Need a Check of My Grooming Instructions for Rosco's Grooming!

[Adina P]

I'm taking to Rosco to his third 'pro' grooming.  In 5 years he's only been to a groomer twice (other than for baths and sanitary trim) because I've mostly done it.  But no time now and he needs a haircut.  He is not a dog that mats easily but might have a mat here and there as I don't brush him regularly--but really he's not the type to mat to the skin and I can virtually always comb or brush out his mats on my own.  His coat is NOT thick -- example of this is that I can use plastic comb attachments on my Andis clippers and they go through just fine.

 

His coat is a wee bit over 3 inches and I'd like him to be taken down to 1.5 inches. 

 

Here are my instructions that I want to print for the groomer and I need to know if ANY of this can be grossly misinterpreted or if I need to clarify any of it (I will put my explanation or notes to YOU in italics).

 

-- Trim coat to 1.5 inches ALL OVER (including tail but excluding any of the specific details below).

-- Clean up face (around eyes, snout, beard) but NO shaving anything to the skin or shorter than 1/2 inch around the face.  I just want his head to match his coat but without his eyes being covered because 1.5 inches hanging over his eyes is a bit too long.

-- Sanitary Trim

-- Clean ears and trim ear hair directly under the ear flap and around the ear opening very short.I want air flow under his ears and the hair surrounding his ear hole to be short but I DO NOT want that odd shaving under the neck from ear to ear that poodles get.

-- Paw fur trimmed and very short underneath/around paw pads but NOT poodle feet.  So far, at least at PetCo they always screw this up and there is still a lot of fur between his paw pads when all is said and done.  I want the 'clean feet' of the poodle but ONLY on the underside of his paws. I don't want to see the bare feet from the top.

-- Hair on outside of ears should be layered rather than blunt cut at the bottom -- When I do this, I use clippers and a comb attachment and go over his ears so that all the hairs are one length and look 'layered' rather than just trimming the bottom hairs to shorten the ear fur length. I don't like the look of the 'bob' blunt cut at the bottom.

 

So I'm asking for help as he goes in today in the afternoon and don't want him to come out totally opposite of what I'm asking.  But I need to know better 'groomer' terms and need to keep the instructions short and sweet.  I don't know if this groomer is experienced or not...I'm just crossing my fingers.  Any tips on improving the directions that are in bold???

 

Here is Rosco a few weeks ago--he had recently had a bath.

 

Adina

[Melissa]

Make sure you tell them not to make his head a bobble head, ball shaped unless you like that look.  Petsmart cut Buddy great but they left his head very poofy so I had to cut the hair down a bit more.

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

I tweaked the instructions  as I would see it.  Usually the legs are one blade longer than the body for the balance of haircut.  Something you could think about. You have to be careful and say what you do want, not what you don't want as the groomer could remember you mentioning something and remember it as a 'do' not as a 'don't'. Especially when they get busy. To go fast groomers get 'in the zone' and do every dog the same.

 

-- Trim coat to 1.5 inches ..body and legs--

Trim tail to balance with body [ This would mean shorter, but not as short as the body]

 Trim face with thinning shears  (around eyes, snout, beard) but NO shaving -- I want to see his eyes so trim bangs accordingly

Sanitary Trim

-- Clean ears and trim ear hair directly under the ear flap only

-- Round feet and do clean feet between pads. [clean feet implies between the pads, but just in case their lingo is not the same as mine.]

-- Hair on outside of ears should be layered rather than blunt cut at the bottom -- When I do this, I use clippers and a comb attachment and go over his ears so that all the hairs are one length and look 'layered' rather than just trimming the bottom hairs to shorten the ear fur length. I don't like the look of the 'bob' blunt cut at the bottom.

[Adina P]

Thank you for the adjustment of terms.  I was afraid "clean feet" meant "poodle feet" and you and Apple Creek Doodles are right...I should not mention what I don't want in case THAT gets translated to what I do want.  Good points!

[Carol and Banjo]

Adina....This is Banjo the day after his first pro groom...I was very happy with results...she used her longest comb..I think she told me it was 1".   I think it's always good to bring pics.

[Carol Brand]

I think with an F1 of his type you should go for the Spinone look

 

Ultimately, I think you need the hair off the topline and the front and neck scissored in to show shape and structure.  I think I'd take some thinning shears to the feathering and side coat.

[Lisa {Zoe's Mom]]

I would suggest you suggest scissoring around the eyes so they don't "shave"around the eyes and get that hollowed look.  If that is what you are trying to avoid besides the hair going in his eyes.  Good luck and let's see an after picture.  Either way he's a handsome fellow!

[shelly]

I always get so nervous bringing Tori and my groomer is GOOD.  I just don't like the "Foo man choo" type 'beard' that's left by some. I, personally like a more 'rounded' look...Good luck!  Can't wait to see Rosco's new doo!

[Adina P]

Just dropped him off!  With verbal and printed instructions.  Groomer's shortest comb attachment was 1'' which was OK because I brought my 1 1/4'' comb and gave it to her :)  Crossing fingers I get what I'm going to be paying for!!!

BY THE WAY....Toby is gorgeous.  LOVE his coat.  And same for Banjo.  But both have VERY different coats than Rosco does.  

[F, Calla & Luca]

Good luck!! We'll love him any way he turns out.

[Stella]

So......????  How did he turn out?  Did it go ok? 

 

Before I began clipping Chase myself I always asked for a "puppy cut", with clarification that he is a doodle and is supposed to have a beard, that I didn't want the poof on the top of his head, and that his ears should be shaped naturally.  I, like you, hate the big poofy head and tail, I like everything cut to the same length and in proportion!!

 

Can't wait to see some pics of the 'new Rosco'!!

[Adina P]

I wasn't sure about asking for the puppy cut because I wanted a specific length plus specific things done to him that aren't traditionally part of it.  I didn't want to confuse things by giving the cut a 'name'. I actually would have gone shorter, except it's still not warm here yet.  That will come later this summer.

[Adina P]

He was done in TWO hours!  The groomer called me asking me to come by before she was completely done so I could be sure I was okay with what she did.  I chose this groomer based on nothing but the fact she seemed really nice and loved dogs and she was young and didn't really have any breed snobbery.  The only experience I'd had with her was when she offered $20 baths at the doggy daycare.

 

When I got there his ear length had not yet been cut so I asked her to do that and just based on a basic look at him the only 'problem' I found was that the hair on his snout was too short.  She didn't shave it but scissored it too short for me.  So she put that in Rosco's 'chart' for the next groomer (she's moving).  Overall, though she didn't butcher anything and I'm fine with the finished product.  I think some parts ended up longer and his manly part hairs weren't trimmed as much as I would have liked (I assumed 'sanitary trim' included that.  PetCo does better with sanitary trims.  I haven't checked underneath his paws yet.  But I paid without regret and even gave her a tip.  So all is well in the end.

 

Look at those talons!  His quick is really long so each nail trimming barely does anything discernible.

 

I would have liked the underside of his ears and his earflap (inside) to be trimmed SHORTER than this. 

 

So thanks for all your help.  I will make notes of the results today to add next time =)