Part 2 - Sheltie trimming for the ring 

I’m so sorry you lost your boy, they really don’t live long enough... 💔

Thank you! She’s a beautiful girl, hopefully we will get to some more dog shows next year 🤞🤞😷

Yes, I do ears on all colours the same. It’s just the heads on sables you need to be careful with. 😊

Hi Melinda, yes it can and in a pinch I do it too. What I find though is cutting the hair will look fine for a couple weeks but as it starts to grow back it can make the issue worse. It’s really hard to make short hair lay flat. Sometimes with a very heavily coated dog you have no choice as you simply can’t pull enough hair out, especially over the haunches. You pay for it in the long run though.... I try to stay on top of it by stripping some every time I groom them so it never gets out of hand. That being said, without shows on right now, I have a few Sasquatches at home that I haven’t done in a while. If I was to show them this weekend, I’d have no choice but to take thinners to them.

Hi Cate, the whiskers are trimmed to give the muzzle a cleaner look. It’s not mandatory and you can leave them on if you prefer. I just find I end up cutting them when trimming the rest of the head so it’s easier to just remove them. They grow back quickly and I leave them when I’m not showing. My dogs all have long whiskers at the moment as we don’t have shows in Canada! Hopefully we’ll have some this summer. 🤞😊

Actually it's a really bad thing tu cut the whiskers off. Dogs need them to feel the world around them it's like the touch for us. That's also why it's the only time in the video where the dog moves.

It’s done on most show dogs in North America. It doesn’t hurt them and they grow back quickly. It’s entirely up to you if you want to do it though, I can’t imagine a dog would win or loose based on whiskers… I just find it gives the muzzle a cleaner look. 😊

@@XxLuUx My dogs all do competition sports (obedience, herding, rally, agility) and trimming their whiskers does not impact their ability or skill in any way. Dogs are not cats.

You definitely don’t have to trim whiskers, it’s only done on show dogs and even then completely optional. It gives the muzzle a cleaner look I find but absolutely not necessarily. 😊

@@linkridgeshelties7413 Thank you for the explanation! Your Sheltie is gorgeous!

Hi teolinek, honestly, it’s purely cosmetic. It makes trimming the muzzle and lip line easier and gives it a cleaner look. It is entirely up to you if you want to do it but most shelties shown in North America will have their whiskers trimmed to show. That being said, if you don’t want to, you absolutely don’t have to. They grow back really quickly when not being shown. 😊

I agree. Annoying music serves no purpose.

Whiskers are removed on show dogs in North America. It’s not cruel and they grow back quickly. It’s completely optional though, unless my dogs are showing I leave them alone. It just provides a cleaner look and almost all dogs in the ring will have it done. I realize this isn’t the case in European show rings so it’s important to know what is considered appropriate in your region. 😊

I’m sorry it appeared that way, I think I was just focusing on explaining what I was doing. I edited it down to just the essentials and cut out a lot of parts where I would play with her to keep her happy on the table. These dogs are my life and I promise you they get a tone of love and attention in their normal life. They are my house pets and Claire is normally goofy and playful but takes her grooming very seriously. If you watch till the very end there’s a short clip of her funny side. I will definitely try to include more of that in the future, it’s definitely important that they are enjoy the process too.😊

It’s definitely not a need, just a tutorial on how shelties are presented in the show ring. The breed standard calls for ears to be 2/3 erect with the tips tipped forward. It’s all a part of the correct sheltie expression. This definitely doesn’t mean that shelties that don’t have perfect ears aren’t beautiful as well. Many shelties have ears that do this naturally, some have prick ears, some have floppy ears. They are all beautiful and it only matters if you are wanting to show them. As for whiskers, mine are only trimmed for shows, otherwise they are left alone. I pluck my eyebrows and shave my legs when the occasion calls for it, we all want to look our best when in the spotlight. 😊

why?