How many of you shave/remove whiskers before showing?

Haven't done that in at least 15 years.

Never! I don't trim anything but nails, if they need it...and they rarely do ( my dogs wear theirs down naturally )

Never. Professional handlers do alot to win. That why people with money use them. To win.

I would much prefer to see a little clipping and grooming than to think that the dogs were wearing their nails down running around in their concrete jails until pulled out to show or breed. I see it all the time with big kennels. Plus they smell like urine!! I hate keeping dogs on concrete. Of course I only have the amount of dogs I can train and work with everyday and keep in the house, not a kennel in the back forty. No matter how nice the kennel they are still caged 20 some hours of the day or more. To each his own, housing or grooming!

So if we talked and I said my dogs wore their nails down on our concrete you would assume they were kenneled? What about my concrete patio?

Just walking on a concrete patio a few times a day will not keep their nails short. Come on! Walk on paved on concrete sidewalks will, but they will not be even. Digging in sand will keep the fronts short, some dogs chew their nails out of complete boredom. I clip my dogs nails, guess I need to get a slab of concrete. A little grooming is not going to hurt or fool a Judge. Kind of like putting a little makeup on and brushing your hair, it is still you but you look a little better!

I have my dogs out during the day on dirt/grass ( an acre with a pond ), and their nails are always short. I have 2 old girls in the house 24/7, except potty breaks, and their nails are short.( except dews )..they don't chew them either.

Removing the wiskers does give the dog a cleaner look. However, if yours has a longer type muzzle it will not be a benefit to remove the wiskers because it will make the muzzle look even longer. I have removed wiskers before and some of my dogs looked like their muzzles were longer. Now most of the time I trim their wiskers a little so they don't look so over grown or like a kitty cat, but I don't remove them anymore.

Pro handlers remove wiskers because most of them handle in all breed and they treat the labrador the same as all the other breeds they handle. It is all about pretty with handlers and cover up. They fluff up the labrador tails and blow out their coats that is all very incorrect for hunting dog and so is removing their wiskers.

I had my dog with two different handlers one in the North East and one in the South. My dog whiskers were not trimmed both handlers were all breed handler.

My boy grows a huge lump of fur on the his rump. That fur just keeps on growing and getting higher. It ruins his outline--of course when a judge runs his fingers through it he knows it is just fur but I've used a furminator to calm it down a bit and give my boy a better outline from across the ring. I don't see anything wrong with this with the $$ I spend on showing.

I remove whiskers. I learned it from a pro handler when one of my dogs was being specialed. Not sure if it helped him win any shows but I just like the nice clean look it presents.

I trim for both all-breed and specialties. Just my thing.

Thanks,

Toni

Not completely!!! I groom my labs like I have learned from pro handlers. Trim their nails, trim their paw hairs, clean their ears and sometimes shave their whiskers. They look as clean cut as they can be. Then I see a dog being shown behind mine in the ring and look at the long over grown nails and paw hairs some even overweight and dirty the judges still put them up. Clean cut and neatness is not always appreciated. And don't even try to say that my dogs aren't nice enough because they are. I have been showing for years and have several champions.

Many years ago, the breeder who I bought our first show dog from taught me to groom whiskers if my bitches had a more masculine head. I now have different lines but some of the girls have a more doggy head so I will trim off their whiskers. It does give them a softer look.