I am a failure at grooming!!

[Cynthia and Magic]

I don't know what I am doing wrong.

I spent 2 hours brushing, combing....got all kinds of fluff off him I didn't know he had. Read all the info, watched youtube videos.....and I thought I would ace this!

 

Set up the table....made a coffee...all smiles and all prepared. Crap.

I was hoping to get him down to about a 1" summer cut. He has really dense curly hair. After 2 hours of hacking away....I hardly got any hair off him! I thought, maybe my clippers are too cheap. Ran out mid-job and bought a more expensive Oster...but it just keeps jamming in his hair and pulling off the attachment!...and didn't do any better than my $40 clipper. It looks so easy in the video!!

I didn't bath him first because he had one a few days ago....how dirty could he be?? Could this be the problem??

 

I was really hoping to be able to do this....but after 4 hours, I have an exhausted pup....and I am ready for the nuthouse!!

...I hate to admit defeat - but do you think I should leave this up to the groomer? Maybe his hair just got too long.....or maybe I just suck as a groomer!!

 

[Cynthia and Magic]

Thanks Nancy...

Ya....I think I might have to recruit hubby for some help until Magic and I get the hang of this! It might help having someone hold the little squirmer still when I get to those 'tickly' parts he keeps trying to hide from me! Every time I tried to do his butt he would sit on it!

I really think Magic would rather struggle with me, than spent 4 or 5 hours at the groomer...

[Nancy Pyzynski]

I don't think I would have been brave enough to go it alone.  Coco got a bit squirmy when we tried to clip her front legs so we just worked on another area or gave her a break and went back a bit later.  She seemed to get used to it after a bit and not mind as much.  I think the ear rubbing, talking to her and encouraging her really seemed to help her be more at ease.  If you are at ease then Magic will feel more at ease and even though I think we have some wonderful groomers available to us, I would prefer to groom her at home.

If you have to pull ear hair, then I would do that yourself as well. I have heard that groomer sometimes will use a hemostat to grab, twist and pull ear hair. I am not a groomer but I think this must be quite painful to a dog and would never dream of doing that. If you are going to use a groomer, make sure you ask about that or insist that they do not use that method or ask to watch as they do it.

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

Cynthia, after I got the professional equipment, it took me close to two months to get up the confidence to put the clippers to Simon, my almost 2 yr old ALD. He has a spiral fleece coat that was almost 6 inches long when I decided he had to be cut down for the warmer weather. I followed Barb's advice and it worked well. It gave me a great respect and appreciation for professional groomers. :-)

Barb said: when going from long to short, cut it down with the scissors first. If it's choppy, don't worry about it. Make sure all the mats/tangles are out. Go from the skin out  to get the mats. Shampoo, condition then blow out completely. Now is the time to use the clippers. Then use blending shears for head and ears. :-)

The first time I used the clippers on Simon, even after doing all of the above, I found places that the clippers wouldn't go through. If I tried, it would pull the comb right off the clippers. I realized those were the places that still had some knots. I used a small tooth metal comb to get the knot/mat out, then the clippers went right through like butter. Also, make sure his hair is standing up and go WITH the direction the hair grows.

I'm not a groomer by a looooong shot, but there are some pro groomers here as well as ppl who've been grooming their dogs a long time. They give GREAT advice. :-)  Good luck, have fun and I'm sure your baby looks more adorable than you think.

[Cynthia and Magic]

Thanks Deb...great stuff! I knew when I kept pulling the combs off I was doing something wrong...

 

You have all been so fabulous....and so much information to use!!! One of these days I hope to be the one giving advice to some other beginner!!

 

I know I can do this....and when I am done - I might even post a picture!

:D

[Donna K & Quincy]

The clippers aren't the problem but the blade may be, I tried clipping Quincy with the number 10 blade and got nowhere, switched to a number 40 blade and what a difference. It still took me a lot longer than I expected but, a few days later I ran the clippers over him again and it was so easy.The first time I clipped him there was a lot of brushing and combing to get the clippers to go through the fur, I think using a metal attachment instead of plastic would also be much better.

[Cynthia and Magic]

 

..ok..this is one thing I don't understand when people talk about blades. Mine only comes with one. Do you have to buy other blades?....

[Donna K & Quincy]

The other blades are sold separately, I think most clippers come with a #10 blade. Even with the #40 I still had some problems getting through the fur and getting caught. I think I was trying to do too much at once. The attachment also kept popping off a lot.

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

OK, this group was started for the many people just like you. Chin up and restart. With a very dense curly wool coat the best results are acheived this way.

Reduce coat length with scissors

Brush, comb, brush until all mattes are gone

Bath and dry with a dryer while you are brushing. If you don't have the equipment, or know how to brush  and dry at the same time it is hard to learn and you may need a pro to show you. This is the tricky one. Once you have acheived this one, the next step, shave is a breeze.

I have 2 blades to recommend. The one called 7/8 ths and the one called 3/4 inch. These are heavy blades without attachments the that can catch and make you crazy.

 

I always blow the dust out of the coats and scissor shorter as the first step in the groom. You don't have to do that with straighter fleece silky coats, but that is the way to handle a wool coat. You can't get any blade thru a wool coat with mattes, kinks or curls so straightening with brushing while drying is the only way to acheive this.

 

Plan B

A scissor only cut.

Shorten the coat with scissors, brush, comb, brush

Even out the coat with scissors

Bath and leave to dry naturally.

 

Plan B is what I mostly do with my wool coats. It is faster and easier on the dog...and me. I think it gives the best look too. Once a year in the spring I do the first method.

[Cynthia and Magic]

Now I know I was doing everything wrong LOL....no wonder it didn't work! This all makes so much sense now....thank you!!! I will do plan A....and plan B the rest of the year. I think I should be able to do the blow-drying because I do that with my own hair...so I will give it a shot.

 

I can't wait to try again armed with all this new info from you all....

 

But it may have to wait until Thursday....I can't move my shoulders this morning.....

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

If it is any consolation, I am a failure at just giving my dog a bath :) He rolled in a mud puddle last week and my once white dog was black. I took him to the dog wash and it took me well over an hour to wash all the mud out. I was so proud of myself, until I was drying him and noticed I missed all four of his feet. Imagine if I went at him with clippers or scissors....LOL! Keep at it. You will get there!

[Cynthia and Magic]

Thanks Laurie....still haven't finished with this challenge...but I'm not giving up (but at least I can wash his feet LOL!!)...that was funny :)

[Jessica & Lucie]

I learned my lesson about always bathing immediately before grooming (because they don't stay clean for 24 hours ever right?). I had several successful haircuts before one where I had a similar experience - the fur just kept jamming the clippers! I tried different clippers too with no success. I then realized that although Lucie looked clean, she had been running around on gravel and lots of dust had gotten into her fur! The brushing didn't really get it out because it was fine enough to just stick to her fur (or so it seemed). My conclusion about my latest furcut failure is that although Lucie Looked clean, the dust in her fur made it impossible for the clippers to get through. Although this may have not been your problem at all, just wanted to share it as something I recently ran into as a mildly experienced DIY doodle groomer.

 

And don't feel bad at all, my latest furcut failure ended up with a 5 hour scissor cut because I was too embarrassed to let her go outside with only her back cut short! I hope to never go through that again!