scissor cuts?

[Darcy & Millie]

Has anyone gave their doodle a full scissor-cut?  I love the longer hair, and would prefer to not have it shaved.  I don't think anyone around here does scissor cuts.  Is it unreasonable for someone inexperienced to even give it a try?

I'm having thoughts of learning how to groom Millie myself as well, and am wondering what all would I need?  I know a high velocity dryer, clippers, and a table (if I had to clip).  But what about just trying a scissor-cut?  I'm guessing it to be very time-consuming and difficult?

Thank you!

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

Come to my house and I will show you. :) I usually scissor my dogs. It is much easier to scissor a curly dog or a wool dog and a fleece one.

[Darcy & Millie]

Oh, how I wold love that!!  :)  I'm not even sure what kind of coat Millie has?  These are from a few weeks ago, but I don't think she's changed much.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

The first time I groomed Tara myself I gave her a scissor cut. It did take me forever and she is just a mini! But an experienced groomer can wash, brush, dry and scissor cut her in 2 hours. So with experience it should get easier and faster.  Now I prefer to keep her coat fairly short so I clipper her body and still scissor cut her legs, head and tail. So it's probably about half and half.  For me it was a matter of trial and error with her grooming and discovering what worked and didn't as far as getting the look I wanted and determining how much time I wanted to spend grooming her.  Everyone has to start somewhere so give it a try and don't be too hard on yourself the first attempt.

Here is a video to get you started. This breeder has a lot of videos about grooming that you may find helpful:

Good luck!

[Darcy & Millie]

Wow, perfect!  What a great video.  This does look do-able.  I need to work  on Millie with standing and not biting the comb!  She's horrible about that :(  I think I will get a table as soon as I can (either have DH make me one, or buy), and at least work with  her more on standing and not attacking the brush.  She doesn't seem to mind being brushed, but everything is a game to her, and she CONSTANTLY wants to bite and play.  Ugh...

Thank you for sharing.  My confidence is building slowly.  Worst case scenerio, I give her a bad-cut, and then just blame it on one of my kids..hahaha.. 

[Brenda]

I am a complete novice.  I have been doing it for a while now.  Just start by taking off a little at a time.  Sounds like you have a great resource nearby!  Don't be afraid, and just do it.  I did buy a grooming table off craigslist, so I could keep them still while I groom.  That has been the lifesaver, even when I am just combing them out.  You can do it!!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I do it all the time... you can take a look at the pictures on my page. I like the shaggy look and use really good shears, curved, straight and thinning. Quality tools make the job easy.

[Darcy & Millie]

Your doodles are gorgeous!!!  I LOVE the shaggy look, and I really would prefer not to have to shave Millie ever either.  I just don't know how reasonable that is for me.  Could you please direct me as to where to get the quality shears?  Is that all I need to get started are the three pairs of shears, and a table?  I'm assuming I should have clippers for her belly though?  I appreciate any and all help or direction you can give me!  Thank you!

[Michael Gurley]

www.petedge.com has very nice shears. I personally use an Oster 26 tooth blending shear to do most of my scissor work instead of curved or straight shears since it gives me a more natural line and mistakes are more forgiving when using a blender. I only use my curved shears when doing Sunny's feet and her visor (bangs). 

You will also need a wide-toothed comb, fine tooth comb, slicker brush, clippers with a 30 blade for her paw pads and 10 blade for her sanitary areas. 

[Darcy & Millie]

You are awesome!  Thank you for spelling it out for me.  Could you direct me as to which clippers would be good?  Thank you again.  :)

And what and adorable dog!

[Michael Gurley]

If you're only going to be using it for trimming paw pads, sanitary areas, and maybe the corners of the eyes, I'd go with a Wahl Bravura since it has an adjustable 5-length blade that never gets hot. The lengths the blade can set to are 9, 10, 15, 30, and 40. It's super quiet and it's cordless, which is super amazing. 

If you plan on using other blades or using clip combs to set the length you want to scissor, I recommend an Andis 2-speed clipper. I personally use either an Oster Volt (cordless but only one speed) or an Andis UltraEdge 2-speed depending on how thick the dog's coat is and whether I need my clippers to be cordless (like for giant dogs). 

These are my blenders that I use (the pink ones). I tried the black ones, but they are too choppy and don't make a straight line no matter how many times I try. 

[Darcy & Millie]

Thank you all for the responses!  This would ultimately be my goal is to learn how to scissor-cut.  I live in such a small area that I already know without looking that I won't find a groomer I love. 

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I bit the bullet and got a grooming table 2 weeks ago and I LOVE it!  Wow!  I can't believe I waited so long (Kona is 10 months old now).  He was like Millie and thought it was all a game and the brushes and combs were chew toys.  Having him up on the table with the "noose" makes him stand still and understand he has a task to do....stand still. 

And I scissor cut him twice before his frist professional grooming at 10 months old.  It was really easy on his torso, but hard for him to stand still for his legs and feet.  That was before I got the table http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009M4NQSS/ref=pe_385040_30332190_pe_17519...

He got a new sister at the 10 month mark and she wrestled with him so much that he matted up with dozens of new mats per hour of play.  I workout on the mats for many hours for about 4 days, then took in the mat-free version of him and got a shorter cut for him while we all got used to the new addition to the family (an 11 month old goldendoodle rescue). 

Here are his before and after shots.  The before is even before I did the hand scissor cut.  The after is just last week after the groomer took off way more that I wanted him to, but it is working out for the best while getting used to his new playmate.