Bella's first big girl haircut.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Could she be any cuter? I groomed her today for the first time and she was awesome. Stayed standing on the table for about an hour, and held so still. Such a pleasure compared to Murphy who won't stand up for more than a few minutes at a time. I just think she loves being primped.  I scissor cut as she is so thick and I wanted to leave about 2 inches. Her feet are nice and round and full although you cant tell here. All in all it was a great first time.

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

they both look grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! :-)

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

You did a fantastic job with Bella.  She looks fantastic.  I use clippers with attachments on Gracie Doodle.  I've never figured out the scissors and how to maintain the same length with each snip!!!  I use the scissors on her face and head though.  Hey, Murphy looks a lot like Gracie.  Same color and from what I can see their coats look similar and the tail too!  Gracie is good for me but I could never do it in one hour.  Did you do ALL of her in that time?  I usually do the head/face one day and the body/legs the next. 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

She held still for an hour, then I gave her a break and had her lay down on the floor for the finishing touches like the sanitary cut and belly. I keep up with her eyes and face periodically so there wasn't much to do there and I do keep her feet trimmed every few weeks, so that was done mostly as well. I used to be a hair stylist for humans, so the length comes pretty easy to me. It is a learned skill, but just keep practicing. You could learn scissor over comb and use the comb to hold the hair up and use it as a guide for length. SOme like that method and some find it harded. All in all, though to answer your question, if I added it all up, I have about 2 hours plus a quick rinse and blow dry time if I did it all at once. My first few months learning with Murphy took me 3-4 hours on several days. But I was determined to not put him through another groomer session as he got sick with vomiting and diarrhea when I picked him up. He's a bit anxious when it comes to us leaving him.

Just not worth it and quite frankly, now that I'm not working, it is a big cost savings as well, esp. with 2 and as short as we like Murphy.

 

[Bonnie and Kona]

She could not be any cuter! She looks so cuddly!

[Karina]

great job! i love it. wonderful. i know it is hard work.

[Jennifer Goaring]

What lovely dogs!  I may have to ask more about grooming as we are probably about to become a two doodle family and it would save me some money to do it myself.  I really don't know how to do a sanitary trim at all (I have a human clipper and cut my boys hair -- but know nothing about the dogs).

 

Looks great.  Can't wait to read and learn more and someday figure this all out :)

[Nancy Pyzynski]

She is adorable! I think she turned out great too! I may use this photo as a guide for Coco since I am slowly working on her grooming myself and if I can't quite get it myself, this would be great for the groomer! She is good like your Bella so I'm hopeful that I can do it myself with clippers, thinning shears and scissors. I will post if all turns out well. Wish my lots of luck and patience!!

[Nancy Pyzynski]

BTW, how did you trim around her eyes? I use scissors but it always looks too choppy and unfinished. Any hints or ideas?

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I used thinning shears mostly on the face and around the eyes. She has a very natural doodle face and doesn;t need much thinning around the eyes, yet. I'm waiting for it to grow in more actually. Her eyebrows are long and I do trim those often so she can see. I like her to have long hair on the sides of her eyes so I pull the front forehead hair into a ponytail , like a unicorn horn, to the middle and forward and trim it there. It comes out perfect and it falls along the natural roundness of the eyebrow line. Keep reading this site, there is so much good info.

[Carol and Banjo]

Sue = You did a fabulous job!!  She is a doll!  Wow to you!!!!  And good girl Bella!

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

You did a wonderful job - I especially love the fact that she still looks like a doodle. Both your doods are beautiful.  I love doing Maddie's grooming also and when I open the basement door for any reason she runs downstairs to get up on our makeshift grooming table. It's so gratifying and such a joy to 'do it yourself'.

[Linda and "Toby"]

WOW! You did a WONDERFUL job grooming her! I love how you did her face. It's the perfect length, too. Her coat looks sooooooo soft!!!