Novice home groomer seeking grooming & safety tips

[Ellen]

Hi all, I need some tips for grooming my doodle!  

Riley absolutely hates going to the groomer; he looks terrified and always positions himself between my legs.  So, I finally decided to try my hand at grooming him at home with an Andis clipper (with 10 blade) to ease his stress.  Riley is an F1 doodle with wooly fur that is wavy when long, but straight when cut short.  The Andis clipper worked great, and Riley was relaxed and fine during the grooming attempt (with the help of plenty of treats), but the end result was pitiful and embarrassing!

I watched several grooming videos on Youtube in advance, but it definitely was more difficult than I thought.

1.  Throughout the process, I was terrified of accidentally nicking Riley's skin.  The metal "teeth" prongs guarding the 10 blade rotors are not that long, so I was really scared that if I trimmed Riley's fur at a wrong angle, the clipper could catch his skin.  I tried to follow the clipper along the body frame, but I was always afraid of nicking Riley's skin.  As such, I didn't evenly clip the fur (which is the next issue).

2.  Because of my fear, I had trouble getting an even cut with the 10 blade, which gave a pretty short cut close to the skin (hence, my fear of nicking my dog - It's a vicious circle!).  Now, Riley has weird track marks and uneven patches of fur.  For instance, there are somewhat "bald" spots on his back (i.e., some spots where it's closely shaven).  No matter how many times I tried, I just couldn't get an even cut.  (FYI:  I clipped from front to back, going with the direction of his fur).  He looks like a polka dot dog!  This is contrary to the youtube videos of people grooming doodles - they seem to run the clipper through quickly along the body and get an even length.  

So, here are my questions:

SAFETY-RELATED QUESTIONS:

1.  What blade(s) do you use to groom your doodle?  I'm contemplating getting a 5FC blade (see pic) or 3FC blade, which have longer "teeth guards" that seem to better protect against nicking the skin.   Do you guys agree that these are safer blades for novice home groomers? (I don't care that I can't get as close a shave as with the 10 blade - My number one priority is safety)

2.  I see that you can purchase combs that attach to the blade.  Do comb attachments further protect against skin nicking?  In the pictures, the comb seem to add more surface area between the skin and blade -- Is that the case? In other words, do comb attachments make it safer to clip dogs?  

3.  What tips do you guys have for avoiding skin nicks?

CONSISTENT GROOMING QUESTIONS:

4.  How in the world do you guys get a consistent, even trim without weird track-marks or bald spots?  Do the comb attachments help?  I think I'm getting the bald spots because I start off at a steeper angle (creating a closely-shaved spot) and then straighten out).

Thanks in advance for your tips!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Well, given I have pretty curly doodles with dense hair, and their leg hair stands pretty much straight out after a bath and high-velocity blow out, I can get away with using the clipper with a comb attachment on their legs. I use 2 combs longer on their legs than those on their bodies. Does that make sense? I use a blue comb on their bodies and a yellow comb on their legs. Don't ask me the lengths, as I only go by color code :-)  I do LOTS of scissor touch-up work on legs, feet, face, beard, ears and tail (the last of which is done exclusively with scissors) after the clipper work is done. 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Oh, I just wanted to add, that clipper cutting the doodles' legs is easily the most annoying to them. I don't know if its being ticklish, or just not liking their legs messed with, but its definitely their least favorite part of the groom, which translates to MY least favorite part!

[Melissa]

Perfect!!  My doodle has dense curly hair too. So this should be fine.  I agree with you about their legs though. Even combing Chloe's legs, she tends to want to pull her leg back from me a few times. 

[Ellen]

Thanks for your reply Debb!  I doubt that I will ever have the gumption to use a 30 blade even with a comb.  Your tip about using the slicker brush and brushing in the opposite direction sounds like a good solution for the problem I'm having.  I found that the area on which I start using the clipper gives the shortest cut, but as I run the clipper down his back or sides, it doesn't pick up the same amount of fur . . . hence the weird "bald" spots where I start clipping.  He doesn't look as bad this morning . . . if anything, he looks "splotchy" with bits of short, then long, then short fur.  

I'll try getting a Wahl comb attachment for the 10 blade per your rec.

Thanks for the tips & encouragement!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Actually, the Wahl comb attachments work best with the 30 blade. Its an extremely close cutting blade. I have used a 10 blade in a pinch, but its just a smoother cut with a 30 blade (never use a 30 blade on bare skin).

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

The advice that I was going to give is exactly what Debbie said! :-)  Since I love grooming my own dogs, I have a little side hobby of grooming friend's dogs. It is great fun!! The only time I have ever used just a #10 blade was when I had a dog who's coat was matted and in such terrible condition that it needed to be "shaved down" right to the skin. And, yes, he had some areas that ended up looking bald- with that short of blade it was next to impossible to get a really smooth look.

So, like Debbie and others have said- always use comb attachments. I have the Wahl set, which fit nicely over my Wahl Arco SE 5 in 1 trimmer. That trimmer has an adjustable blade that contains a 9, 10, 15, and 40 blade. Once you find the size of attachment that you want to use, it makes it super easy to get a nice even look. Sometimes I will "skim" certain areas- like the tops of the legs- but most areas of the body the comb attachment is in constant contact with the body. And, I stop and brush the hair up and going over it again and again. Depending on the coat type, it sometimes takes MANY passes of going over the same area in order to get a smooth look.

This is Gucci- a friend's minigoldendoodle that I groomed yesterday. She wanted her body trimmed in a shorter Spring "do."Unfortunately I didn't take a pic of her standing, so you can't really see her body and back legs. I'm showing a picture so that you can get a visual idea of how various attachments can be used... I used the peach (1/2") attachment on her body, rump, belly, neck/chest, the yellow (5/8") on her legs, and the light purple (3/4") on the top of her head. I used the red (1/8") attachment in her armpits and groin- places were she tends to get matts. Her face, lower legs and feet were scissored with curves, thinners and chunkers. The only places were I didn't use a comb attachment were between her toe pads, around her anus and her lady parts. The #10 or #15 were used in those areas. Going in the same direction of the hair you'll get a bit longer length than what the attachments say. Oh, and to answer your question about safety... yes, the attachments increase the safety margin. I've never nicked a dog, or even gave a shave burn. The places were I'm always super careful are the genitals on both males and females. But, I HAVE cut my own fingers (several times!) with my scissors! :-(

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Adorable! Great job, Lori!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I'm with Debb, Lucy and Oscar ... I groom my 2 and someone just told me about using the #30 instead of the #10 blade.  I've always used the comb attachments on the #10 and had a little trouble getting the coats smooth.  Once I bought the #30 and used it on the last 2 groomings I'm like where have you been all my life.  It was so much easier.  I like using comb attachments not only because I like leaving the coat a little longer but because I don't have to worry about burning them when the blade gets hot or stopping to let it cool off.  I recommend you get a #30 blade and a nice set of comb attachments.  Even if you use the shorter ones, you won't have to worry so much.  Like Debb using the slicker brush to backbrush the hair after each pass, I just use my hand.