Maltese hair

[pawz n clawz]

i have been grooming for years now. but i cant seem to get the legs on a Maltese or any dog with that kind of hair to look the way i want them to.
Any tips?

[Kat09Tails]

What have you been doing and what is the intent of the cut you're doing?

[pawz n clawz]

i find that when im doing any cut from a 1/2" to a 1" that the hair on the legs just don't look right to me. i try all kinds of things but nothing really looks just right. so i was looking for some tips.

[Giny]

Make sure when scissoring the legs, especially hair like Maltese and other straight hair breeds, to always be pointing your scissors downward or upwards, never side to side or you'll end up with scissor marks. If the body is about 1/2 in to 1 inch I always leave the leg hair a bit longer as you blend in towards either the shoulders or the thighs.

This isn't a Maltese, but a Coton de Tulear. The owner likes the hair to be about 1/2 inch to 3/4. I usually use an attach comb on the body (this is only once the dog is washed fluffed and making sure there no mats) then after that I touch up the body with my sc and scissor down the legs.

[Kat09Tails]

A maltese and a coton don't have the same coat type. Probably the closest breed to mimic is a yorkie. Single straight coat, that grows long, although they will have more coat than a yorkie usually.

For that coat type for leg I start at the elbow in the front with a comb pulling the hair at a part from the front of the leg to the elbow with the foot held at a 90 degree angle. Then set my length to the body length. Once I have the length set I let the foot down to see how the hair falls and blend the length into the foot into the way the hair naturally falls at a stack with a straight shear pointed down. If the dog has a ton of coat on the front of that leg still I might use a long comb on it but usually that's not needed at 1" +.

(This isn't one of mine but it looks close to what I do for the front legs, ignore the rest of the clip)



Again. Straight line on the back of the leg poofy/rounded in the front of the foot.

[Giny]

Not saying that the coton and maltese hair are similar, but a lot more then yorkies. A yorkies is much more silky in texture, it doesn't fall the same way at all, in fact it fall down a lot heavier as compared to the fluffiness of the malteses legs.

As for your maltese legs, when you are finishing, scissor the pads and around the feet. Take your comb and brush the fur up and outwards and scissor it to shape.

[pawz n clawz]

Thank you to the both of you. They were grate tips

[Paul Bright]

Originally Posted by pawz n clawz

Thank you to the both of you. They were grate tips

I agree! They were great tips!!!