# MOM! My band is too tight!



## outwest (May 1, 2011)

*Mom! My band is too tight!*

omg- I am such a novice. LOL. He doesn't have a whole ton of head hair yet, but he has enough for one band. Except, I always do it too tight! It must take practice and finesse, which I am trying to get the hang of.

6 months old sporting his new collar from Dogs in Style (thanks Arreau for the tip). Dogs in Style was very efficient and the collar came with a lead. It looks great on him and fits perfectly. It's silver silky and sparkly moons and stars. Quite manly, I think. 

MOM! My band is too tight!









Without a band his eyes are so pretty. Maybe I should continue with two until I can stop giving him bug eyes.


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

Funny pic! Love that collar on Jazz. Our Dogsinstyle martingale is the only one we use.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

I think I'd continue to use two for now. Once you have longer hair, one way that I always made sure that first band by the eyes was not too tight was by first wrapping it around the hair snugly, and then pulling the hair up and back back away from the head. This eliminates any "pulling" on the eyes. Hope this makes sense!


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

The Dogsinstyle collar is very pretty. I have a few of those and use them all the time for times when I want my poodles to look very fancy. This will work for now with short puppy hair, but when it comes to the point where you have real neck hair, be very careful as hair can get snagged on the back of that collar due to the design. It happened to Tiger even when he was nicely wrapped and I've heard of it happening badly to others. Really the safest collar for show coat is a satin neck protector like Linda Blackie's or Poodleit's (other people make them too!). Even those can do some serious coat damage if left on for too long. 

Whisperwind Standard Poodles


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Thanks, CM. I am a work in progress, but I understood that. I am hoping when I take him for his cut at the end of January that I can get a band lesson. Reading about banding isn't quite the same as someone showing you. I don't want to rip out what hair he has.  I know I have the correct type of bands, but I think I will continue with two for a while.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Yes, I am planning on getting a poodleit one, too. I haven't gotten around to it, but I will. It took me forever to choose the design I liked from the dogsinstyle one.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

outwest said:


> Thanks, CM. I am a work in progress, but I understood that. I am hoping when I take him for his cut at the end of January that I can get a band lesson. Reading about banding isn't quite the same as someone showing you. I don't want to rip out what hair he has.  I know I have the correct type of bands, but I think I will continue with two for a while.


I wouldn't stress too much about it. It's good that we can learn with the puppy hair and hopefully by the time it is long we have the hang of it.  Hopefully next time around I will master wrapping!

With his hair, I'd probably be doing a few rows of devil horns. Remember to use a rat-tail comb to make perfect part lines. This eliminates pulling on the head and - later - will help prevent matting. It's very difficult to get those good part lines, so start practicing now!


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## Jdcollins (Feb 3, 2011)

Omg I almost peed I laughed so hard when I saw that pic... Don't feel bad... I've seen those eyes in my house too! Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


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## mom24doggies (Mar 28, 2011)

Awwww, Jazz!! What a cute pic. I've seen that look a few times myself lol. Raven's is now plenty long for one band. I usually put the band I a tad tighter than I would like, then grab a section in the back of the band, pull it backwards, then grab a section in the middle and _gently_ tug it up a tad. That makes a pretty, small bubble in the front and makes sure everything is loose. Also, grab the skin on his face on either side of the band and give it a gentle tug down, that also loosens it. I do that after every section I band, Raven is very sensitive to hairs that are too tight.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I too am guilty of the tight band syndromeHAHAHA!!!! My groomer gave me a lesson(after she kinda bawled me out) Practice makes perfect and knitting needles work really good for making the parts!


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Here he is with two, but he has all this stuff flopping around in the middle. I guess I should make three. I could also leave it loose, but I feel bad when he can't see.


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

Although he looks happy with 2 horns. It would be funny with 3.


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## Ms Stella (Aug 16, 2010)

He looks cute! I would do 4 bands..put the hair behind your current devil horns in a band so you have 2 or even 3 rows 

Also I learned with my girls to not put the bands too close to the scalp. When I gather the hair (and this gets easier when the hair is longer) just start your band 3/4 of the way down the hair. You will have a poop..sort of a bubble..and it wont be tight


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

I am getting better, but now concerned about tearing hair, so I haven't been doing it tight. I am constantly picking bands up from the floor. LOL I suppose we are both a work in progress plus all of a sudden he seems to be getting TONS of hair. I guess he is slowing down growing and now putting energy into hair because I swear his hair has grown an inch in a month!


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## SusanG (Aug 8, 2009)

My groomer told me she uses a hemastat to put on the band and take it off. I tried it and it works well taking it off without pulling the hair out. But I am still trying to figure out how to twist the hair to create a place to put it on!


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