely as a pet or whether you intend showing your RBT regular grooming is essential. This is my method of grooming, everyone who trims has their own way of doing things, this is here more to show what is entailed rather than showing how it should be done.
EARS: the ear canal needs to be checked and cleaned on a regular basis. The hair will grow inside the ear and this needs to be plucked gently to ensure that the ear stays clean. This is a very easy, but admittedly unpleasant job. If done sympathetically and regularly enough then your RBT will grow accustomed to it. Many people have many different ways of cleaning the ear out, I leave it till last. When I have finished grooming and the clippering has been done I lift the ear flap and gently use my thumb and forefinger to "work" the hair out. Gripping a few hairs at a time as close to the root as possible work the hair out using a small circular motion. Take care not to pull too hard and not to pull too many. There are powders that can help, I use thornit.
EYES: Check on a daily basis that there is no build up in the corners of the eye. If this is left to build up it can get infected and cause a great deal of pain and discomfort.
FEET: The hair on underside of your RBT's feet grows too! You need to check each time you groom that the area is free from knots and that the hair is not too long. I turn the foot over and trim it level with the pads. Consider the pads to be the tyres on your car, they give traction to stop the dogs foot slipping, they can't do their job properly if they are covered by hair.
These simple jobs take a few minutes to check but if left unchecked the consequences will take a lot longer to overcome.
Tools
Brushes: Left to right - wide tooth comb, slicker these two are long tooth available only via the RBT club, undercoat rake, shedding rake.
Scissors: left to right - nail cutters, small round ended scissors, straight scissors, curved scissors and thinning scissors
Clippers: I use Oster A5 with a size 10 blade (this gives a close cut)
The coat should be bathed before trimming and brushed out before bathing.
Before bathing the coat needs to be brushed thoroughly to ensure that there are no knots. For this I use the slickers, I start at the back and work forward (that's just my preference). Working from the back feet up the legs (not forgetting between the legs), topline, chest, underline, from occiput down to shoulders, around the elbows (special attention here), down each front leg then finally the head. Prior to bathing I use the small round ended scissors to tidy up the underside of the feet, lifting the foot so the pads are facing up with my left hand (I'm right handed) and trimming the hair with my right, making sure to cut away any knots. From time to time you will need to remove the undercoat. This is where the rake and shedder come in handy. Once I have brushed the coat through I go over the bits that need the undercoat removing with the rake firstly and then the shedder. You will know the undercoat needs to be removed if after bathing and drying the coat still looks grubby.
Water temperature is important here, too warm and your RBT will be uncomfortable (or in Vincent's case go all floppy and lie down and go to sleep!), too cold and trust me your hands will ache by the time you are finished. I have the water tepid (baby hot). I use a small watering can (the kind for house plants) and an empty two litre drink bottle. I fill the bottle with water and add the shampoo to it, pour that into the watering can. Once the coat is wet through I apply the solution in the watering can all over and lather then rinse, I repeat this process. When a coat is clean and free from any shampoo residue it will "squeak" between your fingers.
I towel dry the excess water from the coat and then use a blaster to take the rest of the excess out. Working again from back to front using a dryer and a slicker I "fluff" dry the coat in sections making sure that the coat and skin are dry before moving onto the the next bit. Remember to turn the feet over and dry between the pads before drying the rest of the foot, it will make things a lot easier. "Fluff" drying means brushing the coat upwards (technically in the opposite direction to hair growth) and drying as you go, this adds volume to the coat and make things a lot easier when you come to trim. Drying the head isn't difficult but can be a little fiddly, I comb the eyebrows back over the top of the head, out of the way while I dry the beard. I do this, again in sections until it is all dry then I dry the eyebrows. I work the beard and moustache and eyebrows in the direction that I want them to lye.
More photos to come...
I start with the clippers firstly on the back end, with the dog stood square I lift the tail and clipper from the anus to the tip of the tail (not clippering the top of the tail). Then looking at the way the hair meets (there is a seam down the back leg) I clipper from the anus down to the turn of stifle, lining the edge of my clippers along the seam. This will leave you plenty of coat to use to blend round into the thigh. Do the same on the other leg and make sure that you balance both legs.
I use the same blade for all the clipper work, you need to keep a check on the blade as they can get hot, it is good to have a cooling product at hand. Once I have done the back end I move on to the ears. I slide my index finger inside the ear along the fold and clipper, first down then up to that fold line, then flip the ear over and clipper the inside edge in the same way. With both sides of the ear flap trimmed I then use the clippers to tidy the edge of the ear (here you could use the round ended scissors) working carefully until you have a nice neat ear.
On top of the head you need to trim what is called the "cap" otherwise known as "the bald bit". I feel the width and length of the head first and work out a square (or almost square depending on the head) that leaves a gap around the side and back edge. Remember everything should be blended so when ever you cut short you need something to blend into. If your head is correct then the points to use are the top of the stop (at the front) and occiput (at the back). Balance is the most important thing.
The last bit of clipper work I do is the shirt front or bib. the way I work
this out is by using the three points; with the earflap lifted use the lowest part
of the opening to the ear canal, the pro-sternum and back up to the same point on
the other ear. Imagine a "V" shape. I complete the shape by joining the the
highest points of the "V" shape (going no further forward than the start of the
lower jaw).
The rest of the trim is done with scissors. As a general rule of thumb it is best to keep the scissors in a vertical position and parallel to the body of the dog whilst cutting. This will help to prevent any unwanted scissor marks in the coat. Although everyone is different the easiest way to hold the scissors is to have the thumb in the hole nearest to you and the third finger in the other hole, place your little finger on the finger rest, the index and middle finger rest on the shank just in front of the finger hole. This may feel strange at first but this grip on the scissors will give you the most control .
Starting at the rear I comb the hair upwards and using the scissors in the vertical position start to blend the line between the clipper work and the untrimmed hair. The aim here is to get as smooth a transition from short to long. This can be tricky and does take some practice to perfect. Don't try to achieve a finished result with one pass of the scissors a better finish will result from several passes taking small bits each time. This will prevent scissor marks being left in the coat. The first few times you trim you may want to have your thinning scissors handy as they can help you blend easier but ultimately you will be able to blend using just your straight scissors. Always keep in mind the picture you want to create, it is also a good idea to have a picture handy of a good specimen sporting a trim with the shape and lines that you want to achieve.
Once I have blended both sides I move up to the top line and the croup (from the withers back). I trim this from front down to the back (different Groomers work differently). When finishing the croup down into the back of the thigh I swap scissors and use the curved ones, with the curve in the direction of the shape I want to create. Then I take the hair on the sides of the tail down to accentuate the tail set and length. Back to the straight scissors and time to move round onto the side of the thigh. Continuing the lines already set from the blending into the clipper work, with the scissors vertical I work from back to front. The aim here is to produce and clean full looking thigh with the maximum amount of furnishing whilst still showing the dogs rear angles. Shape here is important leave too much and the dog will look his is wearing panniers too short and you will make the back end look weak. When you have trimmed round stand behind the dog and look from the outside of the foot up the thigh over the back and down the other side it should look smooth with no bulging or dips (a smooth upside down U). All the time thinking full, smooth, clean and neat.
Feet should be round, using the straight scissors pointing downwards I trim around the foot. I start at the front of the foot and work first one way then the other. Using the scissors this way you will avoid creating a square or octagonal shape to the foot. If you didn't tidy the underside of the foot prior to bathing then this should also be done.
I trim into the waist a little giving a bit of shape this helps to accentuate the thigh, chest and the tuck up. Working from back to front still, I trim the chest trying to maintain a rounded smooth finish, the length of the skirt should not come much lower than the elbow. This is something you can use to balance the outline of the dog, if the chest is not deep enough leave a little more length and if the chest is deep enough leaving too much length with make the dog look short in leg. When I get up to the shoulder and elbow area I move up to the front and blend the neck in.
Using the scissors I blend in the line from the shirtfront into the neck. This is where I get to show of good shoulders or make a shoulder look better. Also this is where you can make the neck look too long, short, fat or thin. BALANCE is everything. I feel for shoulders and using the point of chest, point of shoulder and the top of the shirt front (under the ear flap) trim down the hair on the side of the neck. This triangular shape, if trimmed correctly will make the shoulders jump out at you and really show the neck off. Then you need to blend this down into the shoulder furnishings. I blend this out very sharply so as not to take the furnishings down too far, I want to create a nice rounded effect over the shoulder cutting in slightly to mark the top of the leg. This is another place that you can use to balance a dog who's proportions are not quite correct. Moving round to the front of the dog I cut into the coat between the legs to separate the legs a little, too much hair here and you will make the dog look too close, even if his isn't. The length of the coat on the front of the chest needs to be in proportion to the rest of the dog. Then in the same way I trimmed the back feet I do both front feet. Holding the scissors pointing downwards I cut a round foot. The front legs should resemble two columns even in width all the way to the floor. Although you don't want to remove any length from the front legs from time to time it is a good idea to take the ends off the furnishings.
Finally the head and neck, I brush the hair on the back of the skull (between the ears) up and lye the scissors flat against the head cut the hair level with the top of the skull (the idea here is to make the head look bigger). Using the curved scissors I trim down the neck and blend into the top line. Continuing with the straight scissors again around the sides of the head by brushing up the hair above the ear and using the scissors vertically cutting along the side flattening it off (this should then give you the rectangular brick shape as seen from the top). Combing all of the face furnishings forward there will be a few bits sticking out on the sides of the beard I trim these down to give a better shape.
The most important thing to remember is it will grow back! If you make a mistake don't panic. Take your time and don't try to cut too much hair in one cut trim small amounts off in several passes that way if you cut incorrectly you still have some hair to play with.