First attempt at DIY doodle grooming - ?'s about trimming the face

[Eric & Rufus]

Hi everyone,

This is a wonderful site with lots of good information! I've been reading through these forums for months now and have several pages bookmarked - along with dozens of pages from other sites. I have been trying to gather the knowledge (and nerve!) to try and groom Rufus, my giant schnoodle. Rufus is almost 15 months old and has been to the professional groomers on three occasions. At $100 a pop, I can't afford to take him as often as necessary. (I'll admit that when I chose a new dog, I was one of the people that didn't think far enough ahead to realize that "no shedding" equals "lots of grooming" - of course now that I have Rufus, I wouldn't ever change my decision!)

Anyways, as much as I would like to have Rufus professionally groomed, finances have dictated I invest the money up front in some decent equipment in order to save money in the long run, At bbird's suggestion, I purchased the CC 16mm pin brush and a wooden handled poodle comb. I was using inferior products before that and these made a huge difference in the day to day brushing. I also finally purchased a pair of Andis AGC2 clippers and some Andis clipper combs, as well as a pair of blunt-end curved shears and a pair of thinning shears. I cannot afford the table and arm just yet, so I had to make do with a plastic table I already had.

After bathing, drying, and combing, I used the "B" comb (13/16") on his body and the "D" comb (15/16") on his legs. I also used the "F" (1.25") on his tail (Rufus' tail is a long dock so it is done differently than the  typical doodle). The hardest part about clippering the body was actually working up the courage to turn the clippers on and start buzzing him. Considering it was my first attempt, I was fairly satisfied with the outcome of his body and legs.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about his face. I was very lost as to what to do and searched through this forum quite a bit before starting Rufus' face and head. I also watched several YouTube videos (for the umpteenth time) until I thought I had the idea. I started with his ears, and somehow I got it in my head that I should hold his ear flap with my fingers below the actual "flap" of skin and then trim just below my fingers using the curved shears. As soon as I did it I knew I had cut the hair waaaaay to short. Of course, in the name of symmetry I had to do his other ear the same way. I tried using the thinning shears to make the bottom edge look a little more natural, but wasn't too successful. I was really discouraged afterwards and didn't do too well on the rest of his face either. I mostly just used the thinning shears to shorten the top of his head and his mustache and beard. I also used the curved shears to clip between his eyes.

I am looking for any other resources, instructions, guidance, etc. on how to groom Rufus' face/head/ears in the future (once it grows back out!). Of course now I know not to cut the ears so short, but I am still baffled in particular about the sides of his face - not his snout but the area in front of the ears (his cheeks?).

Here are the before and after photos. Thanks in advance for any help given! - Eric

[F, Calla & Luca]

You definitely can't tell.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Thanks F, I've had two groomers tell me I'm doing a good job but with all the grooming horror stories I don't know if that's a good thing. :>)

[F, Calla & Luca]

Now that's funny!

[Eric & Rufus]

I think Quincy's face looks great! Did you use the clippers on his "cheeks" and his muzzle 'stache?

[Donna K & Quincy]

TY, I use clippers on everything except his ears and tail, those I just trim at the ends.

[F, Calla & Luca]

You did a great job. Rufus looks so much better. As to his face, I think you just have o experiment til you get a look you like.

[Lynette Main]

Looks great.You did a great job. The first time I cut Aja ,it looked like a three year old did it. Thank God it grows out. Shes much happier with less than five inches of hair now.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Eric - what a great job. 

[Shirley Ames]

I think you did a fantastic ,job and so cute

[Eric & Rufus]

Thanks everyone!

A few people suggested letting Rufus' tail "flow". Unfortunately, his tail has A LOT of the giant schnauzer DNA. Half of the hair on his tail is probably the coarsest and most wiry hair I have ever seen on a dog - and it corkscrew curls too! When his tail grows out it is this crazy, wiry, bush - nothing "flowy" about it! I guess I could say it gives him character, but that is just another way of saying his tail is not very cute when grown out. Plus, like the typical doodle, he's not lacking on the character side!

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Does Rufus have long or short ear leather?  That too determines how much you can do with the ear.  Gracie Doodle is a Goldendoodle and has very long ears.  Therefore, I can have a lot of say in how long or short I want them.  I always go the short route just because I like a perky look.  I think you did an amazing job with his face and head.  He looks soooo much better than before.  Such a cute boy.  For the tail, there you do what you gotta do.  Since he has the shorter tail and it is wirey then you probably need to use the clippers with an attachment and clipper it.  The attachment size will determine how long the hair is.  Gracie has a completely Golden Retriever tail that is all dog hair.  It is a beautiful plume and my husband will not let me trim or cut it.  It is as it is for 5 years now.  I do trim and blend the attachment area where the tail meets her back.  That is the Doodle hair and has to be blended.  

[Eric & Rufus]

I guess I don't if Rufus' ears are long or short because I don't any information for reference. What you see in the pics after the cut is the length after I found the leather and held between my fingers, then cut about 1/2" below that. I think the hair is now about 1" longer than the flap.