So, Romeo's last groomer tried a longer on the back of the head and neck style for his last groom. Okay, fine, except his Mom openly admits that she does not like to brush him, and waddaya know, all that gorgeous long shaggy hair became solidly matted.
I thought I was going to have to shave it, *cry*, but with slicker and spray and cream rinse and dematting tool, once again I was able to save his fur from embarrassing baldness. His head was a little shorter than would be liked, especially on the matted parts over his ears, but much better than otherwise would have been.
His Mom also really really dislikes round fluffy feet on Romeo as the fur tracks in all the dirt and sticks and the like into the house. It has always been a challenge to accommodate for this problem without making the dog who has fluffy legs not look like they are walking around on pointy pencil tips, (and of course definitely not like a Poodle!!), but I came up with something that I think works well.
I shaved the top of the feet and the front part of the legs with a blade that leaves a short plush length, and scissored the hair out from between the toes (it is always matted there on these dogs). Then I blended all the lengths so that there was no obvious long/short areas, like a Retriever has, but really the same hair growth pattern as the Retriever. Modified, and blended.
Looked good, smart, functional, Mom is happy, mission accomplished.
Happy tails!
Miriam