You can use your fingers to pull hair,you can even shear some of the hair from the ear (not near the earcanal though). I use hemostats to grab and pull hair. Just a personal choice. If you don't want to use them, it's your perogative.
If you opt for Hemostats, grab small amounts of hair and pull straight out. That's it. Pretty simple. After removing the hair remember to clean the dog's ear with a cotton ball dampened with witch hazel. If too much powder is in the earcanal it may cause infection after a while.
To trim the hair on the outside of the ear, I finger the hair straight up over the outer edge and trim the excess (pic #3). Be careful not to nick the ear. I use my fingers as a guide by lightly pinching the edge of the ear and cutting hair beyond my fingers.
Pull the hair taunt and run the knife through the coat in the direction of hair growth. You must be careful or you can cut your dog's skin. He will let you know if you've hurt him! Remember to keep the blade flat on his skin, as shown in pic. In black/silver dogs you only use the knife on the black parts. And yes, this means some of the face and legs, but only sparingly, to keep the color strong. DO NOT use the knife on the anal area of the dog.
You use clippers on that part as well as the cheeks and top of head and ears. (no pic available of that procedure) Black minis are stripped all over, though I'm not familiar with the procedure. And salt/pepper minis are stripped in the same areas of black/silvers.
After raking, take witch hazel and massage the skin with it. This will help cleanse the hair and skin and protect against staph infection from any cuts in the skin.
Scissoring the front legs was easier than I thought it would be. Comb the hair to one side, then cut the ends straight up (or down) the leg. When that's done, comb the hair to the other side and repeat. Trim hair around foot and don't forget to cut hair on bottom of foot. Don't dig scissors into the paw, just cut across to remove the excess hair.
The back legs are combed down. Cut the ends off (how much you cut off is a personal choice) making a straight cut. Trim around and under the foot as described above.
To cut the tummy hair, comb hair down and trim in a diagonal towards the front legs. Schnnauzers DO NOT have skirts. The longer hair will be closer to the back legs. Trim the chest hair and underneath on the chest to maintain a length that does not hang below the hair on the sides of the dog. You will need to clipper hair underneath the ribs and on the belly.
The cheeks, belly, and anal area are all clippered. I do not have photos of that yet, but will in the near future.
