Doodle Groomer Needed: West or Mid Los Angeles Area

[Leslie J]

Does anyone have a wonderful groomer that they would like to recommend?  We live in Los Angeles near Century City, but I am willing to drive a bit to get to a good, compassionate groomer.  I want to get Cocoa a nice trim, but I also want to make sure that she doesn't come home looking like a poodle!  (I like poodles, I just like Cocoa to look like a labradoodle!)

Thanks for any advice!

Leslie

[Lisa Beillen]

Hi...I don't live far from you. I use a really great no frills groomer. Her name is Gaby. Uses all natural products. Her shop is a store front on Sepulveda just South of Culver. The name of the shop is Symply Grooming...310-390-1400. She works alone Tues-Sat, 9a-4p. It took a couple of times for her to get Tess right....but after patient explanation, she did and she has fair pricing and really loves the dogs. Ask her to groom her like Tess and Cocoa will come out looking like a labradoodle. Good luck! Lisa

[Sylvie & LuLu]

Hi Lisa,
I live in West LA too and have been grooming my Labradoodle, LuLu for the past few years and have to admit, it's getting exhausting! Tess is adorable and I love the way she is groomed! Was she groomed by Gaby in this picture? If so, I am on my way there! Thanks for your help! Sylvie

[Leslie J]

Thanks, Lisa- Tess is so cute and really does have an adorable doo :). This will be Cocoa's first grooming (I've been bathing her at home, but she is getting too big for the laundry room sink) and I want her to have a good experience.

Nancy- thank you also. I'm afraid Riverside is too far for us, but Ned is certainly a handsome little guy!

[Leslie J]

I just wanted to say that I took Cocoa to Gaby in Culver City and was quite pleased with the grooming. Once Cocoa's hair calmed down from the "fluff" of being combed out (I sprayed her with a little water) she had a beautiful, trimmed fleecy coat, a great smell, and still looked like a labradoodle! I forgot to take a picture of her after the grooming, but I'll post one after her next visit.

Thank you Lisa for a great recommendation.

[Sylvie & LuLu]

Hi Leslie,
I live near you in the Century City/Westwood area. We should get our doodles together sometime! I am so glad to hear that you are happy with Gaby because I am at my wit's end with the grooming...the mats are too much to maintain...but I, too, did not want to lose the doodle look with someone who doesn't get it, so I am going to call Gaby today. Plus, I love giving LuLu a summer cut...we are going to the country soon and she gets into all sorts of outdoor brush that is very difficult to maintain. Any chance you went back and took that picture? I would love to see how she came out.
Thanks!! Sylvie

[Leslie J]

Hi Sylvie! I hope that things go well with LuLu's first grooming. Cocoa is suddenly getting new mats everyday and I had to get her cut to about 1". She was so tired of me combing mats out of her that she would run away if she saw me holding a comb or brush!

I think you'll be happy with Gaby. My kids love to stroke and smell Cocoa when she comes home because she is so clean and fluffy. Of course I prefer the fleecy waves over fluff, so I spritz her with water a couple of times and voila... she looks like her doodly self again.

Here's a picture I took today (ten days after the cut). It came out nice- though I think I'll have her cut the beard and mustache a bit shorter next time.

Oh- we'd love to get together sometime for out dogs to play!

[Sylvie & LuLu]

Thanks Leslie!
I just took Lulu over there today.. you and Lisa are right...Gaby is soooo nice and was so compassionate. And extremely reasonable as far as cost. She kind of freaked when she heard that Lulu had never been groomed and she did have a lot of mats, but she took it real slow and let her hang with her around the shop outside a kennel in between dematting. She said she didn't want to keep going at her and gave her rest breaks which sounds amazing to me. Not sure how other groomers do it. She is definitely so soft and fluffy I can't keep my hands off of her which I don't mind. :) But her head and behind her ears is cut just a little too much for my taste... I would like her head and face to be a little more full /longer and look more like Tess and Cocoa's.. (I even brought Tess's picture in as a model for her!) , but since the coat was short (yes, I gave her the short cut which looks great because of our upcoming trip to Canada where she spends a lot of time in the woods with the burrs!!)...Gaby tried keeping the head and face in proportion to the rest which is a little too foo foo for our taste. Also, Lulu has a lot of wool in her coat so that probably affects things! We walked in the shop to pick her up and didn't even recognize her! So, I would like to work on that a little but I guess I will know better after the coat calms down and/or I spray her tomorrow!

Would love to meet up with you...sounds like we are almost around the corner from each other!

Also, Lisa...thanks for that info....makes me feel better...Tess is perfectly groomed!

I got the MeetUp info today too, I will still be out of the country but would love to join the next one!

[Lisa Beillen]

Hi Leslie...sorry for the delayed response. Haven't been on the site for quite awhile. Glad you liked Gaby. Yes, the doodles have a bit of a "fluff" factor right after grooming, which calms down after a couple of days. Just as an aside for Sylvie...Tess has been groomed by Gaby from day one.

Also...a MeetUp group was just formed entitled Westside Doodles for doodles looking to connect for playtime. Owners are invited as well. : ) So if you want to join and get involved in social activities for doodles and their owners, go to MeetUp.com and type in Westside Doodles. The first meeting is later this month in Marina del Rey.

[Sylvie & LuLu]

Lisa and Leslie,

Hope you two are still having good luck with Gaby. I have to tell you that on our last trip there, Lulu had a terrible experience. On her first few visits I always found her running around the back having fun when I picked her up and in no rush to leave..the last time, she was climbing the wall/counter to get out of there.

Anyway, for the next day or so she kept rubbing her bottom on the floor and we figured it was just a little too much anal glands expression reaction...but when it wouldn't stop, I finally got smart enough to take a look (I can't believe I didn't do this right away!) and found major razor burn above her bottom (before the tail) that was very irritated and bloody and on the verge of being a serious infection (probably didn't help that she used a sisal rug to rub it on!).

It was apparent from the entire grooming process that day (nails were rough, ears were not plucked, no hair cut on her head and it was still hanging alot in her eyes and she was the last dog out) that this turned out to be a rush day for Gaby but what really irritated me was that while I can understand that accidents can happen, she should have been responsible enough to tell me about it, so that we could avoid further injury and discomfort for Lulu. (Feces getting into the infection as it was so close to her anus.) It took almost two weeks to heal!

I really find this very unacceptable as a groomer and obviously, will not go back to Gaby again. I guess the moral of the story is follow your instincts. When I left her that morning there was a huge, intimidating dog barking out of control at Lulu (maybe a Staffordshire). Lulu is not typically afraid of any dog, she'll approach anything big or small but with this one, even I was scared! She wanted out from that moment on...but I left her with uncomfortable feelings (the dog was out of control). When I called a few minutes later, Gaby said Lulu was fine...but who knows? By the way, I understand she could have jumped when being groomed (especially if that dog was still around and barking) and contributed to the injury, but according to my husband who is way more versed than I am at dogs/grooming, etc., he said the injury shows she kept the razor on her too long.

Sorry to bring you the bad feedback but I felt obligated to share this info with you. (Elsa, might be trying Casi after all!)

[Leslie J]

Oh, I am so sorry that things went so poorly with Gaby. We haven't been in for a while and I was just about to make an appointment... and now I am nervous! I would so hate for that to happen to Cocoa- poor Lulu must have been quite sore :(

[Sylvie & LuLu]

Hi Leslie,

Sorry, I never saw your response until today.  (Usually, I get email alerts.).

Wondered what you ended up doing....Yes, Lulu had a tough time.  We had better luck when we brought her to a new groomer...Nature's Grooming on Main Street in Santa Monica.  We won a free doodle grooming for them at via a silent auction at the Southern California Doodle Romp in Malibu in September and used it in mid December.  Leigh, the owner is fantastic and really knows her dogs and doodles.  If you can believe it, Lulu gets stopped even more now since we went there because she looks so spectacular.  She did an amazing job, didn't miss a spot and only hand scissor cuts face and buttocks area.  The only issue, if there is one, is she is very expensive, almost twice as expensive as Gaby...but I guess you get what you pay for.  She grinded her nails, cleaned her ears thoroughly, gave me great grooming tips, and although I did pay more for this, she didn't just quickly resort to the razor because of the matting.  I let her make the call, and she decided to comb her out.  (She also said Lulu's tail area was poodle cut, which was true, big dip was made there above the tail which needs to grow out.)

 

We live near you though, and should have a doodle play date perhaps?

 

Best,

Sylvie

[Elsa Bear]

Healthy Spot!! I take mine to the one in Santa Monica---- ask for Casi (she is the best)... THey also opened one up in West Hollywood and Casi works there too... My dogs don't do kennels, so I pay $15 extra to have them "express", which means they are in and out and never go in a kennel. People stop me everyday to ask about my dogs and where they get groomed! I don't like the poodle look either, so you will be safe there. Ask for Casi and tell her Cody sent you and she will hook you up!! Hope this helps!