I am making a Bernese mountain dog for my husbands upcoming birthday cake. Tonight I made one which I think will be just my practice dog, I didn't spend a lot of time on it so it's not great 

anyway when I redo, I want to make the dog look thick coated/furry like a Bernese dog does.  But how when it is fondant / sugar paste?

I'll try to post a picture of what I made tonight so you can see .. it's just flat / looks short coated

Maybe I just need to sort of imprint lines all over with my exacto knife .. to give the impression of fur  ..

I believe there are texture mats for long fur, but I wonder if small (like tiny) scissor cuts would help it look longer?

ah! texture mats! I'm just learning about all this cake stuff and it seems there's a tool for everything! let me look them up... I would rather avoid buying something else though as I'm trying to stop buying things lol

the only scissors I have are the large ones that come with the knife blocks- I tried snipping with that and it was not working at all ... but maybe if I buy a tiny scissors!

aw man looks like the long fur mat is $30.. I just can't justify that for making one dog.

I wish you could rent these things! like $5 for one day of use

I agree...sometimes you only use them once....

Craftsy has a few suggestions (tiny scissors is one!)....maybe one of the other methods will work with items you already have on hand...

https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/08/best-methods-for-applying-fur-texture/

thank you! It definitely seems like the texture mat is the easiest and least time consuming .. but $30 ..ugh! lol! I think I'll try the deep cuts method. With that and a better head next time I am hopeful it will look decent.

thank you for your help :)

@Coffeelover77 ‍, your doggy is a cutie!  To make a big, fluffy dog, though, I think you need to make him look fatter/fluffier, then add texture.  Make your outline of him the shape of the real dog, then add your texture.  I did all of the texture on this piece with my dresden tool, but you can use anything with a point.  Just look at pictures of the dog and notice the direction in which his hair grows.  Using manicure scissors to clip around the outline edges will add extra fuzzy texture too.

By the way, this is modeling chocolate and will take texture a lot better than fondant, but you can work fondant the same way.

Thank you @SandraSmiley ‍ your cats are fantastic! If i can get mine to look even 1/10th as good I will be happy

hmm yet again this forum cut off most of my post!!! why cake central, whyyyy

So I was saying ... Do you think I should form the dog shape from one ball of dough, then add extra layers of sugar paste after layer by layer? Do you form these cats from just one large piece of dough or are you doing the body.. then sticking a limb/head on and such?

I suppose I could try making modeling chocolate though I've heard it's harder to work with and melts more easily? the party is in july so it it will be hot and humid

Thanks, @Coffeelover77 ‍ !  Modeling chocolate works quite differently than fondant, but I agree that it (fondant) would be the better choice for a hot environment.  Depending upon how large you plan to make your dog, you can use solid fondant or, as with my cats, form the core body with Rice Krispy Treats then cover with fondant.  Using RKTs also helps prevent settling or sagging while the fondant drys.

Modeling chocolate definitely has a learning curve, but it is well worth the time to learn if you want very detailed work.  I love it and it smells good too, haha!  

Here's what happens to modeling chocolate in the heat.

oh no @SandraSmiley ‍  your poor dancer lady !!!! I'm sorry :(

That is a good idea about the RKT actually! Maybe I'll try that. I'm not sure exactly what size my dog should be ... this one may have come out a little too big. My plan is to make a VW Camper van cake and next to it will be the dog and then leaning against it a bicycle which I also haven't made yet (waiting for my extruder tool to attmept the bike)

So for the camper cake I will probably use two loaf pan cakes (5x7) and i assume it will be about 6 inches tall. So then I think the dog should be probably half as tall, but less then lying down ... so maybe he should be only two inches high??  this is confusing lol

No, @Coffeelover77 ‍, you are no confusing.  I think I would, for sure, make the dog lying down.  You are dealing with enough ambition already on this one.  Make your standing dog next time, haha!  These are big dogs, so I would say maybe about 2/3rds to 3/4ths the size of the bicycle?  

I can't wait to see your VW bus!  They are fabulous, but I am afraid to do vehicles.

The poor Samba Dancer had served her purpose, so she can now have a peaceful burial :o)

yes I thought about doing the dog sitting but I think I'll stick to lying down for ease!!!

I'm sure the Bus won't go so great... I have enough trouble trying to cover a plain round cake with fondant haha but It will be a fun experiment! There's a tutorial I saw recently from zoes cakes and they make it look easy but isn't that always the way ..

Honestly, it may be easier to cover the bus with fondant than a round cake because it will not necessarily have to be covered in one piece.  Good luck! 

@SandraSmiley ‍ your after photo reminds me of my body having just had a baby 7 weeks ago lol, such a shame, it was another one of your beautiful works of art.

Awe, @bubs1stbirthday ‍, I am sorry to hear that your poor body feels like the "after" Samba Dancer looks!  Congratulations on your new baby!  

She is immortalized in pictures and the damage makes it easier to toss her to make room for more pieces.

7 weeks post partum is a tough time! Congrats on your baby :) 

I made another one today and it's better! Not perfect but I'm not doing it again lol. This time I used rkt and that was much better! I had my darling 3 and 5 year olds "helping" me so it did take longer than the first one haha

Hmm why did it post sideways ..

Ok I posted it to my gallery and it posted right side up there :)

He is adorable and you really captured the long haired, fluffy look!

Don't know why that have been posting sideways.  The last two I posted did the same thing.

Thank you @SandraSmiley ‍ ! Inthink now there is no ambiguity about what kind of dog it is which was my goal !

of course now I have a new problem .. the dog is quite a bit bigger than the bike I made !! Aargh lol

Oh, don't worry about that, @Coffeelover77 ‍ .  You are the only one who will ever notice the size difference.  Everyone else will just be oooooohing and aaaaahing over how cute everything is.

Oh, don't worry about that, @Coffeelover77 ‍ .  You are the only one who will ever notice the size difference.  Everyone else will just be oooooohing and aaaaahing over how cute everything is.

I think you are right ! Nobody else is likely to notice the dimensions! Plus it could just be the largest bernese in existence lol

I am a doggy person, trained and trialled them and worked in the industry for most of my life and there is no doubting what breed of dog he is, definitely a Bernie :-)

Much better than the first one and I agree that no one will care if he is too big in size scale :-)

Thanks for the congrats :-)