Need help with grooming

[Margeaux]

I have a 15 month old goldendoodle and I cannot seem to get him a decent haircut! We have had him groomed 5 times now and hate it each time. He always winds up looking like a poodle or they only trim (and once shaved!) his face! I don't feel like anyone knows how to give a "doodle" cut. His hair is fairly straight, with a bit of a wave. He has a pretty flat coat. We brush him frequently but he does tend to mat on his paws and on the backs of his legs when it gets long. I love his long coat and hate when they cut it too short. I have specified no less than 2 inches in length and twice (different groomers) they cut it down to barely 1/2 inch. Do groomers have a different way of measuring? Anyway, I am thinking of grooming him myself but really don't have any idea of how to do it or what I will need. Anyone have any advice for a very novice groomer? I really appreciate any pointers, I am completely lost on this subject. Thanks in advance!

[Deanna Marsh]

This was posted Jan 9th and I copied it to take to a groomer or use for myself. I've been grooming her since last May because I didn't like the way she looked after being groomed in March. Anyway check it out. There was also another picture of a sporty Doodle look posted in here months ago. I also printed that one off. You may want to try and search for that one. Good Luck.

http://idog.biz/QuickDownloads/Professional%20Groomer%20Inst.pdf

[Margeaux]

Thank you! Have you found it difficult to do the grooming yourself?

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I have a Goldendoodle who is a wavy coated but has the curls around the neck and under her ears. I looked for pictures of your boy on your page to see if they are similar but couldn't find any. I have always used the same groomer and I have to say, there are times I have loved her haircuts and other times I have not. I always give specific instructions...and boy do I mean specific. I too was exactly like you and joined this group asking questions and more questions until I sort of figured it out. I now groom Gracie myself but there are times I do take her in to the groomer once in a while when I need her Poodle hair in her ears plucked. I haven't mastered that task yet. Not all Doodles have Poodle hair in their ears though. If you spend about a hour going back to ALL the discussions in the "Grooming" group and also through the sub titles that appear for specific questions, you should find the answers. We have a few people in the group who are professional groomers and they have given tons of wonderful advice. Somewhere there is even a You Tube video of one of them grooming their Doodle. That video was what gave me the confidence to try grooming Gracie myself. I think if you do this you will get more answers than you ever could imagine. There are lots of fine details that go into grooming your Doodle. Right down to the mats that get in the webbing of their toes and how to trim around the eyes careful to not cut the beautiful long lashes if your Doodle is lucky enough to have them. Also, in the discussions are the recommended clippers, blades, combs, brushes, scissors, etc. There is no 100% right way to groom a Doodle. A lot of it comes down to personal preference and the look YOU like! You have come to the right place for sure to learn how. Good Luck!!

[Margeaux]

Thank you so much for the information. I will go back and review the information. I looked at your Gracie (who is darling) and I think Wally is straighter than her. I have attached a picture of him, I realize now I don't have any good pictures of his coat. I appreciate all of your help and hope to figure this all out!

[Camilla and Darwin]

We cut Darwin ourselves for this very reason. We still want him to look like a doodle! We bought a clipper set, which was around 60 dollars. Considering that getting your doodle cut is around 65, it pays off very quickly. The first time we cut him down, we simply put a 1/2" attachment comb on the clipper and shaved over his entire body, same length for the whole thing. Then we just trimmed his face with scissors. We liked the way he looked so we didn't do anything special, just cut everything shorter and kept the same shape he already had. Here is a couple pictures right after we cut him down. His hair was four or five inches long before. It looks pretty choppy but it was my first time so hopefully I can improve, I think I might try scissoring his own body in the future.

[Margeaux]

I LOVE this look! Its exactly how I want Wally to look. Would you mind telling me what exact tools you used? I would like to buy the same ones. Also, do you use a Les Pooch brush? Thanks for your help - Darwin is adorable!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Darwin has a perfect doodle look. Great job! I have NO NO NO talent in cutting. When I used to trim my daughter's bangs I went from side to side cutting shorter and shorter as I tried to even them out. She figured out really young that no bangs was a great look - LOL

[Azure & Muppet]

Great job! Darwin really does look great with his haircut.

[Kyoko]

What a beautiful guy!!

[Denise, Winnie, and AngelAbby]

I clip Abby myself... if you do a search - or even search my name, you might find the information I posted on how I groomed Abby. You need a good pair of clippers - I have Oster, and Andes are good too, with comb attachments for the lengths you want. A good pair of scissors - I have curved ones. A good pair of small round tipped scissors for cutting around the eyes. (I also use these for cutting "into" mats to hopefully get a brush through them) A good pair of thinning shears for the cheeks and muzzle. It is costly to get started, but it doesn't take too long to recoop it all if you are clipping yourself compared to bringing the dog in and paying someone else to do it.
Good combs and brushes are a must, too.
My theory is - that if I make a mistake, it will grow back - and I get to clip her the way I want - not what someone else figures how my dog should look. I do clip Abby's body close tho (1/2") and she has a doodle face. I think she is pretty cute. :-) Good luck in what ever you decide to do.

[Margeaux]

Thank you, I will look into buying these tools and reading about how you groom Abby. Its is definitely going to save me money since right now I have been spending more than $100 every time. Thanks again!

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Hi again Margeaux...I just went back through the "Grooming" discussions and I guess they don't keep them more than a few months. Either that or I don't know how to go to "archives" if there are any. So I guess the discussion starts fresh. I just know what works for me and again, it is a personal thing. On the first page of the "Grooming" group there is a good guideline on how to groom posted. That is your best description. Also, right now there is a discussion going on about how to clip the snout/face area. There is some good advice there that I am going to try next time. I think someone also just posted a link to "grooming" that you should check out. You might want to search You Tube and see if you can find the link to the "Doodle Grooming" video. It was fantastic to watch.

I use the Oster A5 Golden two-speed clippers. Others prefer the Andes clippers. For Gracie Doodle I like to keep her around 2" but will take her to 1 1/2" in the summer or if we going to be in the back country in a lot of brush.

First, you must have a clean just washed and dry Doodle. You need to "comb" out all the mats and make sure there are none down by the skin. Then give him a good brushing. Now you are ready to use the clippers. Some people scissor cut their entire Doodle but I think that is mostly the people with the ALD (Australian Labradoodles) which tend to have very thick, dense wooly hair.

I use a #15 blade and a 1" or 1 1/4" comb over the blade. You need to understand the progression of the blades and combs. Googling it is how I got it figured out along with help from DK members. The higher the blade number the shorter the cut/shave. The higher the comb number the longer the clip. The combs don't seem to go any larger than 1 1/4". Also, the combs won't fit all blade sizes. Most of the pet stores don't carry a good selection of blades so I had to order them on-line. You can also get a better deal ordering your clippers. Actually, I ordered everything on-line! For scissors you should have a good pair and I mean good. They are not cheap but quick and sharp are a must. Also a pair of thinning shears. The thinning shears are what you want to use for the snout and the hair that drapes down on either side of the snout, the hair between the eyes, etc. They are mostly used around the face.

Start with the body and clip down the back and sides. Always go in the same direction. If you go the direction the hair lays down the cut will be longer. If you go against the growth pattern it will be a comb size shorter. I use a shorter comb on my blade for the neck and under the ears. I do not do her ears very often. I shorten them about every 8 months if they start getting too long and I use the scissors. I never cut her tail because she has a beautiful Golden Retriever plumb. I do a mini sanitary so I will use a very small numbered comb or very carefully use the blade only. You always clip/shave away from the center (eh hum, under the tail), never towards it (if you know what I mean). For her legs if they are really long I will use the clippers and go down the legs. Then I will use my scissors and without much snipping, I will use the half open scissors and run them down the direction the hair is growing. That is why you need sharp scissors. It is sort of like using a razor blade. You also need to clip the hair that is on the bottom of their feet. You can do that with the blade only though I am not comfortable using a blade only because I always fear nicking my baby. I use scissors alot around the feet. While standing you can round them. I don't like to define the foot and ankle. I love the poofy straight legs that end in a rounded foot at the bottom. Personal preferrence! If there are mats between the toes you need to be very careful clipping those out. You might want to get some round nosed small manicure scissors. I always pinch the hair behind the mat with my finger and clip above my finger. That way It will be me that gets cut if I should screw up. I use a Dremel grinder for the toe nails. I never use the toe nail cutters because the nail can split and frey. You get a very nice rounded cut with teh Dremel. also found in pet stores or on line.

I know I have only "touched" on the basics. A lot of it is trial and error and remember, it will always grow back. It will take a few hours to completely do a Doodle. Some people take a couple of days and do it in sections. When I do Gracie we take a break about every half hour. One for her to get a drink and run around and two, for my back!!!! It is very hard for a Doodle to stand perfectly still and cooperate for two plus hours otherwise!! Again, this may not be the "correct" way but after gathering all the input from going on line, speaking with my groomer and the wonderful people at DK, this is the way that works for me.

You should buy one of the DoodleKisses 2010 calendars...the Goldendoodle one. A picture is worth a thousand words. If you find a Doodle cut that you like, take that picture to the groomer! Again...Good Luck and be sure to post all you questions or concerns to the group. You will get tons of good advice.