DIY grooming of your papillion

I’ve always groomed my Papillon by simply trimming the long hair that grows around his paws and between his paw pads, with a good pair of safety scissors, then I’ll trim the long hair that grows along his hocks (back of legs), and finally, I would use an electric (or battery operated) trimmer, made especially for dogs, to shave around his behind. I don’t know about other Papillon owners experience, but mine has a bit of a sanitary problem, a pretty messy business back there, when he goes, so he really needs what they refer to as a “sanitary cut.”

I was doing an ok job by myself for the past few years, but then I started taking him to a groomer several months ago, about every 5 or 6 weeks, and admittedly she does a much better job than I ever did. Also, in addition to all the trimming I just mentioned, she also trims any long straggly hair (or fur) that grows along his sides, and kind of feathers it. She also bathes him, which I love. He looks pretty sharp when I pick him up. By the way, Rocky is not a pure-bred, but rather 3/4 Papillon, but I hardly give any credit to the other 1/4 which a DNA test said was Dalmatian of all things (I can’t see it at all, ha), I’m thinking that was definitely a mistake by the dog’s owner or caregiver, I mean who on earth would breed a Papillon with a Dalmatian?