Cesar Millan recommends checking your dog’s coat because it is one of the best ways to gain insight into your dog’s condition, be it physical or emotional. On this tutorial, you will learn how to cut the tail of your Bichon Frise, or any other long hair dog for that matter, at home. When I found out how easy this technique was, I couldn’t believe it!

For this easy dog grooming technique you will need:

• A long haired dog.
• A dog comb.
• Scissors.

First we need to know a little breed history. See Animal Planet’s Dogs 101:

They tell us that their intelligence and characteristic smile won them the French Monarchy’s hearts. They can easily adapt to hot or cold weather and are a family favorite even though it is a high maintenance dog. Don’t forget about their lush, double coat that makes them tolerable to people with allergies too.

According to Modern Dog Magazine the first Bichons arrived in the U.S. from France in 1956. The popularity of the breed in North America today is quite an achievement. This breed ranked 26th in American Kennel Club (AKC) registrations in both 2002 and 2003.

Full AKC recognition of the breed was achieved in 1973, with breeders and supporters pushing successfully to have it included in the Non-Sporting group instead of the Toy group.

Even though you should be taking them at least twice per month to a groomer, you can help the process (and your pocket) by brushing their hair with a slicker dog brush at least once a week and some easy maintenance styling like cutting their tail so it won’t get matted.

You will use the slicker dog brush only for the body and do it from the bottom to the top to give them a spongier look. The regular dog comb will be used on the head, the ears, and the tail.  
Here is a tutorial on how to stylish your Bichon Frise’s tail:  

1. Start brushing the tail with your comb. Do it from the beginning of the tail up to the end. As if brushing your own hair.
2. Start spinning the hair down to the tail’s tip.
3. From the tip, keep on spinning the hair up to an inch. You can measure it with your thumb.
4. Grab your scissors and start cutting a curve.
5. Let it go and brush the tail one more time.

How about it? Remember that practice makes perfect! This will also work on any dog with long hair on their tail. Their face is a touchy issue that I would recommend leaving it to a professional. We have special tools (a curve scissor and techniques) to give them the right look so we don’t poke an eye out.

The Bichon Frise is known as a high maintenance breed, which means that there is a lot of grooming needed. Their hair, like our hair, never stops growing. On the Bichon Frise Club of America’s website you can find some other tips to groom your pup at home.

This breed should be bathed and groomed with scissors at least once a month. It is okay to bathe more often and many owners schedule this to be done every two weeks. It is important that the dog is first brushed free of any knots or mats because wetting those mats will make the knots even tighter. This applies to any long hair breed. If you bathe it at home, use a shampoo for white dogs and rinse thoroughly.

Never forget:

• Human shampoos are the wrong pH for a dog and leaving soap in the coat will be harmful to it and may affect their skin.
• Massage your dog before and after grooming to keep them calm and make it a great bonding activity.
• Remember you are the boss! Never give up in the middle of the process for a little winning or “he is not keeping still”. They are curious and if you haven’t done this before, they want to know what is going on. It would get better with time. You need to be persistent, not only will they behave better, they will not have matted hair and the groomer bill will go down too.  
• Take them for a long walk. If you tire them down first, it would make your dog grooming easier.

What if your dog doesn’t like to be brushed?        
1) You can tie your dog to prevent it from biting you, especially if it has knots on its tail. Every dog has an area they don’t like to be touched. The first massage will help you find these areas and once you know them, try to touch them in some other times so they get use to it.

2) You should always look out for their warning signs: 

• Their ears will be back and their tail will get in the middle of their legs.
• They will give you an intense and intimidating look with their head down. 
• They will lick their lips and show their teeth.

3) In time, you can feel these mood changes. You can modify this behavior with your energy (as weird as that sounds) you have to keep calm, do not get angry at them because they don’t understand why you want “to pull on their hair”. Let them sniff the comb and the dead hair that falls out of them as a distraction.

4) If you feel things are getting out of control, stop immediately and try it again later and so on until they associate the brushing with a pleasant experience. 

5) Only give them a treat when they behave the way you want them too.


​That is it for today. Share the pictures of your dog’s tails in our Fan Page, and why not even your cat?

Call me crazy but I believe in a world were owners and pet groomers can live happily ever after because we both want the same thing, a happy and healthy dog or cat. This is my first tutorial on how to groom your pet at home and live to tell the story. If you want to see more, you can find them here.

Are you having trouble grooming another area of your pup? Click that "Comments" bottom and let me know! 

​As Cesar Millan will say: “Dogs don't rationalize. They don't hold anything against a person. They don't see the outside of a human but the inside of a human.” So when they see you are being extra careful getting the towel to the bathroom, they can feel you are nervous about something and based on past experiences, be sure that hell will break loose. 

Call me crazy but I believe in a world where owners and pet groomers can live happily ever after because we both want the same thing, a happy and healthy dog or cat. I will be making a series of tutorials on how to groom your pet at home and live to tell the story.

What are you having most problems with? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll be happy to put together an easy to follow tutorial for you as soon as possible.

You can also search through this list:
Grooming a Bichon Frise