MASTERCLASS
Airedale
ALICIA FRAGIADAKIS
RAINY
Meet Rainy, a lovely Airedale Terrier getting a classic pet trim with Nicky. Using attachment combs, blades and scissor work, Nicky shows how to retain the important Airedale shape while creating a finish that’s manageable for a pet dog.
This tutorial is packed with little lessons in grooming for shape rather than simply following the coat. From correcting the appearance of a dipping topline to balancing the legs and creating that unmistakable brick-shaped head, Nicky explains how she uses coat length, blending and breed structure to build the finished outline.
This tutorial is also available as a fastForward
Part 1 Nicky starts by feeling Rainy’s structure before clipping, identifying a dip through the topline and deliberately leaving extra length through that area to create the appearance of a more level line.
From there she works through the body, rear and underline, using her clippers to establish blend points and show off the Airedale’s shape. She then moves into the feet and legs, creating neat feet and strong, parallel column legs while continually standing back to check that the front and rear remain balanced.
Part 2 Rainy’s rather magnificent long tail is clipped and tidied first, with Nicky demonstrating how she works gently around an area many dogs aren’t particularly keen on having handled.
Then it’s onto the Airedale head. Nicky takes the coat short behind the ears and across the skull to establish a flat skull and long, brick-shaped outline, removes excess from the sides and tidies the ears. She also demonstrates how she approaches the throat on a dog she hasn’t groomed before, gradually deciding how much coat to remove rather than going straight in as short as possible.
Part 3 Nicky finishes the head with thinning scissors, removing ridges and bulk while blending the brows and facial furnishings into the long, straight Airedale shape.
She opens the corners of the eyes, keeps the brows neat rather than Schnauzer-like, and directs the beard forward to emphasise length without creating an hourglass through the face. The final result is all about the Airedale silhouette: flat through the skull, straight through the sides and neatly blended into a modest forward-facing beard.
