Thank goodness the hair GROWS back!!

[Ginny Nightingale]

No pics yet, but Lyric went to a new groomer today and came back like a poodle! Well, not quite, but pretty close! I had given the groomer an 8x11" picture and a written description and just asked her to make it shorter with the same shape. The body is fine, but the head shape is really different. Really short on her nose and under the eyes, as well as on the sides of her head. She is really CLEAN and fluffy however. My old groomer did a better job with a doodle shape, but the dog wasn't clean! Especially her ears! Groomers are very expensive around here, so I wanted to get a clean well groomed dog more than the right shape and I definitely I got that!

[shelly]

OH Ginny ~ I (we all) feel for you! There has been so much talk on this subject last week! We have all been there. Although it's no consolation right now... it eventually grows back. There ae so many of us who have spent so much time explaining what we want done, to come back finding our "doodles" have become solely "poodles". I am so sorry!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

It is always disappointing to pay lots of money and not get the cut you want. I don't know why it is so hard for groomers to do a basic doodle cut. There are great variations in coat, so I do understand that it might take a while to get it perfect, but poodle nose is definitely not right. Sorry for Lyric.

[Louise and Toby]

Yep, feeling for you! So sorry - what a huge disappointment for you!

I guess most of us have a such disappointments - once Toby came home with poodle feet - SHAVED! It took forever to grow back.

[Ann]

Well....I had my friend Janice cut Samson twice,I had to bring him back sooner than I wanted. This time, however, I asked for a little shorter and I wanted his face cut short. And yes, his face did look like a poodle when he came home. But, I told her to cut it shorter so it was my fault. My husband had a cow when he saw him!!! Said no more cutting off around the nose really close, just around the eyes. I think they do have a tendency to look like poodles if you cut the hair off the face and around the nose. Instead of having a beard/goatee, which they should have.

But of course if you have a lot of hair around the mouth, you get crappy hair around their mouths and stinky sometimes, and lots of dribbling after drinking!!! LOL!!!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Well...yes that is true, BUT she still has the beard! They took the hair off the TOP of her nose right back to and around the eyes..totally shaved! I like it when she has a bit of hair that goes up her head between her eyes. Now she has that "dished out" look. But the woman is willing to learn and wants me to give her input, so that is good. (there are more and more doodles around here, so economically, she can gain from some advice!) By the way, it would be intersting to see a comparison in price...I live in upstate NY, not in the city and I paid $75!!!! I think, though, that many of her clients are from NY so they think she is cheap. My old groomer charged $57, but she was 35 minutes away and i thought that was a hassle.
When I retire (in JUNE'10!) I am going to get clippers and a grooming table and try this thing myself. I used to scissor grooom my Wheaten when he was alive, so I know i can do this!

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

Ginny, It's posts like this that scared me into attempting to do my own grooming as well. I figured I couldn't possilby do worse than a groomer shaving him, especially his face and feet and OMG....DON'T touch the TAIL!!!
I just started doing a little at a time and sometimes it would take me 2-3 sittings to get it all done, but it's always just the way I want it. And I always figured I can live with most anything I do especially since I save $75.00 a pop. Heck, 2 groomings paid for the Andis Professional Clippers. And I do mine and my daughters doodle.
You can start out with scissors and do some light trimming and get your confidence up. The grooming group has SO much great info.

[Sandi, Jeff & Mickey]

Oh, we had that happen to Mickey! There is a photo of him under the grooming group, under "I want to cry!" He had a pointy snout, shaved feet, and a poofy top! He didn't care a bit. It was only Dad and I who cared. He felt good, in fact, and the hair grew back beautifully! Now, when we go to the groomer, even if we've been there before, we tell them He's a Doodle, not a Poodle, no froofy tops, keep the feet as they are and cut him down exactly from what you see - just --- shorter (depending on time of year). He was almost shaved! His hair was matted underneath, something we didn't know. I thought I was being such a "good mom" and found out that he was OK on top and matted underside. That was a hard lesson to learn. We didn't go back there though as she never called to tell me that she was going to "take him down" so far! We paid $75 the last groom, with tip, here in Vegas, but if we take him in LA, I would imagine it will be more.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

You should ask people in your area where they take their doodles. Also see if there are any doodle breeders close by that could recommend someone? Hair will grow back and as long as your baby is happy then everything will be ok. :-)

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

Been there!

[Karen & Lucy]

It is dissapointing for your dood to come back from the groomers entirely not looking like you expected. I think the only solution is to do it yourself, Hahahahahah, and then there is not guarantee. I feel I am so fortunate now to have found this mobile groomer. She is new at this, BUT she does a great job. Lucy is beautiful, in my eyes, each time she does her. The great thing is that the hair grows back, and pretty fast at that.

[texanmom4]

It is so hard to find the right groomer. I love that CLEAN dog smell though, Ahhhh!!!

[Hunter and Daisy's Doodle Mom]

That is my biggest fear! My dood's are almost 7 months old and my days of home grooming are soon over. I've been doing their trimming under the pads and fly aways and daily brushing and the baths, but Hunter is 70 lbs and a bear to get OUT of the tub, he thinks it's his own private spa, and the hair inside of his ears is getting to the "needs to get plucked" stage and I do NOT want to do it. My sister has Australian Labradoodles and have the curlier hair, so she gets them an almost poodle-like cut and comb, I think it's called the continental clip, but my dogs are F1 Goldendoodles and have the shag. The only curl is a bit in the ears. I only need them to be trimmed up. Ugh, I think I need to change my profession and become a dog groomer...a Doodle groomer!