When I got my first three Standard Poodles (a white, an appricot, and a black - each a year apart), I knew I wanted to groom them at home. This was back in the late 1980's and there were only a few books available on grooming. I learned to groom from books and from observing how Poodles in pictures were groomed, but I continually had trouble getting two specific areas on my Poodles to look the way I wanted - where the neck meets the back and where the hips join with the torso (that indention). Then, I acquired a DVD on grooming Poodles by Kay Zucco and Jay Scruggs which really helped with those areas. (Note: I am not a professional grooming and have only ever groomed my own dogs.)
HOW I GROOM MY STANDARD POODLES
Pic 1: Joey being thoroughly brushed out. Pic 2: Plucking the ear hair and then cleaning Pic 3: Put cotton balls in ears before bath.
Pic 1: Joey is being "finished" (drying) on the table. Pic 2: Clipping around the base of the tail Pic 3: Clipping aroung "naughty bits", tummy, and inside of flanks.
Pic 1: Joey in the tub being washed Pic 2: On the table being towel dried Pic 3: Using two blow dryers (plus lots of cotton in Joey's ears!)
Pic 1: I tie Joey's ears back with a ribbon. Pic 2: Shave neck with a 15 blade setting Pic 3: Setting line from ear to eye and shave face.
Pic 1 -3 I use a Wahl mini clipper for under the eyes, inside the lip folds, all along the lip edges and the chin.
Pic 1: With Joey standing, I scoop out the hair inside the pads using the mini clippers Pic 2: With him lying down, I use the 15 setting on the tops and sides of the feet and Pic 3: the mini clipper to (carefully!!!) clip inbetween the toes.
Pic 1: Using the clippers, I edge and bevel around the hems. Pic 2: Grinding toenails Pic 3: We use a papertowel and poke the dewclaw through to grind the nail so we don't get hair caught in the grinder. This completes the morning part of the grooming.
Pic 1: After a couple hours rest, we start the bodywork. I clip the body using a 30 blade with a metal clipper guard (Wahl 1/2").
Pic 2 and 3: I scissor the tail, the neck and the head, and the legs. I finish beveling th hems of the "trousers".
Pic 1: After I've cut length and shape to the legs, my husband finishes by cleaning up all the wisps and tags while I finish the head/neck.
Pic 2: I see I need to work on getting the front and back curve better on the back legs. Pic 3: This was after a recent groom - I don't like the close crop above the ears - gonna work on that. Luckily, Poodle hair grows so I have endless chances to get the look I want. |