A User’s Manual for Anxious Cats:

There’s a window of time between 2 and 14 weeks of age when kittens develop most of their opinions about the world. One of the questions their little brains work to figure out is, “Are humans safe or dangerous?” Kittens born outdoors learn vigilance and distrust as a matter of survival. If humans don’t intervene to convince them otherwise, those kittens will grow into feral adults, skittish as a squirrel. But if a kitten is brought indoors when they’re say, 6 weeks old, and given food and warmth and treated kindly, they develop into your average house cat.

It can be helpful to think of a cat’s comfort level using a range on a spectrum. How do they react to unfamiliar situations? How do they feel about strangers? How likely are they to get upset at loud noises and how upset will they get?

Kittens who were under-socialized -- who didn't have much or any positive interaction with humans before the age of 16 weeks -- can still be domesticated successfully, but they don’t relax into the indoor life as smoothly and may hold onto anxious tendencies into adulthood. That usually means they’re startled more easily, more intensely, by a wider variety of things. Their natural anxiety can make it harder for them to enjoy all the benefits of indoor life or to bond with their human caregivers. That doesn't make them a lost cause, but it does mean they'll have limits and that helping them develop confidence requires a solid understanding of cat psychology and a commitment to continuously reinforcing confident behaviors.

In addition to early socialization, genetics has a lot to do with where a cat will fall on the spectrum. Nature and nurture combine to create personality traits that become somewhat settled in the adult, but there's always room for adjustment. Just like people, cats continue to learn and grow throughout their lives. 

How to integrate an anxious cat into your life:

Note: Confident cats can move through this process fairly quickly without needing to take baby steps. But anxious cats need more time to adjust and more reassurance along the way. Moving to a new phase of integration should push your cat slightly out of his comfort zone (that’s how progress is made), but not create panic. If your cat isn’t ready, move back to a previous step, regroup, and then continue forward with a less intense challenge.

The goal is to positively reinforce confidence: The mindset is never, “Bad job for being anxious!” Instead, always look for opportunities to say, “Good job for being slightly less anxious now than before.” The more anxious the cat, the more subtle the progress that should be rewarded (and celebrated). The fastest way to build a cat’s confidence is to notice and reward every time they show even the tiniest amount of curiosity, cooperation, or affection. 

Rewards don’t always have to be food, but they do have to be something your cat genuinely likes (not just something you think your cat’s supposed to like). Learn to read your cat and discover their likes and dislikes of food, toys, verbal praise, and physical affection.

Never scold or try to use punishments on an anxious cat! Their behavior reflects their need for safety, so anything negative coming from you will be read as threatening. Ignore undesirable behaviors when they happen and find ways to manage and prevent them from happening in the future. For example, if it's necessary to pick up your cat and he is swatting at you, stay calm! Use a towel or gloves to protect your hands from harm and finish whatever you need to do as quickly as possible.

Phase 1: Set things up so your anxious cat is easy to catch. For very anxious cats, it’s best to start them off in a cage. A multi-level cat cage works best, but any cage big enough to hold a small litter box, some kind of bed, and food and water bowls will work. If necessary, cover the cage with a blanket to provide extra security. If possible, have the cage in a quiet, cat-proofed space ready for phase 2. 

Phase 2: Less anxious cats can skip the cage and immediately have a little more freedom. Keep them in a small bedroom or bathroom - somewhere quiet, where you can keep the litter box, water and food bowls, and a comfortable place to sleep. You can also offer toys and a small surface for scratching. For this phase, you’ll keep the door closed so your cat can’t go exploring the rest of your house. Limiting options is the key to teach confidence. Yes, let your cat hide but no, don't let them hide far from you in a place where it's difficult (or impossible) to get to them. Block access to any inconvenient hiding places (that includes under furniture or behind the toilet). Barriers don’t have to be fancy -- strategically placed cardboard and duct tape usually does the trick. Give your cat an alternative hiding spot (an upside-down cardboard box with an entry hole cut into it makes a nice cat cave). 

Phase 3: Let your cat settle and get used to your schedule. If your cat is interested in treats and/or attention, give it to them. But if your cat is clearly trying to avoid you, give them their space for at least a day or two. Have set mealtimes (at least two or three times a day) with an appropriate amount of food so that there aren’t leftovers when it’s time for the next meal. Even cats who find humans terrifying can’t help but start to look forward to seeing the person who feeds them when they’re hungry. If possible, stay in the room until the cat has started eating. You may need to start with the food close to the cat and you far away, waiting quietly, for a while.

Phase 4: Get your anxious cat used to your touch. If your cat is ready to jump on your lap, you won’t need to worry about most of these milestones, but if your cat is very anxious, you’ll need to apply positive reinforcement techniques.

The basics of positive reinforcement: https://www.hshv.org/training-cats-with-positive-reinforcement/

Clicker training techniques (optional, but fun): https://www.clickertraining.com/cat-training

When you’re starting out, training sessions should be short and frequent. A few minutes every day is better than an hour once a week. Always end on a positive note if you can. Go at your cat’s pace. An extremely nervous cat may need a month of daily feeding before they’re willing to sniff you. A shy cat may only need a day before they’re purring in your arms.

• Put cat food (wet is best) on your fingers and offer them for sniffing, palm up, through cage bars. One milestone is if they’re willing to sniff. Another is when they lick up the food. The next is when they come sniffing at your fingers even without food on them.

• The single finger chin scratch. After your cat sniffs your offered fingers, use your index finger to touch their cheek/chin area. If the cat leans in, reward them with a nice chin scratching. If not, don’t try to force it. First you have to prove to them that your touch isn’t scary. Then you can prove to them that it’s enjoyable. 

• For cats uncomfortable with hands, overhand petting is much scarier than underhand petting, so don’t come at them with your hand over their head, palm down, before they’re ready. Start petting sessions palm up and slowly start to get permission to touch other parts of their body. If they are flinching or tense, slow down.

• When your cat seems comfortable enough being touched, you can start working on picking them up. For very anxious cats, the first step might be putting your hands in position and then letting go after a few seconds without actually lifting them. For those kinds of cats, always do this training somewhere the cat can’t run away from you. You want to avoid situations where you might have to chase the cat around to catch him. Be careful you’re not making the cat feel cornered. Remember, you’re asking your cat to be calm, cooperative, and curious in the face of something a little bit challenging, so reward him when he displays those qualities.

• When you do actually lift the cat into the air, be prepared for their reaction. If you push too hard and they panic, you’ll lose progress if they manage to escape. Their takeaway will be: “I’m alive because I managed to get away!” But if you can hold them until they stop squirming and then put them down, you’ve taught them that arguing is ineffective and being calm is the way to get you to release them. Putting a hand on the scruff of their neck can help keep some cats calm, but will make other cats more likely to panic. If your cat shows aggressive tendencies, you’re going way too fast! You may want to incorporate protective gear (like towels or bite safety gloves) into your training sessions so your cat can get used to those things, but always aim to go slow enough that your cat doesn’t feel the need to try to bite you.

• When you can pick up your cat and hold him, gradually increase the time you spend holding him and the amount of noise and busy-ness surrounding you.  

Phase 5: Give your cat more freedom. If your cat wants to hide when you put their food down, they’re definitely not ready for whole-house access. But even if you can’t pick them up yet, if they get excited at mealtimes and immediately rush toward you for food, they’re ready to start this step. Start by leaving the door to their room open for short periods of time. Supervise them closely as they begin to explore. Try not to give them too many options too quickly. If they get startled while out-and-about, you want them to run straight back to their room. Let them out for short, frequent outings until they seem more relaxed than wary. When you’re sure they know how to get back to home base (where their food, water, and litter box is), you can give them longer, less-supervised time out of their room. Continue taking small steps until your cat is comfortable roaming the house, interacting with other pets you might have, and getting on with the business of normal, everyday life. 

Strategies for integrating new pets with existing pets: https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/introducing-pets 

Going forward:

After your cat is integrated into your home, you may want to relocate the litter box. Do it gradually by adding a second litter box in the new location and then taking away the first box when you’re sure your cat is using the second one. Keep in mind it’s always better to have too many litter boxes around than too few. And it matters where you put them. Pick a location that won’t turn the cat off.

Moving feeding and watering locations is generally as simple as showing the cat where you’re moving the bowls to. If you want to move them to a room your cat is less than comfortable in, you may have to move in stages. There are rooms an anxious cat may never want to go in or may only go when the house is quiet. Starting to feed your cat in a busier, noisier (ie. scarier) part of the house can be a good way to further develop their confidence, but be mindful that you’re not pushing so hard they’re getting dehydrated or not finishing meals. Remember that each new step should take the cat a little bit out of their comfort zone, not a lot!

When you’ve got the gist of how positive reinforcement works, you can work on all kinds of behaviors with your cat. Think of your final goal, break it down into small steps, and take the cat through each step slowly, with lots of rewards along the way. If you’re running into roadblocks, resources are an internet search away, ranging from free articles you can read to build knowledge and animal behaviorists you can hire to work with you and your cat individually.

Just a few examples of useful behaviors to work on with your cat:

• Going into a pet carrier on command

• Cooperating with nail trimming (important!)

• Allowing physical examination (the kinds of stuff that happens at the vet’s office)

• Coming when called

• Interacting with strangers

• Desensitization to loud noises

Everyday life and other challenges:

Big changes can be especially difficult for anxious cats, so give them more attention during major upheavals, like moving to a new place, having construction done on your home, or adding a new (animal or human) family member. But even when nothing really dramatic is happening, cats in the middle of the anxiety spectrum can start backsliding into more fearful behavior as relative minor disruptions add up over time. 

General tips to block anxiety and promote confidence:

1. Prevent access to any dark dark hidey-holes where it’s difficult (or impossible) to get a cat out of (ie. spaces under cabinets, underneath heavy beds, miscellaneous crawlspaces). If an anxious cat gets stuck somewhere, they may not may not call for help. And even if they’re able to get back out, they may stay in there for long enough to worry you. The search, the discovery, and all the fuss that goes with trying to figure out how to get the cat out will all be extremely stressful for an anxious cat and best avoided in the first place. Similarly, it’s helpful to be aware of closets and pantries, basement and attic access, etc. Don’t leave doors open where an anxious cat might sneak in and get shut in a few minutes later.

2. Because cats with feral tendencies don’t completely trust the roof over their heads, they feel more relaxed when they have quick access to predator-proof locations. That means small, dark spaces where they can’t be seen or high perches where nothing can sneak up on them. To provide this sense of safety, you can buy little tents or cubbies specifically designed for cats, install cat shelves on your walls, or invest in a tall cat tree. Ideally, you want at least one such refuge in any room of the house your anxious cat might visit throughout the day. You have endless style, size, and price options, from designer modular cat playgrounds to leftover cardboard boxes.

3. It’s helpful to set up no-harassment zones, especially if you have dogs or small children in your household. A gate on a bedroom doorway can give an anxious cat a place to go to wind down and relax when they get overwhelmed. Make sure the kids know that when the cat is in his winding-down spot, they’re not allowed to bother him in any way.

4. To reduce the risk of medical and behavioral issues, ensure water and litter boxes are easily accessible at all times. Provide multiple options if possible. Preferably, they should be in a low-traffic area your cat actively enjoys visiting, like the feeding area and/or winding-down area, but at minimum, avoid making your anxious cat feel like they have to run a gauntlet to get a drink or empty their bladder. Use whatever style of litter and litter boxes and water bowls or fountains your cat prefers. For example, automatic robot litter boxes are nifty, but too scary for most anxious cats. Think like your cat!

5. Don’t get too far off-schedule. Routines make it easy to monitor your anxious cat’s health, eating habits, and location. Even if something scary happens -- like house guests  in the afternoon -- a schedule means you can still expect to see your anxious cat at dinner time. If you need to catch your cat for occasional adventures (like nail trims or going into a carrier for a vet visit), feeding times can be a great time to do that without a lot of fuss. If your cat loves toys or being brushed, scheduled playtime or grooming time are great ways to stabilize your cat’s daily experience as well. And keep an eye out for your cat’s attempts to get more attention. For example, extremely anxious cats can seem anti-social until you realize they’re sleeping in their owner’s bed every night. That’s an easy time to begin a ritual of petting with a cat who might otherwise never consent to be touched. Even the most anxious of cats can enjoy human contact, they just need to be approached in the right way, at the right time.

6. Anticipate problems and make adjustments. For example, if your cat panics when strangers come over, set your cat up in a quiet, private room before your party guests arrive. If your cat gets so freaked out when you run the vacuum cleaner that he’ll hide for hours afterwards, don’t run the vacuum cleaner 30 minutes before dinner time. Don’t slather your hands with hand sanitizer and then immediately try to pet the cat. Do some refresher training with your cat starting a week before his scheduled vet visit so he’s easy to get in his carrier and less likely to panic during his exam. You get the idea!

7. Once a behavior is established, you don’t need to practice it constantly, but everyone will needs refreshers at some point. If your cat has lost progress, go back to the basics -- train in short sessions, with low challenge and high reward.

8. Be prepared for setbacks and frustrations. If your cat develops a behavioral issue you can’t figure out, always rule out a medical issue first. Make sure your challenges are not too challenging and your rewards are rewarding enough. Positive reinforcement is extremely effective at changing mindset and, therefore, behavior, but cats with extreme issues will have more limits. The more you learn about behavioral psychology, the better equipped you’ll be to make desired changes, but that doesn’t mean you have to learn everything at once or all on your own. Ask for help when you need it. Remember that just because something doesn’t go the way you expected it to, doesn’t mean it was a mistake or a waste of time. It’s all a learning experience.

9. Never take your cat’s anxiety personally. Try to empathize: If you were afraid of heights and someone handed you a kitten at the top of a ferris wheel, you’re not going to enjoy holding that kitten the same way you would if you were on the ground. It doesn’t mean you don’t like kittens! For an anxious cat, lots of things feel like they’re happening at the top of a ferris wheel. It doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy things; it just means they’re distracted by their anxiety. 

10. It’s important to celebrate small victories. Some cats will never not flinch when you reach out to them, but it makes the sound of their purring that much sweeter.

How to speak cat:

Reading cat body language:

https://www.tuftandpaw.com/blogs/cat-guides/the-definitive-guide-to-cat-behavior-and-body-language

Calming signals are behaviors animals use to calm themselves and others. If you see your cat perform a calming signal, reward them! It means your anxious cat is actively trying to self-soothe and/or reduce the tension in the room. You can perform calming signals yourself as a way to communicate relaxation to your cat. Exaggerate movements slightly for best effect. 

1. Yawning (they’re contagious for evolutionary reasons)

2. Slow blinking (open and close your eyes very slowly)

3. Breathe deeply (slow your heart rate down)

Think of how you look/smell/sound to your cat and make yourself as non-threatening as possible. For example:

• Squat or sit to make yourself smaller (and/or invite the cat to jump up to eye level)

• Remove bulky, flowy, or reflective clothing (ie. coats, hats, beards, wigs, sunglasses, heavy boots)

• Wash off strong/unfamiliar smells (hand sanitizer, gasoline, the neighbor’s dog)

• Pitch your voice higher and speak softly (aim for “angelic mom” energy)

• Avoid sudden and/or sweeping movements (anything that looks like you’re trying to “get them”)

• Avoid direct prolonged eye contact (or any eye contact with very anxious cats)

• Have another cat “vouch” for you (letting an anxious cat see you interact with a confident cat can help reassure the anxious cat that you’re not a threat)

• Calm yourself (your mental state affects your cat, so project peace, not anxiety)

Advanced training plan: 

Look at your cat’s behaviors on a spectrum and work on them one at a time.

Think about the following: Where is your cat now? Where do you want them to get to? What are the small steps that can get them there?

Enjoys being held

Tolerates being held for long periods

Tolerates being held for short periods

Freezes while being held

Fights while being held

Actively avoids any chance of being picked up

Demands attention from strangers

Indifferent to strangers

Hides when strangers arrive but will come out to investigate them after some time has passed

Hides when strangers arrive but come out soon after they’ve left

Hides when strangers arrive and continues hiding for hours after they’ve left

Indifferent to the vacuum cleaner 

Momentarily alarmed but then indifferent

Finds higher ground while vacuum is running

Hides out of sight/in another room while vacuum is running but comes out shortly after it’s off

Hides for long periods of time even after vacuum is turned off

Advanced reading: https://anticruelty.org/pet-library/desensitization-and-counterconditioning-fear-cats

[written by Vania Velotta, multi-decade animal rescuer, feral cat mom, and professional pet groomer]

Reassuring Clients After Reports of Grooming Tragedies in the News

I speak as a professional pet groomer in the industry for over 20 years. Below is my response to the spate of articles that came out in September 2018 covering 47 deaths over a 10 year period tied to grooming at Petsmart: (including the original story at NJ.com and related pieces at Cleveland.com and Time.com)

How do you report 47 tragedies without mentioning the roughly 2 billion safe grooming shop visits happening in the same time frame? We can't dismiss these individual dogs or what happened to them, but they are outliers, not the norm. Statistically, the car ride to the grooming shop is more dangerous for your pet than anything that might happen during a nail trim or a bath or a haircut.

Here are some numbers to help put this in perspective (disclaimer: I'm not a statistician, so feel free to check the math, but even if the numbers aren't perfect, they provide a clearer picture of the actual threat involved in dropping your pets off for grooming). Also, because there have been incidents at private shops as well, it's worth looking at the grooming industry as a whole, rather than singling out corporate locations.

It's challenging to pinpoint exactly how many professional pet groomers are currently working in the US, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2016, there were 296,400 jobs available in the "Animal Care and Service Workers" category. That includes trainers, veterinary assistants, kennel workers, and more, so pet groomers make up a sub-set of that number. According to Petgroomer.com's annual industry survey, 41,271 businesses advertised grooming services in 2017. Many of those businesses will have multiple groomers employed and other businesses may not be advertising at all, so it's not unreasonable to estimate that there are somewhere around 200,000 professional pet groomers currently working in the US. Average workload varies, but if we simplify and say that they're all grooming 5 dogs per day, 240 days per year, that's 240,000,000 grooms happening in this country in one year.

The NJ.com investigation tallies 47 deaths over a 10 year period, but it's impossible to know exactly how many more there may be when you factor in private salons and unreported incidents. For the sake of argument, let's put the number at 500, which seems shockingly high until you factor in the total number of grooms happening. 500 out of 2.4 billion puts the odds of a pet dying in connection with a grooming service over a 10 year period at 1 in 4.8 million.  In comparison, the odds that you'll be struck by lightning in your lifetime is 1 in 3,000.  From here, you could make the argument that taking your dog to the groomer once every month for 10 years increases his odds to 1 in 40,000, but that's not really how it works.

Almost all grooming shop deaths (which happen so rarely that almost none of us will ever be involved in one in our 40+ year careers) are related to pre-existing conditions in dogs exacerbated by stress. Dogs who are groomed regularly are safer in a shop because these dogs tend to be calm and cooperative. If they've been going to the same place for a while, their groomer will know them well enough to identify signs of distress. Most groomers understand risk factors in grooming very well (ie: stress is more dangerous for breeds with flat faces, for animals who are overweight, for senior pets, and for pets with certain medical conditions) and will either adjust their process to minimize stress or will refuse to groom an animal outright. 

What is common in the industry, are situations where the pet groomer plays the hero -- noticing something off and sending a dog and its owner to the vet, who then diagnoses a serious illness like a heart condition or diabetes or a cancerous tumor.

Going to the groomer regularly is much more likely to save your pet's life than to destroy it. And if nothing so dramatic happens, it's important to consider that the odds that an average pet will suffer from a lack of grooming is very high. Chronically overgrown toenails can cause arthritis, undiagnosed ear and skin infections make pets miserable, and unchecked matting can get so tight that it cuts off circulation to the skin. The list goes on, and this is what groomers work to repair or prevent both in their shops and through education every single day.

Everyone in the grooming industry is concerned about what happened to the individual dogs in question and we all follow these stories very closely. We support standards of safety and advanced handling training for anyone who works with animals. There's a lot of talk about regulating the industry and there have been many attempts to pass laws named after animal victims of grooming shop tragedies. Unfortunately, arbitrary rules applied to grooming doesn't seem to be the answer to keep pets safer. After all, Petsmart has one of the most extensive lists of employee do's and don'ts in the industry. What keeps pets safe are well-informed groomers in supportive settings who are empowered to use good judgement. 

As a pet parent, it's important to seek out a grooming establishment that you feel you can trust. And while there are some irresponsible, poorly trained, overstressed, unkind and/or simply unlucky groomers out there, the majority of us are well-informed, safety-conscious, conscientious, and completely obsessed with the health and happiness of our client pets. 

Groomers: please feel free to share this post wherever you feel is appropriate. And remember to talk to your clients from the heart when they come to you with concerns. It's not your job to defend or defile other groomers or other businesses. It's important to act as a representative of the industry as a whole. Be honest and transparent, but resist the urge to gossip or take sides against competitors. When you're talking to clients, remember to have compassion for everyone involved in an accidental pet injury or death. 

When clients or potential clients mention the latest news horror stories, your job in that moment is to make them feel comfortable leaving their pet with you (even if they've been coming to you for a decade and you're feeling a little hurt because you think they should know better). It's not helpful to criticize or speculate about how age or size or other characteristics of the animal or about any unrealistic expectations or neglectful behavior on the part of the owner or how overworked, under-trained employees or various equipment or techniques may have contributed to a grooming shop tragedy. You can certainly and should talk about those things in other forums, especially in the context of evaluating the safety of grooming for individual pets. Facebook groups, industry websites, grooming magazines, workshops, and tradeshows are all there for you to participate in the discussion and continue to develop the varied and specialized skills that make pet grooming such a remarkable trade.

Be thoughtful, be kind. Happy grooming.
- Vania

Grooming How-To: Asian Fusion Inspired Trim on a Poodle Mix

With the popularity of poodle hybrids on the rise, we've all seen an influx of clients dealing with the high-maintenance needs of poodle-type coat who aren't interested in a poodle-type look. For many, that means a full, shaggy headpiece (what I like to call a "muppet head") that's prone to matting and all the usual wet beard issues we see in sheepdogs, schnauzers, and other dogs with a lot of facial hair. In response to the messiness, many doodle/schnoodle/somethingpoo owners decide to split the difference between a poodle's shaved face and a full muppet head and settle on something in a snap-on comb length all over the muzzle and chin. I have many clients who take this route and it works well.

We usually treat the body the same way, with an all-over length that follows the dog's natural shape. Sometimes we leave a bit more hair on a scissored pillar leg or do some sculpting to play up the dog's angulation, but these are all what owners like to call "puppy cuts" -- a basic, generic, one-size-fits-all style that varies only in its length. It works for so many because it's both practical and cute.

But the fact remains, there's not a lot of room for style or flair when the goal is to leave a uniform inch or two of hair all over a dog's face and body. It can feel like a lost opportunity, because the wonderful thing about poodle-type coat is how many options it gives you for turning up the wow factor. The recent Asian fusion grooming trend is a wonderful way to capitalize on the versatility of a poodle-type coat without making the dog "look like a poodle" while still sending clients home with a reasonably low-maintenance look.

This little schnoodle has been through a variety of styles, starting with her very first haircut as a several-months-old puppy, when she got a 1/2" comb (that's a 1 or orange comb) on her body and chin, with everything else scissored to match, to her current Asian fusion inspired look. There's a lot about settling on a style for a dog that's really about problem-solving than aesthetics. This dog likes to chew her ears, so we decided to take them short. Her owner is good at keeping her combed out in between appointments, so we can leave her legs fairly long, but they also have an active and busy lifestyle, so we want to make sure they don't get too long. Sometimes that means trying things and then asking the client for feedback, as well as taking note of the condition of the coat when the dog comes in for their next appointment

My number one principle of flair is contrast in length. This dog gets a #5 blade on her body and I set the length of her legs by skimming into them (working off the shoulder on the outside of the front legs and off the thigh muscles on the back legs) with a 5/8" comb (that's a 0 or yellow comb). I want the legs to get slightly wider at the foot to emulate the Asian fusion flared leg but without leaving that much length. I set that width by lifting the foot and scissoring around the pad at whatever size I want the leg to be at the bottom. No matter how big the leg, I always take the front of the foot tight to the nails. I leave nail trimming to the end of my groom so that I know the nails will disappear behind that scissored front edge. If you cut nails earlier, as many do, make sure you don't take the front of the foot too short or you will expose the nails and mar your silhouette.

I use the same technique to set the length around the front and the back feet, focusing on making all four feet the same size. When I scissor the front legs, I go straight up towards the body on the front of the leg and then scissor a straight line to connect the area where I skimmed off the shoulder to the newly scissored side of the foot. I scissor the back of the leg straight up and down at whatever width I want that leg to be in side-view. For more drama, I would take the leg in tight above the elbow and flare every aspect of the leg -- front, back, inside, and outside. Keep in mind that true Asian fusion requires leaving a lot of hair at the bottom of the leg, which amps up the maintenance requirements between grooming appointments. For this dog, we're doing a lower-maintenance leg whose flair comes more from its overall length in contrast to the body than from how dramatically it flares from elbow to foot.

On the back leg, a true Asian fusion style starts short at the hip and flares like cone down to the foot. The front leg and back leg look very much the same. But in the modified version we're doing on this schnoodle, I'm giving her a more classic poodle-style rear leg, focusing on angulation to give her some flair. So, I take her tight from her point of rump down to the bend of her stifle on the back of her back leg. I leave a little hock hair and echo the curves on the back of that leg with a little bit of curve and a hint of a knee on the front of her back leg.

The inside and outside of the legs are scissored in parallel lines, like a poodle leg. I finish them with a little bit of a bevel, tightening up the hair at a 45 degree angle around the base of her feet to keep it off the ground.

She has a short dock on her tail, so I usually scissor it round like a bunny tail. Many poodle mixed dogs have long tails and you can do a fan, a flag, a plume or whatever style your client prefers. If she had a proper poodle dock, I probably wouldn't do a typical poodle pom tail on an Asian fusion inspired look. I'd either take the entire tail the same length as the body or I would leave it longer all over without any shaving at the base.

Like the rest of her clip, this dog's head isn't quite proper Asian fusion. Her hair doesn't have the plushness required to stand the way I'd like muzzle hair to stand up for that kind of cut, so I leave more hair and work with it the way it does like to sit instead of teasing it and filling it with products that aren't going to last in between haircuts.

I start her head with a 3/8" comb (that's a 2 or blue comb) on the chin. One of the hallmarks of this style of head is a nice, short chin that helps move focus up towards the dog's eyes. I also run the 3/8" comb in exactly the same places I would shave a poodle face if I were doing a donut style muzzle. I run it down the sides of her head, along the line from eye corner to ear opening that I would use to set a poodle topknot. The only difference is that I'm clipping downward instead of against the grain of the hair. I run the snap-on comb behind the mustache area, under the eye and shorten up everything behind the back corner of her mouth.

I trim up her eye corners and clean out her stop. Then I comb her muzzle hair forward and trim off everything that falls past a point about 1/4" past the end of her nose. Normally, you would want to trim off in line with the end of the nose, but leaving that extra hair helps this dog's muzzle retain its shape. You want to clean the lip area under the nose and trim stray hairs around the upper lip.

Next, I fluff the mustache hair out to the sides and I scissor it into an oval shape, leaving the sides as wide as they'll go without falling under their own weight. I leave plenty of hair on the top of the muzzle, combing that straight up and neatening just a little. On a nice, plush coat, that hair is meant to sit in front of the lower half of the eyes when viewed head-on, giving the dog a soft, stuffed animal sort of expression. This dog's hair doesn't do that, so our goal is to give her a low-maintenance face that evokes some of the shaggy muppet look and the Asian fusion teddy bear look at the same time.

Finally, her topknot is hand-scissored and blended into the neck in the back and into the cheeks on the side. The profile view of the Asian fusion head is very distinctive and this dog does fit very well into that profile. The topknot has a visor similar to a poodle, but angled a little more sharply away from the eyes.

The last piece of her head is the ear trim. Any ear style is permissible in Asian fusion, from long and flowing to shaved very short. The two major considerations are maintenance and contrast. Because she chews her ears, this little girl gets a #4 blade on the outside and a #40 inside and the edges are trimmed to the leather, following the ears' natural shape. She could easily get an even shorter blade on the ears and still be cute. I like to leave them a little bit fuzzy because her coat is always just a little stubborn about fluffing straight and the bit of wildness a #4 leaves fits in nicely with the rest of her look.

Asian fusion styles are great to offer to clients who are open to some wow factor but aren't into the poodle look and modified Asian styles are perfect for clients who want something different without upping their pets' maintenance requirements.

 Remember that grooming should always be customized to the dog, its lifestyle, maintenance needs, and the preferences of the people who care for it and look at it every day, but you still want to give yourself a little bit of space to put your own creative, artistic stamp on your work. Encouraging your clients to allow you to try new styles and techniques helps keep you interested and motivated at the grooming table. And it can make things more interesting for your clients as well. It turns the dogs' style into a conversation piece which dogs usually enjoy because of the extra attention. It's a great way to stand out from your competition and it can help drive new business as well.