Bridge of the nose

[Stacy]

I've noticed that groomers like to shave the bridge of the girls noses. I think it looks funny, and looks much better when that hair starts to grow back. But I don't want it to be so long that it gets in their eyes. Shortish, but not too short. Is there a term for that? I'm not sure how to articulate what I'm looking for. How long is that area supposed to be?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It depends on the hair texture. In general, the softer the hair, the longer it can be without obstructing their vision. Real straight wirey hair, like Jackdoodle had, need to be shorter, or you end up with this: 

But really woolly hair like Jasper's also needs to be cut shorter in that area, or you get the same thing; no eyes.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Basically, the groomer needs to know how to separate the lower part of the muzzle from the upper part, like you see in Asian fusion cuts. Not that extreme, obviously, but two distinctly separate areas. Unfortunately, a lot of groomers don't know how to do that without shaving between the eyes. They need to cut around the muzzle more, ratgher than between the eyes.
I think it's called a doughnut muzzle, but this is the idea:

[Stacy]

Oh, yes that's much closer to what I'm looking for. I think I might have to take in the pictures. 

This is bad.

This is good.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Now why would they shave it like that... seems like lazy grooming to me!  Is shaving the nose like that a standard for some of the purebred cuts?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Not for Poodles. With most Poodles, the entire muzzle is shaved. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

At least the whole muzzle shaved makes more sense... just the top racing stripe is pretty silly.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

These pictures might help:

[Stacy]

Those are the faces I'm looking for! I wonder if they could even shave it and blend it, just with a longer guard thing. 

This new groomer hasn't had a chance to cut them yet. The time before that with the old groomer they were so short that this time I just asked them to wash, dry, fluff, and trim faces, fannies, and feet. They weren't the nose shavers, so maybe they know how to do it the right way.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I scissor cut the base of Riley's muzzle and between her eyes to about 1/2" and it keeps the fluffies under control enough that she can see.  I also trim her eyebrows a little.  It's basically one or two snips every few days though since grooming tool desensitization is still a work in progress.  I use a small pair of curved round tip scissors.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Shaving like that tends to be a poodle thing.  Here are close-ups of my three.  They all have very different coats that the groomer deals with individually.  In between monthly grooms, I often need to cut Charlie's because he has a cowlick that makes the hair stick up in front of his eyes.

[Stacy]

I had forgotten about this thread. When I took them in for grooming I said, "don't shave the bridge of their nose." And this groomer said, of course not. We just shave the corners of their eyes. And it was fine. But next week Maggie is going to try out a new groomer again. She didn't want to go into the back with them and one of the girls picked her up and carried her into the back. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but I was not happy with the way they handled her. I know she's more work than some of the dogs. She's not bad, she's just scared. A little coaxing would be nice. 

I think this is what happens when you find the perfect groomer on the first try and then she abandons you to move to Arkansas and no one else can live up to the standards she set! 

I just wanted to share a couple pictures I saw tonight. The second one just makes me laugh. 

 We want this

not this please! What even happened there?

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Hahahahahaha