I don't want web sites, but rather practical advise from someone who has done dog grooming. I want to groom my own shihtzus, have to for financial reasons ?

I groom my own yorkie. I give him a puppy cut, basicly short all over his body and trim his face to make it appear rounder.
I would start with the best clippers you can afford with the comb attachments. I typicaly trim my dogs body to about 1/4inch long. With out the comb attachment I trim the bottom of his tail down past his winkie ( i guess you cant type the p-word...) to his first set of nipples ( be careful that your blade is not hot, or you can easily burn your pup) I also use the bare blade to trim the fur on the bottom of his feet between the pads, and trim the hair around the top of the foot to create a roundish look to the feet.
For my yorkies face I tend to scissor cut the hair, useing my fingers to make it equal length on either side of the face. Trimming away the hair in the corner of his eyes. Though most people trim shih tzu's faces pretty short... I would start with 1/4th of a inch comb and figure out how you like the face of your baby.
Always go nice and slow, and finish when you want to. If your dog starts to fight it, dont let it end there! Or your dog will always think it can force you to stop by fighting. I susgest if you think they will be a fight do one thing at a time, face only, body only, feet only... Ending with a nice body massage will allow your dog to learn to enjoy being groomed, and if your dog can run away after being groomed your dog will always want to run away from being groomed, not learning to wait for the good part at the end.
Have fun and enjoy the special bonding time you get from grooming your own dog!

well i am a groomer and i will try and tell you some things that may help. i will say, most dogs hate being groomed. and that being said the dogs who hate being groomed by a groomer hate it more when the owner does it (normally they know the owner will give up easier). so if your dog fights, like the above post, do not let them win! if they try and jerk a foot away sit there and hold it until they realize that you are not mommy right now. so yeah, i would always use a clip comb since you are inexperianced. these combs also keep the hair even all around and dont let the blade get too close to the skin, both good things for beginners. i would NOT use scissors around the face. most experianced groomers do not, expecially for the eyes (this also depends on how well behaved the dog is) if you have to scissor, just be very careful about the tips (or just use blunted tipped scissors) You should probably get a book or a tape becaus grooming is a lot harder than it looks. maybe you should get a dog that doesnt require so much grooming if you cant afford it

I'd have to disagree with Purplex (sorry!) with the scissors around the face. I'm a professional groomer and I always use scissors around the face along with many other groomers. I use my 7.5" straight shears, which don't have a blunt end, and I have never stabbed a dog. If I didn't use shears to trim the beard, around the eyes and eyebrows, how would I? I occasionally use the clippers but its too tricky and the blade too wide, besides, scissors give a better finish, especially thinning shears around the face. I use my clippers primerally only to clip the body of a dog(depending on the breed, I'll either scissor OR clip the legs), then I scissor the face, genitalia, pads and sanitary area. Using a variety of straight, curved or thinning shears, none of them blunt ended.

For someone who is starting out, I'd recommend blunt end shears as it is easy to make a mistake and if your dog is fidgety, your dogs groom could wind up in the emergency room at your vet's! Take things slow and take time to step back to see if its right or not, take only little bits off at a time when scissoring as you can always take more off, but you can't stick it back on!

[lil mutt]

I also have a shi tzu... and i usually groom her by myself... I use electric razor and gently and safely trim her fur...