Grooming the Kerry Blue Terrier Basically the trim for the Kerry Blue Terrier is the same whether he is a show dog or a pet. The Kerry is a soft coated terrier and the trim is hand sculpted by scissoring with a minimal amount of clipper work. Most Kerry owners have a better understanding of the Kerry style than pet grooming shops and prefer to groom their own dogs or have their breeder do it. This is unfortunate for pet groomers because it limits their opportunities to get to know the Kerry and improve their grooming skills on this breed. It is the rare groomer that takes on the challenge to perfect this groom. The Kerry Blue Terrier is a square, proud dog with tremendous style and when groomed correctly is an exquisite piece of artwork. Prepare your dog with a good bath. Most breeders and handlers prefer to scissor the coat with the natural wave left in the coat by combing the wave in while it dries naturally. Trim the nails and clean the ears. Kerries have an abundance of hair growing inside the ears. It should be removed to avoid ear infection. Kerries will fight to avoid this procedure but should be trained to accept it. This is an intelligent breed and is willing to please if dealt with fairly. Those that have not been trained should have a vet tend to the ears. Clipper Work Head and Ears: Clip the ears on both sides with a #15 blade. Clip the entire ear stopping where the ear joins the head. Trim the edges with scissors, carefully going with the growth of the hair. Clip the top of the head from about 1/2 inch above the brow bone to where the ears fold over ( about an inch or more toward the nose, from the occiput bone) with a #10 blade. If the head is coarse use a #7 or #5 blade in this area. Do not shave back to the occipital bone -- it will widen the look of the head and destroy even the most beautiful of heads. With a #10 clip the throat and cheeks against the growth of the hair, from the base of the ear to a deep V at the breast bone. Clip from the corner of the eye to the corner of the mouth, then lift the upper part of the mouth and clip about 1/2 inch behind the flew on the lower jaw. This will add length to the head. There is a cowlick on the sides of the neck that will give you a line pattern for the clipped part of the neck -- stop at this cowlick. Stomach: Clip the stomach to the navel. Feet: Clip the underside of the foot between the pads of the feet. Rear: Clip the rear portion of the dog around the anus and about 1 inch up the back of the tail directly above the anus. Clip with hair growth under the anus about a blade width, around the testicles or vulva and on the inside back of the thigh about 2 inches. This will be scissored to blend with the leg later.
Setting the Pattern To begin styling your dog you must first set a pattern. Topline Start by scissoring a flat topline on the back of the dog. Try to visualize the body as an octagon when setting the pattern. Begin just over the hip bones to just past the first rib -- about 8 long and 5 wide. This part is relatively short, about 1 or less. Neck: The neck tapers from the head getting wider toward the withers. This is a very important part of the trim because the appearance of the neck gives the breed elegance. Hold the head up and forward arching the neck. Start at the front point of the topline while standing in front of the dog. Begin scissoring the first decline of the imaginary octagon, tapering up the side of the neck at approximately a 45 degree angle. The neck should look natural and solid. There should not be a mane of flopping hair. When viewing the neck from above the dog the neck joins the topline in a diamond shape overlaying a point just beyond the withers at one end and joining the head at the other. Front: Next scissor the front of the chest very close and blend the hair flush with the clippered neck. This area needs to be scissored close in order to compliment the upper portion of the neck, adding another dimension of length to the neck. The front of the dog, from the neck to the toes should be a straight line. Rear Legs: Scissor around the back feet remembering square, not round. Scissor in the angulation on the back legs from the lowest point of the clippered area down to the hock on the back side of the leg. Blend the clippered area of the back leg into the longer hair on the inside of the thigh. Scissor the inside of the hock close, angling the scissors toward the outside of the front leg. Scissor the outside of the leg longer. This gives the Kerry a wide rear stance. Scissor in the tuck up pulling it forward by bringing the thigh of the back leg forward. The thigh should not be flat, it should curve around to give the illusion of forward movement and dimension. To achieve this, point your scissors inward when scissoring the front part of the upper thigh. Leave the hair longer on the front and outside of the back legs. Moving the tuck up forward compliments the closely trimmed rear to give the impression of a shorter bodied dog. Brisket: Above the tuck up, just behind the last rib, slightly cut in on the loin area to give the dog a waistline. However, this should not be apparent when viewed from above. Scissor the underline from the tuck up in a straight downward line to the elbow. To give a curved dimension to this area comb the hair up on the sides of the dog and scissor in the rib spring. In contrast to the shoulder the brisket behind the elbow should not be flat. The brisket is the first plane of the lower half of our imaginary octagon and the underline completes the figure.
Tail: Scissor the back of the tail very close. Leave the hair longer on the front side and taper from the base to the tip. From the ischium bone on the buttock of the dog lay your scissors in a 45 degree angle to the tail and scissor this area close, creating a plane on each side of the tail. The reason for this being that it adds more behind the tail to give the illusion of a higher tail set. Holding the tail upright blend the hair in front of the tail over the croup to set the tail up high. Trimming this hair too short will give the appearance of a low tail set. Front Legs and Shoulders: Scissor around the front feet, again remembering square not round. Scissor the shoulders close and continue down the outside of the front leg in a straight vertical flat line. When scissoring the outside line of the front leg angle the scissors slightly toward the opposite back leg. Lift the front leg and scissor out the excess armpit hair pointing the scissors slightly toward the elbow. Go easy here, if you take out too much hair the dog will look wide in the front. However, if you don t take out enough hair the dog may look narrow in the front. Put the leg down and scissor the inside of the front leg in a straight vertical flat line down from the chest. The hair midway down the front of the leg will be left longer than at the top or at the foot to create the straight line. Don t try to scissor the front leg by holding it up in your hand. This would undoubtedly create a bowed front leg. Pull the elbow out and scissor from behind any untidy arm pit hair. Leave the inverted V of hair between the front legs. Head: Comb the fall forward. Holding the scissors parallel to the skull scissor the eyes 1/2 or 3/4 of an inch straight forward from the outside corner of the eye. This line must join the fall straight forward and not hour glass inward. Next pick up the fall and hold it to the opposite side from where you are working. Comb the hair on the face (under the eye and on the side of the face) down, left and right depending on which side, not forward. This will be the natural lay of the hair. Using thinning shears bulk thin and comb it out, one snip at a time in the places that appear bulky. Continue until this hair lays flat. Trim the edge from the corner of the eye to the corner of the mouth close, to blend naturally with the clippered part of the head. Reverse and repeat on the other side. Now comb the fall forward. Bulk thin and comb thru over each eye straight forward, one stroke at a time. Do not over thin. The fall should lay flat. The head should be rectangular when viewed from the front -- not hour glassed. If the fall fans out too much at the nose thin it to keep the rectangular look. Never trim the length of the head. Thin the underjaw to flow forward. Viewed from the side the head has a fishhook appearance. Pulling It All Together Skillful scissoring will now put the final touches on this art form. Scissor off any harsh edges and roll the pieces together with the natural lay of the hair.
Packing the Coat The standard calls for a wavy coat. It should not be curly and should not be presented as a scissored poodle coat. To restore the wave on a coat blown dry spray the coat lightly with water, then using a damp sponge in a stroking motion smooth over the coat following the natural lay of the hair. Next spray the coat heavily and lightly smooth over the coat again with the sponge. Let dry and then comb thru with the lay of the hair. This procedure repeated two or three times brings out a beautiful wavy coat and strains the coat to fall into place. You do not need to put wave in the leg coat, just the body and neck. The Kerry Blue Terrier is a challenging groom. It takes an understanding of movement, terrier type and style to execute it properly. The Kerry Pet Trim Now that you understand how to properly execute the Kerry Blue show trim you can easily modify it to achieve a quicker, more practical trim for the pet Kerry. A #1 Snap-On comb is the best length for the body coat. A #2 Snap-On comb can be used for the chest area and the rear angulation of the back legs. Shorter blades can be used, but much of the Kerry style is lost when the coat is too short. Be sure to leave the hair longer on the back of the neck and the brisket area. Now that the pattern has been set with the blades scissor blend the remaining coat to achieve a modified version of the previous instructions. Common Mistakes in the Grooming Shop One common mistake is to leave a skirt, not blending the side coat into the body of the dog. Another common mistake is to shave the top of the head too far back past the occiput and into the neck. Trimming the fall in front of the nose, creating a short foreface is a mistake because the Kerry head should look long. Leaving too much facial hair, not thinning it out enough also shortens the look of the head and inhibits their sight.