Frustrated with groomer

[Judith and Addie]

I just need to vent a little.

I moved from NC to MD the end of October and took my doodle, Addie, to a nearby groomer who was highly recommended. Addie has a soft but very curly coat, and I think the poodle genes have come through pretty strongly. She is a black phantom and she prances when she walks.

Anyway, back to my frustration. The first time I had her groomed, the groomer cut her body so that it was about 3/4 inch when the hair is straight, which means when it goes back to its curl, you can almost see skin. She did leave her legs long but tapered the feet, and she cut the tail hair from her rear end for about 5 inches. She also shaved Addie's muzzle. The groomer told me that Addie was matted at the skin in a couple places, which didn't surprise me since with the move, and her adult coat coat coming in, I didn't give it as much attention as it needed.

Fast forward to today, 2 months later. Addie's body had grown out enough to be about 3/4 inch deep when curled. The temperature has been in the teens and I wanted to keep her coat a bit longer. I printed the grooming checklist that I found on this site, and also discussed what I wanted with the groomer The groomer said she used a #4 blade on Addie's body previously. I said not to trim her body because I wanted it longer in the cold weather, but do a sanitary, trim her head, and her legs. When I picked Addie up,the groomer said that she didn't have any mats or knots this time. Addie came home basically the same as the first time. Her head looks like a poodle's to me, with a shape demarcation between her neck and her top-knot, her whiskers are trimmed and rounded. her paws are tapered, and her body is again less than an inch when the hair is straight. Sigh.

Time to find another groomer, I think.

[Cynthia, Elvis & Pink]

You might try finding other doodles in the area (dog park?) and asking where they get their dog groomed.  We have groomers hear in Seattle that pretty much do nothing but doodles because they've gotten so many referrals.

[Judith and Addie]

Thanks for the suggestion. So far, I haven't seen any doodles in my neighborhood. The dog park is 35 minutes away (about 25 miles), and I have not seen another doodle there. But looking on-line, there is a groomer near there that shows pictures of their grooming of several different breeds so I think I'll talk with them the next time Addie and I go to the dog park.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I'm so sorry and understand how frustrating it is to end up with your doodle looking like a poodle or??? I tried to work with the groomer in my area that is THE doodle groomer supposedly. I saw other doodles she had groomed and they looked great. But for some reason Tara always came home looking weird.  I finally showed her a picture of a dog with the exact cut I wanted for Tara. Her response was "Oh, that's messy"...that's when I started doing it myself.  I wish you luck!

[Judith and Addie]

Thank you. Since Addie is very for thr groomers but I have a hard time keeping her quiet enough to brush and comb her out, I am very hesitant to groom her myself. Maybe it is a case of, like kids, behaving in public but a terror at home?

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I found that setting up a grooming area with a table, etc for that purpose has changed Tara's attitude about being groomed. She knows what to expect on the table.  Before I would just brush her wherever and she was often resistant. I still don't overdo it on the table. She has her limits but she really is very good and of course bribery helps! LOL

[Pat, Mary & Cooper]

I agree with you, we've purchase a grooming table and all the supplies and are doing the grooming ourselves. We use the table for brushing,cutting his claws,cleaning his ears... I can see that my Cooper feels at ease on the table and it makes everything go smoother...he doesn't like to be brushed that much but like you've mentioned treats are never too far! It's a lot of work but I find that if you do it in steps it is not so bad and you decide how much you want to cut out...

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

It was out of frustration with professional groomers that I taught myself to do the grooming. Even with the last groomer the doodles had, that I liked a lot, there was always some aspect of the cut that wasn't quite right. Now, if I'm not happy with the outcome, I take the doodles back to the grooming table and tweak it until I am :)

Its true, a grooming table really changes the way the doodles behave, when they may not have been at their best otherwise. Being on a table tells them its time to get down to business and they're really very good with every aspect of the groom, from the brush out to the clipper cut. Both mine had a fair amount of experience with professional groomers, too, which may have helped.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am so sorry. This is so frustrating. What if you had her scissor cut? That way there would be no shaving.