Haircut (Head)
Comb the hair both on the skull and the muzzle in the direction of
growing, extracting dead hair. Cut the hair on ears - both inside
and outside. Though, it's better to cut the inner side of the ears
in the last turn, after all dog has been already cut, because small
spiky hairs in his ear make him shake his head which is rather
annoying. Ears should be cut with the electric or mechanical
shaving machine, but you can use scissors. The direction is from
the tip of the ear to the bulk of it. If the hair hangs on both sides
of the ear making the effect of "large ears", cut it away. Be careful
and do not hurt the dog!
Forehead
Start from eyebrows and with the help of a shaver make a
"platform". Its width is equal to the width of the skull, and the
length is from eyebrows to the ear. The rest of the forehead is cut
with scissors so that short hair smoothly turns into long, from one
to two cm. It makes available the formation of a "cap", which is
designed on the back of the head and makes the effect of prolonged
head.
After you have finished the forehead, it's time you cut the
cheek-bones. Draw off the ear and shave the hair at the base of the
ear. Then, thoroughly cut the cheek-bones, leaving about 1,75 cm.
The cheek-bones must be absolutely flat. If the dog has a wide
skull - cut the cheek-bones even shorter. If the skull is long and
narrow - leave more hair. That will remedy the situation.
After you have decided what length of the hair you'll leave on
cheek-bones, it's time for the next step. Now the head must be
given the shape of a "brick". It is done by leveling the change
between long hair on the muzzle and beard and short hair on the
cheekbones.
The head should have rectangular shape if you look from above and
triangular shape from the side view. The fringe must be like
continuation of the forehead, emphasizing its straight lines and
parallel to the muzzle. Improper fringe distorts the parallelism
of forehead and muzzle. All hair distorting rectangular shape of
the head are to be cut away. Then comb the head again and check
your work up.
Haircut (Neck and chest).
Draw a line from the base of the ear to the junction of the jaw and
the neck. Cut short from the base of the ear to the neck and try to
form a "shirtfront". Now it's time to get down to the neck.
Comb the hair in direction, opposite to the direction of growth.
Cut the excessive hair with scissors, form a mane. Try to level the
section of withers, otherwise you'll get a shaved neck coming out of
a hairy body. On the left and right sides of the neck long hair
(2-3 cm) turns into very short. The mane must look like a
continuation of the neck.
The length of the mane depends on the peculiarities of the build
of the concrete dog. If the neck is thin and long - the hair is
longer, and if the neck is short and massive - leave shorter hair.
There are such words in the standard of the breed: ":The front part
of the chest overhangs the elbow line..."
I think it's good to emphasize this feature. It is done like this:
Draw a line from the chest bone, by the shoulder blade. Here is the
border between short hair on the lower part of the neck and long hair
on the shoulders. Don't make this border sharp. All lines of the
haircut are smooth, they turn one into other without any decorativeness and fancifulness, which is more suitable to decorative breeds.
All parts of body should be in the same scale. Just remember,
that moderateness is peculiar to this breed.
Leave 1-2 cm starting from the chest bone. Form the front of the
chest with scissors. Properly cut front makes the effect of "rushing
forward".
If the chest is well-developed, you don't have to leave long
"skirt". The sharp line of the chest (which must not be more
than 10 cm lower than the elbow line) turning into stomach is good.
Besides, if the chest is already well-developed, the excessive mass
of hair will create the effect of squat build. If you try to hide an
undeveloped chest under the long skirt, you'll attract the attention
of an expert to the very feature.
The length of the hair on the shoulders is about 3-5 cm. Once again,
you must consider the build of your dog, especially the width of the
chest. If the chest is not very wide, do not try to make it wider by
leaving more hair.
You'd better physically develop your pet.
The back is also cut with scissors to get a strict line from
withers to the tail. Length of hair on the back is about 3-5 cm,
the same about sides and chest. Keep in mind that you can both
spoil your dog with a haircut and emphasize its positive features.
The BRT has salient ribs, so do not make the body flat, but also
don't leave much hair - that will make the dog "heavy".
The tail is cut evenly, 2-3 cm are left. The inner (back) side of
the tail and the genitals are cut as short as possible. If the tail
is short, you may leave longer hair on its tip - that'll make it
longer.
Haircut (Forequarters)
The forequarters should be thoroughly combed against the direction
of the hair growth. Cut away the excessive hair, form a "column".
Thick bundles of hair in between fingers are cut away. The paw must
look round.
Haircut (Hindquarters)
Start cutting from the hock, (1-2 cm above it). You may use the
shaver. Cut the back side of the thighs, up to the anus. On the
thigh the length is 3-5 cm, and the longer hair is smoothly replaced
by shorter. If you properly cut the thigh, you can hide many faults
and weakness of the build.
Id' like to mention once more that after the haircut, the BRT
must have nice, natural lines of the silhouette. His appearance
must be self-assured and powerful and by no means decorative.
Olga VOROBJEVA