Best clippers for a doodle?

[Shari Becker]

Hi everyone,

I have an almost three-year-old doodle who has fleecy curls. After two years of unsuccessfully dealing with her mats between grooming appointments, we just gave up and began having her sheared at each appointment. Only her face gets shaped. Aside from her face, we really don't mind having her short, or even slightly uneven. What we do mind is that we pay $125 a groom every six to eight weeks. There was no price reduction when we told them to stop trying to de-mat her.

We live small and urban with no real space to set up a real grooming station, but I am wondering if I should try to just shear her myself? My groomer keeps trying to talk me out of it, saying it is dangerous to get it wrong. That I can hurt her with the clippers, but I can't see how that's really possible. Don't most of these have safety features where you set the length?

I figure I've now spent almost $3000 on grooming and surely there can be no harm in trying to cut her myself.

So:

Am I nuts to try in limited space? Or with a dog who has never gotten a haircut from her 'mom'? What's the best tool for a shearing? Am I right that I could shear her legs and body, but would need to really trim her feet, tail and face with scissors and brushes, etc... 

Thanks,

Shari

[Erin]

Wow. Expecting my first doodle next month. Nervous reading this. Is grooming always that expensive?

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I think it really depends on where you live.  I would say some where between $50 and $150 would cover it.

[Kamela & Beckett]

I live in the Deep South where in general the cost of living is cheaper and groomers charge $65+ to groom a doodle the size of our Beckett (just over 30 lbs). Which is why I'm investing a couple hundred dollars in supplies- clippers, scissors, brushes/combs, foldable grooming table so I can do it myself.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I live in the NW and $65-$85 per standard-size doodle was the norm when I was taking the dogs to a professional groomer.

[Shari Becker]

When we are visiting relatives in the midwest we can get our dog groomed for under $50, but here in the Boston area it's $85-$125 depending on the town... closer to the city ... more expensive.

[Kamela & Beckett]

This is just my opinion as someone who has groomer their mini schnauzer for 5 yrs and has just started grooming our doodle- it would be easier if you had space to set up a table of some sort, but I still think it's doable. You have to be careful with the clippers, but if you were to do your research and watch some videos, you should be fine. I was nervous at first with my schnauzer so I erred on the side of caution and the cuts weren't great at first, but now we get compliments all the time on her appearance. The day after I groomed our doodle the first time, the girls at doggie daycare asked who we were using as a groomer. Go slow, be patient with her and you'll get it! And save money- wow, that's expensive. One at-home groom will cover your clippers easily!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Ok, please don't shoot me as I say this with love ... but your best friend would be a really awesome brush and comb and 10 extra minutes each morning.  If you brush her every morning it will only take a few minutes and you won't have all those mats.  If you are going to groom yourself you are going to want her mat free as well or it is going to be more difficult unless you are cutting her all the way down to the skin and then I think that is where you could get in trouble.  At our house, we opted to set up the grooming room and do it ourselves after paying $150 to have both our girls done once and I was very unhappy with their cuts.  The first few at home groomings paid for all of our equipment.  We have a large dog tub, an electric grooming table, clippers (which we already had), and a large cool air dryer.  We divide up the duties.  Hubby brushes and combs each morning and I do the bathing and clipping.  You can get a grooming table that folds up and you could put it under a bed or if you have an island in your kitchen you could do it there.  The preference is that you bathe, dry, then clip, but you need the mats out before the bath or the mats are going to be way more difficult to get out.  I use a comb guard on my blade as I keep my girls longer, but I have used just the blade on my Sisters dog.  It takes longer as the blade itself gets hot and you have to stop and let it cool down or have several to swap out.  I prefer using the guard as that way I know I'm not going to cut them.  Some dogs are better behaved at the groomers than at home.  Depends on how willing your dog is to stand for you as to how difficult it will be.

[Shari Becker]

I don't want to sound really lazy, I don't. It's just that we are a family of two working parents and a tween and a teen, and we are so harried and hectic most days and nights that we're lucky if the kids brush their hair before they leave the house, never mind brush the dog! It's not that our intentions aren't good... we'll try earnestly, but I know that we will fail at this task...

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Unfortunately I think that this response sort of answers your question.  If you don't have 10 mins a day to brush her and keep the mats out you obviously aren't going to have the time it will take to groom her... as it does take a significant amount of time, and you still need the mats out to be able to get the clippers through her or you will have to shave her down to the skin.

[Kamela & Beckett]

As for clippers, I bought these at the suggestion of Lori & Winnie.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C46R50?psc=1&redirect=true...
I haven't received them yet, but the reviews on Amazon were pretty good, so I think they should work well.

[Kamela & Beckett]

You might also check out this thread:
http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/doodlegrooming/forum/topics/advic...

People gave a lot of great suggestions, how-tos, and references for grooming a doodle in general. Good luck!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I don't think you are nuts to try it with limited space. In the warmer months, I take my grooming table out to the garage and do her out there. Super easy to clean up and she can watch what is going on in the neighborhood while I'm grooming her! In the Winter, I put the grooming table in my kitchen- the only place where I have a decent amount of linoleum.

Kamela shared the link to the clipper set that I LOVE- the Wahl Arco SE. It's cordless, quiet, lightweight but super powerful.

I already had powerful Metro dryer, and I bought this table   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DX3R09K?psc=1&redirect=true...  and a Kenchii Scorpion Grooming Shear Set of 3 from Amazon as well.

I love grooming Winnie-it's so much fun!!