How to describe a "doodle cut" to my new groomer?

[Stacy Armstrong]

Hi everyone. Thanks for reading my post. I have an 8 month old Australian Labradoodle. She has been groomed three times so far. Mostly, her pads, eyes, ears and privates. The groomer isn't familiar with labradoodles and insists that she be shaved with clippers like a poodle or bichon. No matter how I explain it to her, she insists that her fur is too long. Also, that her puppy fur needs cut off so that the adult can come in better.

My doodle isn't matted and her fur is trimmed nicely around the essential areas (eyes, ears, privates). We like her fur shaggy and natural looking rather than a short cut. She is going to a new groomer on Tuesday. I've been searching the internet for a good description on how to cut a doodle.

Any advice on how to explain a doodle cut? Scissor or clipper cut?

Do you need to cut short so that the adult fur comes in nicely? Her puppy coat is softer and straighter. The adult fur is spiral.
Thanks.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Join the Grooming Group; lots of good info there.
http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/doodlegrooming

The adult fur is going to come in the way it's going to come in regardless of what you do or don't do now. It is an old wives' tale that cutting anybody's hair, dog, person or giraffe, will change anything at all. The texture, curl, length etc will be what they are, whether you cut, shave, or do anything else.
I can't help you on the cut, since my F1 sheds and never gets trimmed. Good luck.

[Debbie and Thomas]

I ask my groomer to just "even him out". She has to cut him a bit shorter in order to do this but it is still about 2 1/2 inches long all over his body. It grows in very fast. Here is a picture of ours after his first grooming when he was six mths old.

[Nugget's Family]

Hi, Stacy!

We have a 3 year old ALD who has been to 4 different groomers. We haven't been happy with any of the professional grooming that she's gotten. (They all cut her like a standard poodle...pom-pom tail and all.) We like her shaggy, too. So, I bought an ALD grooming dvd (available at "Doodle Country Store") and a good pair of clippers and I do it myself now. I do everything except her nails. I bring her to the vet for that.....not that it's not doable, I'm just a bit wimpy about the whole thing....I'm afraid I'll cut too low and she'll bleed.

As far as scissors v. clippers...I use both. I scissor cut her face, her ears, her feet and her tail. Then I use electric clippers for everything else. The clippers I bought came with different "guide" attachments so that I don't go too short. I never (unless it's really hot in the summer) go shorter than 2 inches....gives her plenty of fluff! :-) I do go short on her belly so that she can cool off on the tile if she gets warm.

Nuggy (our dog) had a tough time with her coat from about 8 months to 13 months. She has a fleece coat and when her puppy coat was growing out, her hair got very matted very easily, so we did keep her a bit shorter for a while. We literally could not get a brush through her coat. But, her mature coat is nothing like that. It is still very fleecy but much easier to brush and comb.

Nug and I both get into our grooming zone and enjoy the whole grooming process. If my husband and daughter happen to be home, we make it a family project. One thing....it really helps if you have a sturdy work table or surface that you can lift your dog up on to....as long as it is safe for both you and your dog. In the summer, we put a vinyl tablecloth over our picnic table and put her on that. In the winter, I actually spread out a tablecloth over our washer/dryer in the laundry room and lift her up on to them. Nuggy lays down and gets very comfy to the point where I have to roll her over to get her fully groomed!

Hope this is helpful! I'm sure you'll find much more helpful info in the grooming group.

Susan

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

When I first signed on I saved this document. It is in Adobe Format and attached. You can print and take this with you.

GroomingDoodles.pdf

Karen and Jack said join the grooming group! I second and third that suggestion.

[Monica and Ginger]

Hi Jane, I just joined DK and found your pdf on Grooming Doodles!  Fantastic!  I will take it with me next time - our 8month old mini F1B has been groomed 3 times and looked like a poodle every time, so this will help immensely.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

that's a great pdf, Joanne, thanks...

[Sue]

this is my ALD as a puppy , and the next pic is at almost 3 years old. His coat changed greatly. I went through many groomers until I got a good one.

Sometimes a picture gives the groomer a good idea about what you want.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Definitely join the grooming group and I second the idea of doing it yourself. It is not as complicated as you might think, just very time consuming, But I'd rather spend 2-3 hours grooming than look at 2-3 months of a bad haircut. I always get what I want, and it has been useful even with training sit stay and wait and roll over....so used it to my advantage both ways.
Besides, I have much more important things to do with the $500.00 or more a year I'd spend on grooming...Like extra good dog foods for one.

And it does get quicker as you do it. I will sometimes do a little bit for a few days in a row if it's too much time to do all at once.

Sometimes you have an idea of what YOU want him to look like and that can be hard to communicate to someone else. Even my husband and I have different ideas of what looks best. But I do the cutting, so I win on that score. :) Good luck

[Debbie and Thomas]

I love the way you keep him shaggy looking and the way you do the area around his eyes. I wish I had the patience to do this.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I think a picture is worth a thousand words. Did you happen to buy a doodle calendar? If so there are lots of doodle pictures to show. Or copy one of the doodles here and print their picture.
Join the Grooming group and look in the discussions there. Shaving does not change the growing in coat or make it better or mat less or whatever. My groomer uses scissors on Ned.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

My best advice is to be "very very specific". Take a picture, but ask the groomer how long she sees the hair in the picture. I had one picture that I took that I really liked, and my groomer knows that I don't want mine short and she told me she didn't think I was going to be happy because the cut was very short. Didn't look that short to me. Be sure to tell her about the eyelashes if you don't want them cut! I also am very specific about "NO SHAVING". I ask for a scissor cut. Also be sure that all matts are combed out before you go. You will notice on here that different people like their doodle(s) cut different ways, so you just have to find what you like and then discuss in detail with your groomer. If they seem hurried or not listening, find a different groomer. Or better yet, find someone on here in your area that loves their groomer and start there.

[shelly]

Hi Stacy, Aside from joining the grooming group, I would also buy a doodle calendar right here from Doodle Kisses. Talking doeesn't help... I spent about 20 minutes discussing what I wanted, blah,blah,blah with the grooming MANAGER, and went back and she way shaved! I wanted to (and did) cry! That was at Petco. Brought her to 2 more places, left them too.... FINALLY I found a groomer who takes the time to brush out mats. She still hasn't gotten the nose right, but that's the next point of discussion. She keeps trimming the bridge of her nose too much, but NOTHING like what the others did - they gave her quite a poodle look on her nose. Good luck and from what I learned - DON'T let anyone ever tell you how it SHOULD be done! We as people have all different hair types and styles... why can't our dogs! Good luck! Many of these groomers need visuals... bring pictures! shelly