The 3 L's

That would be Long. Luxurious. Lashes.

Not my favorite.  Customers seem to be obsessed with leaving their dogs eyelashes uber-long.  Now, before you all get crazy on me, saying "but eyelashes serve a purpose".  I'm very sure that is true.  However, the lashes of an extra long variety.. that's just weird.  Kind of like those people who grow out their fingernails for 8 years, just so they can get into the Guinness Book of World Records.  Yuck.

Really, we are talking LONG lashes.  Some dog's seem to grow them extra well, and some Shih Tzus or other flat faced breeds have lashes that reach well beyond their nose.  How would you like it if your eye lashes were getting in the water dish?  Annoying, Right??

However, the whole "customer is always right" deal makes sure we go to great lengths (HA HA HA..pun intended) to keep those lashes.  It's not as easy as it sounds.  Let's start with the fact that dogs don't always hold still.  A crazy concept.. I realize.  Nothing is worse that accidentally trimming off one set of eyelashes.  Whoopsie.. we'll have to grow those back. Try explaining that to a client who has been growing those babies out for 4 years.   Then, there is the whole logistics of it.  Breeds that grow these beauties will invariably have hair that grows over the eyes.  Of course, the owner wants the dog to be able to see.  That means trimming just the eye brows.. not the lashes, which will extend well past the eyebrow. So, we hold the lashes (once we get them separated from the hair of the eyebrow) down, then carefully trim the brow above it.  Dogs love this. Dogs hate this.  The other problem occurs when it's a dog that gets a banded topknot (ponytail).  Do we band the lashes up into the topknot?  No.. probably not, as that doesn't seem like it would be very comfortable.  Again, we are back to meticulously separating lashes from actual hair. 

Here is a fine example of the 3 L's.



That long black stringy thing.. yep it's his lashes.



Shoot.. he moved, so it's blurry, but you can clearly see it on the left. 

Note I said this is a "he".  Apparently long lashes are not reserved for female dogs.  We probably see just as many boys with this request.  Probably the most popular breed people like long lashes on is the Cocker Spaniel.. no clue why, but they must look really, really good in them.  I wish I would've taken a photo years ago when we had a Miniature Poodle who had lashes at least 3 inches long.  It was crazy freaky.

I hope  you've enjoyed your lesson on the the 3 L's.  I just had to get it off my chest.  This blog is just so theraputic for me, you have no idea.