Thank you so very much for all the grooming advice and the link to alpsdoodle.org. I printed the alpsdoodle pages on grooming and also the idog.biz grooming guidelines, and took them to the groomer. We went over them together, before I dropped off Cassie, and I am so glad I did all that, because I am so happy with the job she did! She said to go home, check Cassie out really well, and come back if I wanted anything fixed or changed... but there's really nothing we want changed!
Cassie is black, so you can't see her very well in photos, but if you are interested, go to my page to see the before and after. We could have waited at least another month to have her groomed, but we really love the crushed velvet look of her shorter hair. Also, she doesn't like being brushed, and we were afraid she'd start matting soon, so we decided it was grooming time!
My main fear was that she was going to look too much like a Poodle, not that there's anything wrong with Poodles, but she just wouldn't be my Doodley-do, any more. I was so glad to see that post-grooming she looks just like herself, only a little more 'put together' :-)
If it hadn't been for this group, the alpsdoodle article, and the idog.biz grooming guidelines, I really wouldn't have known what to ask for. THANKS, AGAIN!