Look through most groomers' toolboxes, and you will find that they use regular shears and thinning, blending, and chunking (or texturizing) shears. Each of these tools performs differently and is used to achieve unique results.
- Thinners: Thinning shears can be identified by the fact that each blade of the shear has teeth or notched edges. Most often used to perform bulk thinning on heavily coated dogs by cutting under the fur, close to the skin. An example of this might be to reduce the bulk on the ears of a dog that are so thick and dense that the fur will not lie nicely and is prone to matting. Thinning out some of the coat close to the skin can help the hair look more manageable and (hopefully) reduce future tangling.
- Blenders: Blending shears have teeth or a notched edge on one side and a solid cutting blade on the other. This type of shear is most often used to blend coat to look like it grew naturally without any sharp lines. For example, a groomer might use blenders to create a soft, natural look on a Shih Tzu pet-style face. They can also be used to blend lines on breeds such as a clipped Schnauzer, where the shorter jacket needs to flow smoothly into longer furnishings. The higher the number of teeth on this type of shear, the more coat it will remove with each snip.
- Chunkers: Also known as Texturizers, this shear style is relatively new in the grooming world. Groomers (like me!) who groomed for years before Chunkers became available often wonder how we worked without them. Chunkers have very wide teeth on one blade, with a solid blade on the corresponding side. They are used similarly to a regular shear to quickly remove a lot of coat while leaving a soft, natural finish. They work well on almost every coat type, from dense curls to fine drop coats. They are terrific for shaping pantaloons on double-coated breeds such as Pomeranians, tidying underlines, and even creating beautiful Teddy Bear-style faces. Chunkers come in a variety of lengths. Some groomers report that the longer styles are more prone to having mechanical problems such as having the teeth jam.
Some companies make curved models of blenders and chunkers, which are marvelous for creating soft, natural-looking finishes on faces, topknots, or any other area where you want to avoid straight cuts.
Thinners, Blenders, and Chunkers are marvelous tools that earn their space in any groomers tack box.
