A good Doodle groomer is hard to come by..

[Dreamydoodles Northwest]

All the groomers I've gone too want to shave my dogs and then I've had so many variations of heads..some cut the heads like poodles (YIKES)..and once my Aussiedoodle came home looking sorta like a baboon..no seriously! She shaved a strip down the middle of his nose and he had this funny looking mustache and this full head of curls. Then they tried the same thing with my standard poodle and a she with a mustashe.. is not cute!! I took her back in and said please cut whatever this is off her face and just shave it. I just asked if they could trim her face instead of shave it which is the normal poodle face cut but I like Daisy with a little fur on her face and that is what I got. Oh well. Nevermind.

I'm still searching for the perfect groomer who gets what I mean when I say.. "cut the body short, do not shave him/her to the skin and then just trim the face" I've even brought in pictures of what I want them to look like. I've only had a couple groomers get it and those two actually went out of business so I've had to start from scratch on my mission to find a descent groomer. :( I just got Teddy (my aussiedoodle) groomed here a couple days ago and they shaved his whole body and then left his full head of curls so he kinda resembles a lion but you still can't see his eyes. I have to post a picture of him because it's too funny. I'm going to take him in again this weekend and have them fix his afro. Grr! I wish I could just learn to groom them myself...but I seriously doubt I'd be the perfect groomer I'm searching for.. haha! I seriously doubt it.

 

I JUST recently found this PDF called a Doodle Cut which I'm sure most of you are aware of but just in case your not here is the link: http://www.asdcompanionlabradoodles.com/Groomer%20Inst.pdf

 

I plan on using that next time I take them to the groomer...which is alot.

 

Teddy with just a small afro..it's much bigger now! (Click for full size image)

 

My Teddy (where are your eyes Teddy)?

 

Overgrown Poodle Daisy above and my favorite look for her.. below

The perfect poodle cut in my opinion would look something like this...

and my perfect AussieDoodle cut would look something like this..

This is Charlie Beecher the Aussiedoodle and he also comes from the same breeder as mine and when I saw this picture for the first time I knew I had to have a dog that looked just like him and I think I got what I wanted. Except my Teddy has way more curls on his head then Charlie does but they basically have the same coloring and the same eyes.

[Sharon & Monty]

I like the fro! Monty is usually too poofy on his head to suit me. After 3 groomer horrors, we have found one that gets it. However I still need to get those thinning scissors out and trim above his eyes. she trimmed him, but gave him a blunt cut. I like it shorter above the eyes and blended. seems to me that only trial and error for each of our dogs is the order of the day.
you can see my last photos here. http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/doodlegrooming/forum/topics/monty...
I think he looks sleepy and/or like an old man when the fur is long around his face/eyes.

[Kris & Brinkley]

My ShepaDoodle just had his first cut & I totally get the baboon thing he sorta looks that way bc she razored a strip down his nose.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I use that 'Doodle Do' instruction sheet every time I get Lucy groomed. I've only once been happy with the results, and that gal went out of business. I, too, end up taking Lucy back to try to get it right and still its almost impossible for them. Why does it have to be so hard??? Lucy's coat is quite wooly/fleecy/corkscrewy and her last groom came out looking all hacked up, even on her face/beard. I almost cried.... for days. Good luck. All I can say is go over every single point on the instruction sheet and make sure they understand what it is you want. They always seem in such a hurry and almost seem put out that you want to go over the instructions in detail. I think in their minds they've already decided what they're going to do and the instruction sheet is a moot point! Can you tell I can commiserate with you?