Does anyone groom their own doodle?

[Trev]

My wife and I are looking into grooming Dyson ourselves simply because if we buy a set of clippers we are basically into about 120.00 yes there will be additional cost of blades etc but after about 2-3 groomings we are back in the black as far as I'm concerned. I am really just looking for advice on what type of clippers and what blades work best. Dyson has more wavy retrieverish hair as opposed to poodle like hair. All in all he is a pretty good dog and does well for his brushings and maintenance grooming. The one time we did send him to the groomer's I wasn't overly pleased with the job and figure I could do just as good of a job if not better, the groomer did say he was really good and she was pretty much able to do what ever she wanted to him.

[146lfrq35wykj]

Hi Trev, I have taken lessons from a groomer who trains groomers and I purchased two different clippers which I never used. In the end because my doodle's hair isn't as easy as yours I decided to stick with taking him to her. However, initially my feeling of being back in the black after 2-3 groomings was the motivation for my purchases. I am willing to sell either of these if you're interested...they are both in original packaging.

[Trev]

thanks for the offer Elle but my wife took the plunge yesterday. I'm thinking it will be a learn as we go experience :)

[Lynda Kamrath]

We have always groomed our doodles ourselves, but we are both retired and had 12 years of experience with our standard poodle. The great thing about doodles is that there is no standards for grooming, so you can try different things and then settle on what you like. We take several days to do a total grooming and the dogs started out as puppies. They are very used to getting groomed and even walk a ramp up onto the sinks. We use clippers on their face, feet, and underside. The rest is scissors clipped. We do the face and feet first, then the first scissors cut. Then we bathe the dog and blow dry, then the final cut. It takes about a total of five hours for a grooming. The hardest part of grooming for us has been the toenails. You have to clip a little at a time. In the summer, we let them dry naturally outside, but the rest of the year we blow dry them after their wash. Go for it! If you have any specific questions, ask and we will try to answer any questions and concerns you have.

[Trev]

Thanks Ann and Lynda. We are waiting on our shipment of clippers etc. We got the the Andis clippers as well. we are going to give it a go with the combs as we like him pretty shaggy so I think the longest comb is 1 1/4" so we will see how that goes. When we got him groomed the first time I wasn't really happy with the results especially since we paid almost $70.00 for it. It looked like he was scissored everywhere and the groomer cut horizontally so it looked really bad. Dyson overall is a pretty good dog for being brushed which we do at least every other day if not everyday. I remember watching some videos on youtube about doodle grooming. I'm actually getting kind of excited about grooming him.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Hi Trev - We just finished a mini groom on our dogs as we are going to Lake Tahoe tomorrow and I took some photos to share with you. By the way, I have to join the Canadian doodle group if I want to respond to you, so I join and then delete after the message. Anyway, we did no scissors trimming this time, just a face trim (2mm clippers, toe trim (1 mm clippers, and the sanitary area (6mm clippers). Then we did brushing out, cutting the matts, batheing, and blow drying. Our dogs are large, so they have a ramp up to the sinks which they have learned to walk just fine. We have a grooming area for the dogs in the laundry room (cement floors and washable vinyl walls). When you get all set up, it will be an enjoyable activity. When my husband first started grooming his standard poodle, I got him a book on dog cuts and wrote in it "For all the hours you and Bruno will be spending together". We still have the book, two years after the dog is gone. Let me know how it goes, and I will post a few photos on my page.

[Trev]

Hi Lynda I saw the picture you posted, the dogs look great. I just got my clippers in the mail today so I think some one is due for a trim this weekend :) I hope to have a decent grooming area setup at some point but probably not for a while I have a ton of other projects to take care of first...

[Trev]

Thanks for the tip Ann Well definately be brushing him thoroughly before clipping :)

[Julie]

Hello,
Why don't you attempt to groom him with a variety of tools and see which of them makes sense to you. I have a wee puppy and all he will tolerate is a pick. However, I can buy 3 for one (Canadian) dollar at the dollar store.. It seems to work. Common sense will tell you if you are unable to proceed.

Regards,
Julie from Vancouver

P.S. Don't you love these dogs?