On January 8 & 9, 2005, the "Scottish Terrier Club of Greater Houston (STCGH)" was honored to have Ron McConnell, a Breeder-Handler and owner of Barbary Kennels. He was with us to demonstrate the fine art of grooming a Scottish Terrier. Ron is a "Master" groomer and gentlemen of the 1st class with the students that learned from him. This club feels that we learned so MUCH from you! Thanks Ron.

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Clippers: The use of electric clippers should be limited to the front part of the chest, neck, the sides of the dog's face (Photo 1) and the outer 1/3 of the back of the ears and the other 1/3 of the inner portion of the ears. (Photos 2 & 3).  A number 10 clipper blade was used for the chest and face, and a number 40 clipper was used for the back, inside and tips of the ears.  Clipping began at a bone protrusion on the lower front part of the chest and extended to the corner of the ear.  Normally, cutting went "against" the direction that the hair naturally laid.

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The beard was removed to approximately a mole that is located under the lower jaw. The clippers removed hair from the side of the face to a point close to the back corner of the eye about 1/4" from the eye corner. Then "thinning shears" were used to blend the short face hair to the longer beard. It was recommended that from time to time, some of the longer hair of the beard should also be stripped. Photo 1 and 2 show the blending process with thinning shears.

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The hair on the top of the nose was "slightly" removed using a thinning scissor. The hair between both eyes was stripped (using a very small stripping knife) and then a thinning scissor was applied in that area. This width depends on the individual dog.

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The eyebrows are trimmed using a "regular" pair of scissors. The scissor is laid next to the dog's scull and trimmed from the ear to the tip of the eyebrow in front of the eye (See photo 1). Be sure to comb out (not straight) from the head the eyebrow before trimming. In photo 3, a very small amount of hair was removed with regular scissors to allow a "tunnel" for the dog to see. This should not be large because Scotties are supposed to have small eyes.

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The ears are clippered on the back side and the ear tip border (Photo 1)using a No. 40 clipper blade. Be sure to make the ear "look pointed." On the back side use clippers to only remove the outer one third of the hair and then blend with thinning shears and stripping knife. Trim on Tuesday for a Saturday show. Also, the very outer edge of the inside of the ear is clippered with a No. 40 clipper blade. Photo 2 shows that most of the hair on the outer and lower portion of the hair is removed. The longer hair remaining in the inside of the ear is combed forward and trimmed with thinning shears. Photo 4 shows that the ear base in back is clippered very short.

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The first part of the dog that is striped is the area on top of the back and just in front of the tail. Then go to the top of the head and work back to the patch in front of tail, blending as you move back towards the tail.

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The furnishings are supposed to look as shown in photo 2. Imagine that paint had been poured on the dogs back and allowed to drip "straight down." That is the way the furnishings are supposed to look... as if they fall "straight down!" Always strip hair in the direction you want the hair to fall! In order to give the furnishings a "full" look, you should first bath the dog. Wash everything except the hair on the back just in front of the tail. Never was this part. After bathing, teach your dog to lay on its side while you blow dry the furnishings. Comb the furnishings up to the top of the back as you blow dry. This will add to the "fullness" of the furnishings when they drop toward the floor. Also as you comb the furnishings hair up to the top of the back, you might (using straight or regular shears) trim the tips of the furnishing hair. Caution, for a male dog, be sure to cover the testicles with your hand so that the heat of the dryer will harm not them.

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In order to trim the paws of your dog, train your dog to lay on it's side or back. As it lays on his/her side, comb and run your hand up a leg until you force the hair to stand up all around the base of the paw (see photo 2). Then, using a regular pair of scissors, trim the hair level with the bottom of the paw as seen in photo 1 or 3.

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For the male (dog), only trim (using regular scissors) around the close perimeter of the anus. The female can be trimmed a bit more away from the anus (see photo 1). From the side, you want the rear to form a curve from the base of the tail to the hock of the leg (see photo 2).