Julio came to my grooming table today. He is just the sweetest Maltese Shihtsu cross to have on my table. Nothing about the grooming process bothers him. I do use the fan to finish drying his face while I work on the rest of him though. His usual groom is a #7 all with a short round face and just a tidy to the ears and tail. Today his owner requested shorter so he can go through to the spring. So, today I used a #10 on the body, #5 on the top of the head and down the sides of his face and shortened the muzzle to match. I usually only take barely 1 inch off the ear length so today I took a good 1 and1/2 inches off. I still only lightly tidied the tail. Apparently he has been licking the bottom of his left front foot...there is a dark wierd looking strip, almost a crack, between the pads. I pointed this out when he was picked up and suggested they keep an eye on it. It might be a fungus or yeasty thing going on. It was a very relaxed and enjoyable visit with my little friend.