Looking Into A Shih Tzu Hair Cut

A Shih Tzu dog's coat grows quickly so you are going to need to get a hair cut probably relatively early in your dog's life. A hair cut is a pretty big deal for a Shih Tzu so you are more than welcome to try it yourself if you feel you can give your dog the proper type of cut. If you would rather have someone else do it then that is fine and probably preferable. But in the end it is important to do what you feel is right for your dog.

A Shih Tzu pup can start getting hair cuts as young as ten weeks but you need to lead in to it by starting off with small snips of things here and there. Get the little dog used to the idea of being trimmed. Something that will help is to incorporate brushing in with the cutting, as these dogs generally love to be brushed. This will help keep the pup calm while learning to get their hair cut. You can probably do full cuts at around sixteen weeks.

The Shih Tzu has human like hair that makes up its coat instead of fur like every other dog so when you are giving a hair cut you need to keep that in mind. The things that hurt you when you get your hair cut are even worse for your dog so if you have the scissors that are so dull that they pull hair out instead of cutting it, or if you have a habit of sharply yanking up the hair to cut it, you need to rectify these situations as they will cause your dog to fear much needed grooming.

Make sure the hair around the eyes is always trimmed as hair in the eyes is not only very annoying to a Shih Tzu but it can cause an infection so make sure this area is maintained. You can try this yourself but since we are talking an animal capable of making sudden movements you may want to leave the eye area to a professional to avoid injury to your dog.

Always make sure your Shih Tzu hair cut makes the dog's coat shorter in the summer and a little longer in the winter. In the summer it needs to be short otherwise your dog will start to experience health problems with the heat. In the winter you can leave it as long as you like, but make sure the dog can still run and walk without tripping over its coat. Some people like to leave little pieces of hair so they can attach bows and ribbons, which is common among owners. The dogs, however, do not always like it.

Giving your Shih Tzu a hair cut yourself is just fine but you may want to watch a professional do it first. After you see what goes into doing a proper cut you might come to realize that the money you pay a professional once a month or so is well worth it to get your pets hair cut done right.