Your 'learning To Groom' Stories...

[Henrietta]

Hello.

I think it may be time for me to become more knowledgable about grooming. I have finally narrowed myself to two breeds for my future dog (in 10 years time most likely lol). Both have different grooming needs, but both have more grooming needs than my current girl.

My choices are..... Miniature Poodle and Tibetan Terrier.

I want to ideally learn how to do my own grooming, but still use a professional groomer occasionally so that s/he is used to this.

One breed needs regularly clipping, but is relatively low maintenance in between (unless they get dirty.... inevitable of course ) The other (the TT) needs more regular brushing and trimming.

To those who found themselves with a coated breed, how did you learn and what was your experience like? Anybody is welcome to answer, not just for those breeds with similar coats to the ones mentioned.

Thanks.

[Dogs4Fun]

Just thought I would comment that a poodle is not low maintenance between clips.

Depending on the clip you choose (ie how long the hair is), you will need to be brushing through the coat at least twice a week, with a bath and dry weekly, face and feet clips every two weeks. If you get them basically shaved all over, of course, this work is minimised. But a dog with a moderate amount of coat in a pet trim could easily take you an hour to wash and dry if you are using a human hair drier.

[Nevafollo]

It really depends what sort of clip you plan on keeping your dog in. Also is your dog going to be shown at all?

ETA...If you want to keep a TT in full coat I could imagine it would be quite abit of work, it would be a fair bit of brushing each week. s for a poodle if you plan to keep its hair long then what Dogs4fun has said is pretty spot on.

Edited September 22, 2010 by sammy_ballerina

[Henrietta]

Just thought I would comment that a poodle is not low maintenance between clips.

Depending on the clip you choose (ie how long the hair is), you will need to be brushing through the coat at least twice a week, with a bath and dry weekly, face and feet clips every two weeks. If you get them basically shaved all over, of course, this work is minimised. But a dog with a moderate amount of coat in a pet trim could easily take you an hour to wash and dry if you are using a human hair drier.

Hi Dogs4Fun,

Sorry, I did say relatively low maintenance... I guess I should clarify. I actually expected poodles to be more work (for a pet). I would expect to be grooming between clips of course!

[Henrietta]

No Sammy, no showing. But I plan to keep a fullish coat on a TT. I would say that the TT would be more grooming overall than a mini.

Edit for spelling

Edited September 23, 2010 by Emm

[Nevafollo]

No Sammy, no showing. But I plan to keep a fullish coat on a TT. I would say that the TT would be more groomer overall than a mini.

Brushing wise yes I'd say you would have to brush more, keeping dogs in full or close to full coat is hard work! I would say Id pefer to have a dog that I just had to mostly brush and scissor rather than the clipping that is involved in poodles. I clip poodles daily and whilst I love making them look proper and pretty I do hate actually doing them.

[Henrietta]

The brushing should be fine (well, I love doing it) but clipping does freak me out a little because I don't know how.

Scissoring is not a strong point either, as my girl can attest. When I get the scissors out to trim feet hair the results aren't particularly stunning. So this grooming thing will be a huge challenge, but I do have the time and dedication to put the effort in.

[shells]

I only started grooming my 2 mini poodles last year. The ladies (and guys ) in the Poodle sub-breed forum have been a fantastic help.

I mainly use a #10 or #30 with a snap-on-comb over the top (which allows me to vary the length). I also bought the Wahl Km2 clippers from Clipperworld (I found them very helpful with advice on blades/equipment to buy also). I also got a copy of Poodle Clipping and Grooming: The International Reference by Shirley Kalstone

The snap on combs made me feel a bit more secure as the blade isnt directly on the dog but the dog does need to be dry and combed out for them to work well.

I love them lovely and long but it is a lot more brushing - especially as we do a lot of running around at the park chasing the ball everyday which means they end up with a lot of grass and crud in their coats so I have trimmed them down a bit shorter as it has warmed up now

[Shaar]

Clipping poodles, especially around the eyes, is daunting at first, but after you get over the initial "oh god i'm going to hurt them" it's a piece of cake.

I use a 10 blade all over on my poodles in summer. We go to the park a lot and they get muddy and dirty so a short cut suits them well. I go against the grain on the face and with the grain on the body so it actually ends up 2 different lengths with the one blade.

For a show poodle it's a 40 blade on the feet face and tail and all the rest is scissor work. Scissoring is actually the most fun part, it's the drying that sucks.

How good they look in the end and how plush they end up is about 80% drying technique.

I learnt from my mum, who breeds mini poodles, who learnt from a good friend of hers who has standards.

EDIT - Oh, and because I keep mine cut so short they never get brushed between clips. It's just a dunk in the bath, a blow dry and whizz the clippers over them. If you decide to keep full ears, tail and fluffy legs it's going to be about half an hour brushing every few days.

Edited September 23, 2010 by Shaar

[Shaar]

Here's a SUPER low maintenance clip... WHY didn't I take the ears off a couple of years earlier? I'm loving the no brushing and the dogs are loving not being brushed!

[dog geek]

Hiya

I do understand the 'research ad nauseum before committing' you are doing - and it's a good thing to do, it will help!

I thought you might like to look at my Photoshop album, you can see my progress - I began with very basic tools, then recently could afford to get good equipment:

http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll237/d...Dogs/?start=180

Now I am getting a 'clientele' of friends' dogs coming for grooming! Which is awesome, I love being able to borrow someone else's dog for the day, it is like grandkids, you can spoil them then give them back

http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll237/d...0Spa%20Clients/

Have fun browsing all over the internet - Youtube is great for clips of 'how to' do various things, and remember, Google is your friend!

Cheers

[Christina]

Clipping poodles, If you decide to keep full ears, tail and fluffy legs it's going to be about half an hour brushing every few days.

If you brush them daily or every other day it should only be a few minutes as they never get any more than a tiny knot, if that

About 5 mins each for my toys, if that, only like brushing your own hair really.

[Shaar]

Clipping poodles, If you decide to keep full ears, tail and fluffy legs it's going to be about half an hour brushing every few days.

If you brush them daily or every other day it should only be a few minutes as they never get any more than a tiny knot, if that

About 5 mins each for my toys, if that, only like brushing your own hair really.

Not if you have an incorrect coat like Prada, well... her body is fairly harsh but her ears are like cotton candy, they matt like nothing else... so I took to them with a 10 blade