Part 5

THE ART OF GROOMING FOR SHOW

Now you have a young adult whose coat has been properly cared for since puppyhood and you want to shape it for the show ring. You have several layers of coat already starting to show, which adds volume and thickness, but it is too long on the parts of the dog and not long enough on others. The dog does not have the balanced, tidy look of those you have seen winning the blue ribbons. This is where the "art" of grooming comes into play.

First you must have a picture in your mind of what the ideal Cairn Terrier should look like. For most exhibitors, not to mention judges, this will be a balanced dog somewhat longer than tall with a tidy yet scruffy coat of medium length, at least two inches or more. There should be full coat on the head, and arching neck sloping into well laid-back shoulders and continuing into dead-level topline. A perfectly set tail of no greater length than the top of the ears when both are held erect will complete the topline picture. Of course, this tail is the proper inverted carrot shape. Legs should be fully furnished without hair flopping up and down during movement, and the proper moderate angulations will be apparent both at the shoulder and at the bend of stifle and well-let down hock. Feet will be tight, round and the dog will stand well up on his toes. What a pretty picture!

Now, since most exhibitors do not have this perfect Cairn, they must set out to achieve the most positive picture they can with the Cairn they do have. Grooming the various parts of the Cairn into the perfect whole can be done in whatever order is most logical to the person doing the work. For our purposes here, the descriptions will begin with the feet and move upward on the legs to the sides of the dog, then up to the neck, over the shoulders and back, and on down to blend with the legs. Head and tail will be left for the last to match the rest of the dog.

FEET

First, trim the nails if that has not yet been done. They should be kept very short to keep the pads tight and the pasterns strong. Round, compact feet with arched toes and thick pads are the perfect base upon which to build your picture. Next, during one of the few times you will be allowed to get scissors anywhere near your Cairn, trim the hair from between the pads on the bottom of the foot and cut the hair very close to the bottom of the foot on the back and sides. Do no trim the longer hair growing from the top of the foot or higher up on the sides of the feet. Only trim around the pads themselves. Picture the foot as it bears the weight of the dog. It should be circular in shape as if it were the bottom of a post. Now, hold the leg. Using thumb and forefinger, pull out excess hair from the side and top of the foot being careful not to pull too much. Shape the foot so that no long hairs hang in lumps and clumps off the sides or front. When combed down, the hair should cover the foot, forming a circle on the table. It should be trimmed close on the sides and should cover the nails in front. By constantly pulling just a little hair all over the foot, you will build a thick coat.

FRONT LEGS

Moving up the legs facing the dog from the front, comb the hair or pull it away from the leg with your fingers so that it stands straight out from the leg on the sides. Now, picture an imaginary line on the inside of the leg from the ground up to the chest starting at the inside of the foot where the hair should stand out just a little bit. Any hair the sticks out past that imaginary line should be pulled. Do not use scissors or thinning shears as it will not only make the leg look scissored, but will soften and this the coat in the long run. Pulling will constantly keep new coat coming in, giving a thicker appearance to the leg furnishings.

Do the same imaginary line and pulling of hair on the outside of the leg to the elbow and even part of the way up the shoulder. This will give you a straight leg when viewed from the front. Now move around to the side of your dog and do the same thing on the front and back of the leg. By keeping the line in your mid and visualizing it on the leg, you will see where hair needs to grow longer or needs to be pulled to make that leg look straight. By pulling a bit, them combing the hair down, you can see if you are getting the effect you want. Keep at it until the leg gives the appearance of dropping straight from the chest and shoulder. You will need to then pull the hair out from the shoulder and blend it into the line of the leg for a clean look. Make sure that the hair at the elbow does not stick out. Have someone move the dog toward you to see if more hair needs to come off of that area.

REAR LEGS

Do the rear legs exactly the same as the front legs up to the hock joint. Then you need to groom the bend of the stifle to the shape you desire by again using an imaginary line, this time curved tot he correct bend, and pulling out hair that protrudes beyond this line. Thigh hair on the flat of the leg should be full without being too fluffy. This can be rolled to maintain shape, length, and thickness. The back of the thighs under the tail and to the top of the hock joint should be neat inverted "V." Hair should be dept clear of the anus, but do not clipper that area, as it ruins the natural look of the dog. Scissors used judiciously very close to the anus are acceptable to keep hair free from this area. Some people will use thinning shears to keep the hair from the back of both thighs, between the shorter and thinned so that it does not present a bulky or lumpy appearance when the dog is viewed from the side with his tail up. While pulling this hair out is to be preferred from a theoretical standpoint, it can be painful to your dog, as this is obviously a sensitive area. Be warned, however, that using thinning shears here will result in hair that sticks almost straight out as it grows.

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