OUTLINE

When thinking about where to begin grooming start with considering the overall outline of the dog, the silhouette.  A correct outline is the first most important grooming objective.  Your grooming should reflect the “General Appearance” of the written standard.  From a distance, it is the outline of the whole dog that catches the eye and makes the first and a lasting impression.  Good grooming can reinforces the appearance of correct “type” and is the first thing evaluated by the judge.  Consider ring procedure at a dog show.  You walk in the ring. The judge is standing in the middle.  What you are doing is presenting your dog’s outline.  The judge hasn't touched your dog yet but he/she is in fact judging.  The tail must be up and your dog correctly stacked.  If the tail isn’t up for some judges you have already lost.   Next the judge goes to the front of the line and looks at the head to see the dog’s expression.  The judge still has not laid a hand on your dog.  Portraying the correct outline of the breed is essential. 

HEAD

                Fig 1                              Fig 2                                Fig 3

Norfolk and Norwich are sometimes referred to as a "head breed".  If you haven't got a correct or “typy” head it can be tough going to achieve a champion title.  Re-read the standard on the head.  Now lets create a look and reinforce a groomed “type” into the dog.

Ears.  I always start with the ears.   Expressive ears are essential to the right look for a Norfolk or Norwich.  The ears are the most obvious physical difference between the two breeds. 

For Norwich, the underside of the erect ear should also have a pencil line of hair that frames the outside of the ear.  Some groomers like to pull the hair inside the fringe of the ear bare while others like to keep a clean, dusting of hair so the contrast is not quite as stark.  Your choice to some extent is style, although a larger ear often looks better with some hair left on the inside of the ear.    

Norfolk or Norwich, if the ears are set too close together on the head keep the inside corners short and the outside corners longer.  The hair in front of the ear should be neat and blended into the lengths surrounding the face.  For Norfolk, where the ear meets the skull on the inside front of the head the hair should be short and tidy to reinforce the ears breaking cleanly at the skull.  

The outside or back side of the ear should be very clean, about less than a 1/4 inch length.  Forceps seems to be the best tool for sculpting ears.  The ears need to look correct or they can overshadow the whole head and look unbalanced.  Compare figure 2’s ear set with figure 1 and 3.  You should see figure 2’s ears appearing as set a little high.  If the hair from the inside corners were pulled shorter this would not look quite as out of balance.

Ruff.  For the ruff, only pull a very few hairs out and brush forward.  I use either a pin brush or a small slicker brush for this.  The length should start behind the ears and be slightly longer than the outside edge of the ears  pictured in figures 1 and 3.  The ruff frames the face, usually getting a bit longer as it comes forward. The ruff from behind should blend seamlessly into the neck and shoulders.  Pull a few more hairs and look how the framing changes.  Take your time.  They do grow back but it can be painfully slow in some breed lines.

Eyes.  In regard to the eyes, I like two distinct eyebrows that are full vice too long and sparse.  Starting at the inside brow, the hair is longest. At the outside corner of the eye the brow tapers to be shortest or what is referred to as "tight to the corner".  This gives a clean and alert expression vice a sad one when the hair gets to long at the corner of the eye. Also the hair in front of the eyes shouldn’t be too long to hide a pretty dark eye.  On the other hand a large and/or light eye may require more hair in front of it to give the appearance the eye is smaller and hide the large size and/or light colour.

Muzzle.  In front of the stop, on the flat part of the muzzle, I pull the hairs very short to give the stronger appearance of a good stop, regardless if it is there or not.  This reinforces to an untrained eye that there is a defined stop.  Keep in mind the correct muzzle to skull lengths from the written standard.  The wording in the standard perhaps not as clear as it could be.  Imagine a line that runs from the tip of the nose to the back of the skull.  Now divide this into 5 parts.   The length of the muzzle (from the tip of the nose to the stop) should be 2 parts.  The length of the skull (from the stop to the back of the skull) should be 3 parts.  The hairs on the end of the muzzle I brush up to try to give a fuller appearance of the muzzle.  You can groom a longer muzzle to appear shorter by leaving the hair on the end of the muzzle longer.  Think of this as a longer moustache.  To make a muzzle that is too short appear longer simply keep the hair on the muzzle shorter.

Consider the dog in figure 2.  As "typy" as he is he would have a “fresher” look if some of the hair on the muzzle was shortened and removed from the front of the eye.   Brush the head again and consider how you want the beard to blend into the cheeks and rough.  Pretty much the rest of the head is a blending job where one area blends carefully into the other.  Do not use scissors at all on the head!  With your hands and patience you can get a wonderfully sculpted, “typy” look.  I have seen some better groomers use scissors to straighten out a muzzle line.  Use thinning sheers here if you must, but be sure you know what you are doing.  I have actually gone overboard a few times where every hair was so correctly in place that the head lost its rough and ready look for something artificial and “un-terrier” like.  The look should always be a little rough and ready for a terrier.  Balance is what is to be achieved and that balance is slightly different for every dog.  Note also that there are annual trends set by the top handlers.  If you get the opportunity to go to the National Specialty or bigger shows have a careful look at what the trends are.  Currently, it seemed to be longer mustaches.  Remember these are just trends.  The beard needs to be full, combed forward and give the finishing outline to the head. That covers the head.

BODY

figure 4

As I said, you make your first impression when you are standing ringside ... and in view of the judge.  Knowingly or not, the judge will start evaluating your dog the first time he/she sees it.  I swear that I won Winners Dog at the a Terrier Specialty before I walked into the ring because the judge gave my dog a very thorough look before the judging started.  My task then became to reinforce what I initially portrayed outside in the ring.  My story reinforces that once you are ringside the dog has to be standing properly the whole time and groomed for the judge.  If you have some waiting to do place the dog out of view of the judge either with your body or some obstacle. 

For body outline you should have clean shoulders blended into the neck as well as the perfectly flat and level topline, finishing with a tidy presented tail.  Often overlooked is a clean looking bottom line.  The legs look best when groomed into columns.  Think of the perfect outline again. 

Neck.  Correct length and size of neck considerably adds to the overall balance of your dog as well as helps emphasize clean movement.  The neck hair should blend and build into the ruff and mane.  As it runs to the shoulders the hair should lie flat from the base of the ear to the point of the shoulder.  I have found that grooming in a place for the lead helps not only with commands sent down the lead but also the polished look of the head when a lead is on it.  Fumbling with getting the lead properly seated well forward and high on the neck can be distracting from the presentation of your dog.

Front and Shoulders.  The front and shoulders should be clean and tidy so the hair lies close to the body giving the most polished look.  The mane on the neck and shoulders is longer and also forms a ruff at the base of the ears and the throat.  We don’t see this all that often in the show ring simply because keeping the mane tidy is a lot of work and can make the dog look long if it is not done right.  You do need some hair there though to reinforce a correct front assembly.

Now look at your dog straight on headfirst.  The legs should be straight and the hairs on the legs running from the elbow to the foot should reinforce a perfectly straight line.   I keep the hair at the elbow extremely short.  The stick dog at figure 5 below shows the simplistic pictorial explanation of what you are trying to achieve.  Figure 5 is balanced and even.  Stick dog at figure 7 demonstrates how the unbalanced bulky shoulders (or a fat dog) can look?  If you remove the hair from the outsides of the red lines in stick dog figure 7, you can groom it to be a balanced dog.  This reinforces that you need to know what you want to achieve as your final product.  Knowing the outline that you need to create you can groom quite a drastic difference into the true conformation of a dog.

The final product should look something like the dog’s front and legs grooming at figure 6.  In addition to grooming your dog on a grooming table, you also need to check this while the dog is moving on the ground.  Sometimes what looks right when the dog is standing still doesn’t look right at all when the dog is moving.  As the dog walks toward you there should be no hair sticking out or flopping around especially at the elbow or around the skirt.

 Fronts View Outlines

Topline is also something that is key to the outline.  The standard says that the topline is to be level.  Hair, too much or too little can mess that up!  Even a dog with an incorrect topline can usually be groomed to have a perfect one.  A common fault is leaving too much hair on the back in front of the tail making the dog look high at the rear like figure 10.  Of course stick dog at figure 8 side view and figure 5 front view following are the correct outlines that you want to portray.  Note also that the presentation of a topline is best done when the dog is standing at 90 degrees to the judge.  Look at photo figure #4.  Notice that while the dog does have a level topline when it is viewed on the oblique it is not so obvious.

Side Views Outlines

            Figure 8                            Figure 9                          Figure 10

                               Figure 11                                           Figure 12

Figure 13

See how the sloped topline of stick dog figure 9 just doesn’t look right for a Norfolk?  Sketch figure 11 also needs to be corrected with some creative grooming to optically regain its level top line. Look also at stick dog figure 10 and sketch figure 13.  Note how the higher rear makes him look unbalanced.  Now look at the perfect topline of the dog in photo figure 14  following or sketch figure 12.  Stunning isn’t it compared against the oblique view of figure 4’s topline.  Don't forget to check that the topline looks level while the dog is moving.

Bottom Line. Look also at the bottom lines of these stick dogs.  The bottom lines of figures 8 and 10 work but figure 9 is positively wrong.  Your skirt length is what creates the bottom line and the overall finish look of the dog.  Slightly longer dogs often look shorter in length with a bottom line that is slightly longer at the front then the back, like figure 10 and 13's bottom lines.  Skirts can also give the optical illusion to make a long leg look shorter or a correct length leg look too short.  Hand stripping bottom lines is a sensitive area for  your dog.  Pull less hairs than you might elsewhere.  You can use thinning shears for errant hairs but as with using scissors elsewhere the coat texture will soften, lose colour and a blatantly scissored look should be penalized according to the written standard.

TAILS

Tails are literally the icing on the cake.  Hopefully you have a tail that is correctly positioned, of medium length and in balance with the rest of the body.  Tails should be held in an alert manner that is either straight up or bent slightly forward over the back, the base level with the topline.  A tail that can lie almost directly over the back is a called a "gay" or "squirrel tail" and is not correct.  The hair in front of the tail should be tidy and not too long.  The hair on the back should blend at a 90 degree angle to the tail, accentuating these lines. The hair on the back closest the tail is usually kept shorter, but remember the whole top line is to remain level.  The hair on the underside of the tail and around the anus should be very short and tidy.  Just below the anus the hair can be longer and blend into some length to give a nice finished look to the dog’s hind end.  Be careful not to over groom the tail so that it looks unnatural.  If the tail is set too low, leave the hair on the back longer in front of the tail to make it look more correct.

FRONT LEGS

As seen in photo figure 6 above, and below in figure 15 below, the legs seem to look best as straight columns of hair, much how an Airedale's legs are presented for show.  These columns of hair give an illusion of greater substance.  This is achieved by regular pulling of the longer hairs to keep a number of layers going.  Look at the legs on figures 16 (also 5, 8, and 13 preceding).  Now apply that to your dog.  Figure 15 demonstrates too much hair at the elbow, making the dog look "out at the elbow".  Look at the dog both head on as well as from the side and groom the same straight columns.  The best way to groom the legs is with a mirror.  Look at the reflection of the dog vice directly at the leg you are grooming.  This simulates what the judge might see.  Another helpful trick is to photograph the legs to aid you see the shape that you are trying to create.

Behind the dog’s elbow the length is very, very short.  The paws are to be kept as tight as possible, like a cat’s.  The hair that lies flat on the top of the paw lies flat because it is too long.  Strip some out and the new shorter hairs will start to help the rest stand straight out.  The nails should also be really short.  This lends to the cat paw look but more important a paw with shorter nails can push off and kick out with more strength.  The pads of the feet should be kept clean by cutting the hairs short.  Any hair around the foot ideally should be hand stripped or again use forceps to sculpt.  If scissors must be used use fine thinning sheers.  Some judges will penalize you heavily if they see the scissor marks.  One weekend a judge who strongly objects to scissoring dumped me in the group and the next day I got a group second…because of scissoring.  (Know your judge is the other lesson here!)  If your dog toes in or out you can also cosmetically adjust the fault by leaving longer hair on one side and shorter hair on the other to give a more correct look to the paw.  Don’t forget to brush the inside of the legs as well.  If you dog is a little wide between the legs leave more hair to fill in the width.  Conversely, with a narrow width between the legs keep the hair shorter to accentuate width.  

Here is a pictorial look at the actual process of grooming the legs from start to finish.  Watch how the columns are created..

REAR LEGS

Again refer to the standard to reinforce what you are going to sculpt on the rear of your dog.  Assess your dog’s rear angulations, length of leg and width between the legs.  For good conformation the thighs should be strong, the hocks set low, and the dog should show strong rear propulsion in his gait.  As with the front paws, the rear paws should also look cat like.  Short nails and a tightly stripped paw gives this look.  When the dog gaits you should clearly see the pads of the paw from the rear.  Keep the hair between the pads very short.  You can use scissors between the pads but the sides of the paws you should hand strip or you can use forceps.  Brush the hair upwards using a small slicker type brush to train the hairs to stand straight out and make those columns like on the front legs.  Regularly pull the longest hairs to keep new hair growth coming up.  Don’t be afraid to regularly bath any of the legs at any time.  In fact, weekly bathing keeps a show dogs leg hairs in best condition.  Washing the hair keeps it clean,  as well as a little softer so it won't break off as easily.  Accentuate angles with more or less hair.  As you look at the dog from the rear the legs should appear straight and the feet should also point straight forward.  As for the front legs leave more or less hair to reinforce the correct conformation of the dog.  You can optically lengthen or shorten a hock by leaving more or less hair on it.

FINAL TIPS

1.        You must pull hair to get hair.  Short hard hair is more correct than longer soft hair.  

2.        Some breed lines have hair that is so hard that it breaks easily and has great difficulty maintaining sufficient furnishing length.  You still must pull hair to get hair but in this case pull VERY few hairs.  Wash the furnishings and muzzle regularly to keep the hair clean and softer.  This helps prevent breaking.  

3.        More hair is not necessarily better.  Layers are the best look for a coat since it shows hair health, and the most vibrant natural colours.

4.        The best way to grow hair starts with a premium diet.  Hair should grow at a rate of about 1/4 inch (1 cm) per month.

5.        Use a natural bristle brush over the coat regularly.  Natural bristles won’t break the coat and help spread the natural oils of the coat to get a healthy looking shine.

6.        The simple daily wetting of the hair (particularly the muzzle area or furnishings) will keep the hair clean, softer and less prone to breaking.  This is the fastest way to grow coat.  Don't be afraid to wash and/or shampoo areas twice a week that you want to grow as fast as possible.  We have tried many, many "miracle" growers and the best is without a doubt simply water.  With all the canine shampoos currently available (their PH are designed for dogs) there are numerous safe and beneficial products available that won't harm coats even with frequent washing.  

7.        If you are only going to tackle one part of the body then make sure you do both sides as a minimum. 

CONCLUSION

It is practice that makes perfect in grooming.  The more dogs you groom, even of different breeds, the more different grooming challenges you will face.  Know what you want to achieve before you begin.  It is just hair…it grows back.  Good coats are a reflection of good care, good health and good nutrition.