# The German Trim



## flyingduster

ok, as requested here is some pics of Paris in the german trim. It's becoming a more and more popular trim around the world at the moment!!!

It is essentially much the same as all the other generic poodle clips (lamb, modern etc) except the key factor is having the ears shaved off with at least a 5F blade (or as much as a 15) and the tail doesn't sport a pom pom! There are two tail styles though, one is the 'carrot tail' that Paris is sporting, and is the more popular look for the general public and most people prefer the look. And there's also the shaved look, where the tail is totally shaved with the same blade as the ears (yes, totally shaved off with a 10 or 15 if that's what the ears are done with!) which results in a somewhat 'rat tail' look. It's a bit of an accquired taste to shave the tail off fully though! lol. A lot of people use it as an option if going from a pom pom tail thoguh, as the tail stalk is generally already shaved with a 10. 


This is Paris freshly groomed in the german trim:








The blades I used on her in this competition: 
a 30 blade on her face and feet.
10 blade on her ears (didn't shave right from the base of the ear though, or it'd cut into her reasonably full top knot!)
5F blade on the back side of her tail (back side, when it's standing up 'alert' from base to tip.)
4F on the back side of her back legs (from the pointy pin bones under her butt, down the 'swoop' to skim off above her hocks)
and the 5/8"HT blade along her topline (spine)

The rest was hand scissored. 
I used the blades on her primarily cos I wasn't confident I could fully hand scissor her in the time I was alotted! lol The blades meant it set some lengths for me to work from! 


And here are a few other angles I got this afternoon (taken in the small yard at work after I bathed her)


























note that it's been a few weeks since she was actually groomed, though I did her face & feet this afternoon too. lol.


FD


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## creativeparti

where was this comp? i know peter young the man standing next to you. 

she looks very nice in a german trim but i think you need to make her lines a bit tighter the shape is very good just needs more work on the finish, 

hope you dont think im being rude just wanted to help


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## Debbyd

What a beautiful cut!. I wish a miniature could have a cut like that. 

Debby


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## AgilityIG

She looks great. 

I have Vinnie in a modified German - I do his ears with a 10 and f/f/t are 30. He has a natural tail, so that's a bit different - I love the natural tail.

So how do you decide where to start shaving the ears? That's my problem - I think I went up a bit too high on Vin's ears and it makes his topknot look too narrow.


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## Harley_chik

She looks great! I really like the German clip, it's unique and looks regal.


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## Fluffyspoos

I've never seen that trim on minis or toys, has anyone done it before?


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## flyingduster

haha. new poodle mum I agree!!! I didn't think it was good enough to win the competition at all, cos I could see a million things I could have done better! lol. Compared to her previous state though, those lines aren't too bad.  I like the euro style (tight tight TIGHT) but Paris is far too skinny to be able to go a whole lot tighter without showing her scrawny bod. 

The competition was here in NZ, we bought Peter over from London to judge it for us. 

I've seen it on minis plenty... here's a pic of the top three placings in the poodle class, and the third place is a black mini in the german trim:


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## creativeparti

she does look stunning tho i love it and im glad you dont think i was rude i compete over her in england, i won ist at the last comp i went to with a american cocker, i look at pics of her and think i know i could of done that better i do that with alot of my grooms guess thats what makes us good groomers we want perfection


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## Purple Poodle

I love the German clip. I put my moms Mini in one in the winter, I really like it on a maloe Poodle, makes gthem look manly ^_^


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## skinnydoggz

I should have checked this site before clipping my standard's ears, because I clipped the whole ear, ending up with the narrow TK IgilityIG spoke of (though Vinnie's TK looks wider). I'd been afraid I'd regret clipping her ears, but I really like it! 

At first I didn't like the German clip at all. The more I saw Vinnie, the more it grew on me and now I like it a lot. It's sporty looking. I just hope my little girl (7 mos. old) can carry it off and not look like a boy. FD, thanks so much for posting directions. Do you do the TK first to see where to start clipping the ear?

Thank you,
Lynn


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## AgilityIG

Wow - this is an old thread :lol: Vinnie has a lot of TK hair (about four inches) and it hangs over his ears, so that covers up the top of them. Hope that makes sense.


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## 3dogs

It would be nice if my Spoo had that much TK hair to cover some of his ears. His ears are set rather high up so it is hard to know how far up to shave up his ears. When they are down then I shave where a straight line eye to ear& back but then when he is all perky his ear line is all wrong.


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## 2719

I loved the look of AgilityIG's Vinnie in the signature pics. That is why I gave Misstarry the same short ears and top knot. 

I do love the long feathered ears on the Poodle but I also think the short shorn ears are cute. They are also great for poodles that suffer ear infections.


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## AgilityIG

Thanks!! Misstarry looks great! I like the swirl on her side - I would love to do something like that with Vinnie, but I would totally mess it up! :lol:

The middle photo of Vinnie on my sig is my all time favorite photo of him (so far!). When I groomed him for that, on the TK, instead of going straight up/down on the sides, I comb the hair to the side and angle my shears away from his head at slightly more than a 45 degree angle - that's how I get the hair to hang over his ears a bit. His ears tend to stick out a ways when they are perked up, so I try to cover that up! LOL


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## ambitious groomer

*shaving ears*

I just took a class at a grooming convention for the poodle in a german and was told when you hold your hand under the ear to shave, start where the ear curves over at the start of your hand, or 2 to 3 finger widths from where the ear starts from the skull. Hope that helps. (I know, killer run on sentence, sp


PHP:




)


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## kris6332

She looks like a snowball. I love it. How hard is it to keep her that clean and white? I can only imagine with our red clay soil........


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## skinnydoggz

Thank you, Ambitious Groomer and AgilityIG. I'll have to let the top of Pie's ears grow out since I already clipped them. I also need to let the occiput and neck area grow out too. I trimmed too close. Usually I'm more careful and check my books first, but for some reason I jumped right in, maybe because I was afraid I'd chicken out since I also like fluffy ears. There are so many ticks this year, at least I'll be able to spot any on her ears more easily than if they were fluffy. I appreciate your advice.

Take care,
Lynn
Pie, Oprah & Yowza


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## AgilityIG

ambitious groomer said:


> I just took a class at a grooming convention for the poodle in a german and was told when you hold your hand under the ear to shave, start where the ear curves over at the start of your hand, or 2 to 3 finger widths from where the ear starts from the skull. Hope that helps. (I know, killer run on sentence, sp
> 
> 
> PHP:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


Awesome - I'll remember that! Thanks!


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## pgr8dnlvr

I am once again reviving a super old thread, but does anyone mind posting or PM'ing me the general instructions for a german clip? Ie would I do any body parts with clippers or is it usually just scissored? If yes on clippers which blade length? Do you always need to use curved shears for the topknot or?

Rebecca


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## spindledreams

I took the instructions in this thread to my groomer for the clip she did on Apollo.


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## Vanilla-Yazoo

I love this cut! it is very male looking, which a lot of cuts are not, I think I prefer it a bit shorter but I think the first photos look gorgeous too! 
I would feel really bad shaving the ears tho! I know it grows back but itl still be sad!
I keep changing my mind between a german and a hcc cut! a hcc would be more work setting but less that could get matted, but this also looks gorgeous! XD


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## bura4

I'm planning to put Igor in the German Trim too. Not sure about the ears (I think I'll shave the tail though).


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## bura4

Guys!! I cannot find the thread with pictures of the ears growing back from shaved to fluffy... Please help!! No idea whose the pics were


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## poo lover

You are so talented paris is so pretty(kruz may be in love)


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## bura4

Some time ago I decided to put Igor in the T clip (or german trim) and here are some pictures of my boy... of course that is my version of the T clip


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