Help describing cut to groomer

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Hi there,

I know many of you do your own grooming which I think is so amazing. I tried in Rooney's first year, and I will still trim his face now and then, but in the end I had to turn him over to the professionals. :) Luckily, I have found a groomer I really like. 

However, I want to make a different request on how she trims his muzzle and I'm not sure if I'm using the right wording. Maybe you doodle grooming experts can help?

Right now she leaves it pretty much all one length and then trimmed right about where his mouth opening is. What I want is it to be shorter, more layered, and shaped around his snout more. Not shaved off, but just tidier.

Does that make sense? Is that how I should explain it?

I actually did some trimming on it myself but didn't have the courage to take it much shorter for fear of totally messing it up.

So, this is what his messy muzzle looks like now:

And I would like it to look more like this:

Any suggestions on how to explain that to the groomer? Should I just take in the picture?

Thanks for any tips!

Lori 

[Joan Bollaert]

Just ask groomer for a Cockapoo cut on face/beard which is what your preferred look is.

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Oh, thank you!! I knew there was probably some sort of groomer terminology I was missing. I feel like this will be tidier for summer when he does a lot of swimming and mucking around. :) 

[Joan Bollaert]

Pictures are a good idea

[Barbara Brian]

I say take her a picture of how you want him trimmed. The messy muzzle and the messy tail is always my concern too!

[Cynthia Shoe]

I am printing out that picture and taking it with me to our appointment this weekend! Our poor guy always has his beard in his mouth! 

[Denise, Winnie, and AngelAbby]

He sure is cute! I would probably just bring the picture. There can't be any misunderstandings if she can see exactly what you want. Just my thots. Make sure you tell her tho that you want the muzzle trimmed like this - not the ears. (unless of course you want him to have short ears too.)  

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Thanks! I'm kind of tempted to go short on the ears, too, just to see how it looks. It will always grow again! I want to make summertime and swimming as simple as possible... I will take the picture but also ask her about the "cockapoo cut" that Joan mentioned. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I would take the picture with me to show the groomer - on your laptop, tablet or phone.  A picture is worth a thousand words.  I would probably print the picture to give her so she could refer to it.