Meet the new Ragley! (A home grooming tutorial)

[Stephanie and Ragley]

On Mother's Day, I did what I previously thought to be the unthinkable- I took clippers to my sweet muppetdoodle. My family had been peer pressuring me to take her to a groomer and get her a summer cut. I got accusations of her looking like a sheepdog, that I wouldn't be a "real doodle owner" if I didn't get her a summer cut, blah blah blah. I stood my ground for a while, but after discovering recently that Ragley is actually equal parts of goldendoodle and fish, I decided I'd rather not spend my entire summer drying, brushing, and combing her for hours a day to maintain my zero-mats record. 

I have done all of Ragley's grooming so far and I didn't plan on changing that for her summer cut. I had previously scissor cut her with thinning shears, but I knew that might be a little too much for me to handle when I was needing to take so much fluff off. Fortunately, my dad has a wonderful set of clippers and comb attachments that I was able to borrow for my little experiment so I didn't have to spend money on clippers before knowing if I can actually do well with them. 

I have had a few people ask about how I did it and so many people have been posting about summer cuts recently, so I thought I'd provide a semi-detailed explanation of how I accomplished my pretty good result (I think) so that others can learn from it and also so that I can get feedback if anyone has suggestions!

I have been told that every cut begins with a good bath, dry, brush and comb out so that is where I started! I always brush her BEFORE bathing too as I have found that that makes the after-bath brushing and combing much easier.

         

     Drama queen looking pitiful for the camera                     "Ok, this isn't so bad"

Here is the before. As you can see, I put a towel over a coffee table to lift her a bit. This helped save my back a bit, but I will definitely be investing in a taller table for the future. 

I used electric clippers with a 1" comb attachment to do her cut. I wasn't thrilled to go that short, but it was the longest comb that I had available. In order to try to keep her hair longer, I ran the clippers in the direction of hair growth ( this was head to tail direction for the majority of the job). This comb and method left her body at about 1.5" which actually looks much longer and fuller than expected. I started at her neck and worked my way around her trunk from there, doing first one side then the other. I had a stainless steel comb that I used to continue to fluff her hair before running the clippers through, but honestly, I found it much easier to just use my hand to fluff so that's what I did. I like the longer leg look so when clipping her chest and trunk, I avoided running the clippers over her shoulders so I could blend them into the legs later. As you can see, she got comfortable. On that note- Ragley was an absolute angel and displayed extreme patience for the whole ordeal, but I found that it does help to have a second set of hands that can be popping treats in the dog's mouth as the grooming is happening.

At this point, my photographer fell asleep in the sunshine on the blanket in the yard so I have a giant gap in documentation, but once I had a first clip on her entire trunk, I stepped back and fluffed her all over where I had clipped to check for any stray hairs that the clipper had missed. This is an important step because trust me- the clipper correction looks WAY more natural than the scissor corrections later. 

I did her ears next- I took the comb and brushed away any of the hair that was originating on her head so I was left holding her ear with a clear path for the clipper of just hair on her ear. I chose to use the clipper for this because I prefer a little shorter ear on her. Her ears are long anyway, and I prefer the more rounded head look. In hindsight, I would have switched combs to a shorter one to more easily clip the finer hair on her ears. After clipping along the main part, I placed my fingers on the edge of her ear leather as a safety measure and ran the clippers along the perimeter of the ear to trim off the hair that was draping down. I then corrected stray hair as needed and repeated on the other ear. 

To keep the legs longer, I still used my fluff and clip method that I used on her body, but instead of running the clippers along her body, I kept them lifted off her leg a little. There really was no legitimate method to this, but rather just me "shaping" the leg how I like the look to be. I like the front legs to have a tube-like look so I did my best to keep the hair looking of an equal length along the whole leg (this required trimming her elbows shorter). I have not mastered the back leg shaping, but I did my best to create a fluffy-but-athletic shape to them. I followed the legs' natural shape a little more, but trimmed a little more off her "butt-side" of each leg and trimmed her groin hair shorter primarily for sanitary reasons, but it also creates a gap in between the back legs, enhancing each leg. I also trimmed shorter in her armpits and the back leg equivalent to add definition and enhance the look of the fluffier legs. 

The last thing I trimmed was her "afro"- the hair on top of her head. I was originally going to scissor cut it, but I decided to use the clippers for blending reasons. I wanted the head a little longer than the body so I used the same technique on the legs for her mop-top: fluffing the hair, then "shaping" with the clippers elevated off her body a bit. toward the back of her head where I met up with the calipered body, I gently blended the length of the head shorter so it matched the clipped back.

I had already trimmed her bangs, beard, mustache, and "cheeks" last week, so I didn't have to do that when I clipped her. The cheeks would be much easier to do with a clipper and I tried to clean them up a bit when I did her body- same with the beard. For bangs, comb the head hair forward, guard the eyes and grip the hair between two fingers along the brow line and do a rounded trim to match the shape of the head. For mustache, mark the end of the lip with your fingers to protect the skin and do a straight cut along the lip. For the fuller, rounded look, comb hair out in a perpendicular direction to the muzzle, grip to hold in that position and make a cut to get a layered effect. Trim other side to match. 

BY NO MEANS AM I A PROFESSIONAL GROOMER OR CLAIM TO HAVE ANY PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE.

This is merely an explanation of how I did a home grooming on MY dog in hopes to help encourage other owners and give them confidence to do their own grooming. I am very happy with my first attempt result and it was really a great bonding time between Ragley and me. Also, did I mention she feels like crushed velvet?? SO soft!

Questions and criticism welcome!

End result:

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I am extremely impressed. I think you did a great job and Ragley looks beautiful! 

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Thank you, Karen!

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

She looks gorgeous!! You did a wonderful job! I am going to use a towel over the table next time! We just bought one of those rubbermaid fold-up card tables, and it works nice..but kind of slippery.. the towel will work out perfect.

Great job, and what a beautifully behaved little girl!

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Thanks! Yes- the rubbermaid table is what I think I will be purchasing to use in the future. I'll use a towel on it or a yoga mat (easier to clean hair off of) for added grip.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

She looks absolutely gorgeous!!!  You did a perfect job.  I don't think you get a better grooming from a professional.  I have been grooming Gracie Doodle for 5 years now and I am usually very happy with my results.  I do play around a lot with length because she is a Southern California beach babe and as you found out, long hair is not the way to go when they are always wet!  I basically do my grooming the exact same way.  When it comes to the ears though I am still trying to figure them out.  She has very long ears but the hair is not wavy but more straight.  Also, her top of the head poofer is so soft and silky that I can't ever get any lift to it.  She does look better when I take it down shorter and just round it into the ears.  The minute it gets too long it parts down the middle.  So for the ears did you just take the clippers down the ear in the direction of the growth just as you did the body???  Also, for the muzzle you said you hold the hair out perpendicular.  Are you doing it on each side by holding the hair straight out away from the whisker side of the muzzle?  I have a book that mentions trying to pull both sides up to the top of the nose (like a pony tail) and holding it in a line with your finger and clip parallel with the length of the snout.  It is not as easy as it sounds because I never let Gracie's muzzle get that long.  

You did a great job and should be proud of yourself!  It is so much more enjoyable for your Doodle to have you do it rather than a groomer.  Gracie hated going to the groomers and it was a huge stress on her and she is not a highly stressed dog. I also feel it is a good bonding time for you and Ragley.  Gracie will let me do anything to her and that really helps if there is ever a medical issue.  They learn to totally trust you and if you use a sweet, complimentary and soothing voice it helps even more. I have since invested in a grooming table (there are sales on them all the time).  I have a good set of clippers, attachments, various scissors and a comb that has the spinning teeth.  I have tons of other stuff that I never use.  I do clip her nails too.  Gave up on the Dremel because she hated them so much so now I just clip them.

Ah ha...I just read that Ragley is an F1b GD.  Gracie is an F1 Standard GD.  That is what makes the difference on the head and face.  You have a bit more curl and texture of hair to work with for prettier ears and muzzle and the poofer is more stand up.  Gracie has the softest, silky hair you can ever imagine.  Not really thick and she is just wavy (wavy fleece) with more curls around neck.

I LOVE Ragley's  head and face!  Here is GracieDoodle after last month's grooming.  It was windy so her poofer is a bit askewed.  Also, her beautiful full long Golden Retriever tail is not showing.  Much like Ragley's but even longer!

 

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Thank you, and Gracie looks gorgeous! Yes, I clipped the ear hair in the direction of growth. The ears were probably the most challenging part of the whole thing. 

"Also, for the muzzle you said you hold the hair out perpendicular.  Are you doing it on each side by holding the hair straight out away from the whisker side of the muzzle?" That is exactly how I did it. I tried to comb it up like you describe to check the length, but Ragley would not cooperate for that, so I just did it by eye.
What clippers do you use?

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I use the Andis #22405 UltraEdge AGC 2-speed Detachable Blade Animal Clipper.  I got them almost 4 years ago so the numbers and such have probably changed.  I did have the Oster A5 and I hated them.  Very clunky and gave you hand fatigue.  The Andis are light weight and fit a small hand much better.  I think most people on DK agree on Andis! 

[Malenie Piscetelli]

Great job!!! :)

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Great job and she looks absolutely beautiful.  Wow!  First time, you did a wonderful job!

[sheri & zoey]

Adorable!! Great job, mom!!

[Christy&Riley]

Wow! She looks wonderful and I am impressed by your courage!

I am struggling to keep up with Riley's mattes right now. I just break one down and then she chews in the exact same spot and creates it again. I've experimented with trimming her face and feet but am scared of the body. Especially with the curls. But I suppose it probably can't be any worse than what the groomers have done to her.

Ragley has the best model pose. Always looking back over her shoulder at you with head tilted. Riley also has the same drama queen look when wet...COMPLETEY different dog that's for sure. LOL

[Stephanie and Ragley]

The whole "can't be worse than the groomer" is exactly what inspired me to do it myself!