My first attempt at grooming......

[Karen & Lucy]

Well I just found out that if you want your doodle to be groomed in a certain way, you just need to do it yourself. I love my groomer, but she ALWAYS clips Lucy too short and shaves her face entirely too short. I have not had Lucy groomed since the end of summer. I have been keeping her brushed, no matts, thank goodness. She was starting to look like a sheep dog. Her fur was, I know, at least 6 " long. So yesterday I decided to scissor her. No grooming table, no straps. She sat at first and then laid down during the rest of the 3 or so hrs. that it took me to do the job. When I was done it looked like I had just sheared a sheep. I know I have some high spots, but I think she turned out pretty well. I also ended up with a HUGH open blister on my middle finger from the scissors, ooch!!! I also found that with the scissors it seems that she is much curlier than when clippers are used. I now have to master clipping the nails. Anyone have any ideas on where to get a reasonably priced grooming table OR, what do you use. My back was killing me when I was done. Lucy loved it laying on the floor getting pam

pered.

[Leslie and Halas]

She looks great! Nice job.

[Deena Womack]

She looks great!! I am not sure I would be brave enough to take on grooming Cali. But I did not like how close the groomer shaved her face, she lost her fringed bang look and it still hasn't grown back.

[Karen & Lucy]

Lucy will be 3 on April 6th. and it has taken me all this time to get up enough nerve to do this. I'll tell you though, You really can not make a mistake. Cali's fur looks alot like Lucy's and I just kept cutting and with the curls you can hardly tell your mistakes. I have naturally curly hair and I feel the same about my hair, no matter how it is cut the curls cover whatever may not be right. Try it you will be surprised.

[1qrgkdwnfqccb]

hey karen,
lucy looks GREAT!! when can i bring Izzy and Tucker over? i want to get an appt. before you are booked solid!! ha ha!! really, you did a nice job, and lucy does seem to be curlier!!

[Karen & Lucy]

Thanks Amy, you, Izzy & Tucker are welcome anytime. I will lend you a pair of scissors !!! We do have to get together someday. I cut her first then gave her a bath. When she was wet her fur was just laying in ringlets all over her body.

[Karen & Lucy]

Thanks Ann, I have never heard of the finger cushions, but will certainly look for them. Yes I do have a crate, she doesn't use it much any more, but that is a great idea. I will try that. I will have my DH rig up something to hold her head. He could clamp it to the end of the crate. That would be a great help on the back.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Oh, this is a topic we love to talk about. We have two doodles and they have never been to a groomer (never boarded either). Both my DH and I are retired, so we have all the time we would like to pamper our doods, and they do love it. We also trained for 30 years on poodles. My husband was the first groomer and we invested in the best equipment when we first started grooming our miniature poodle. Then we always groomed our standard poodle. Then we started on the doodles. Hondo is a labradoodle and we like his hair a little longer. Groucho Too is a F1b goldendoodle and he needs to be kept a little shorter because of his thicker hair and the matting problem. Hondo can sun dry on a warm day but Groucho Too needs to be blown dry after a bath. The great thing about doodles - there is no way they need to be clipped. It is what YOU like. Groomers have a hard time with this, because they have their own ideas about what looks right and what is easiest to do.
Now to let you know how spoiled we all are - we remodeled our house several years ago and made a huge laundry/workroom with big sinks and counters for dog washing and grooming. However, our dogs are too large for lifting, so we have a removable ramp they have been trained to walk up to get to the batheing/grooming area. Besides the batheing area, we also bought a car that has the back converted into a dog area with pet barriers and a plastic bed liner. It is very easy to clean for trips to the beach, and we have memory foam beds that fit into the back for longer trips.
Back to grooming - We take one day to do the faces and feet. We shave the face from the nose, back to the eyes and then under the nose leaving a mustache and chin beard because they are boys. Shave between the toes and clean the pads well when you do the toenails. Also we shave the tummy area and clip the hair short around the anal area and clean the anal sacks. Then the rest is a scissors cut (which we save for another day). After the first cut (takes several hours on Groucho Too), we give him a bath, blow dry, and then do the final cut. As you can see, it is timely and we figure it is about five hours for a groom on Groucho Too. We are so lucky because we can trade off and Groucho Too loves for us to spend hours working on him. When he gets tired, he lays down, but he loves the one-on-one attention.
Please send me a message if you have any other questions. I love this topic and could go on forever.

[Karen & Lucy]

My DH is retired, but I am not. I liked doing this because it really gives you an opportunity to bond, plus I just enjoyed it. I think Lucy did too. Like I said she just laid there on her side and I had to roll her around to get to all areas. She did not even mind when I did her sanitary areas. I have alot to learn yet and would like to buy a good pair of clippers to do the belly etc. Next time I will probably take a couple of days to do this, it was a long process. It surely sounds like your doodles are very spoiled. I never spoil Lucy.... HeHeHe

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

she looks great! With that 2nd photo I did a double take because she looks just like my doodle Dexter! Especially laying in that position.

[Karen & Lucy]

You are right, Dexter does look alot like Lucy. Same coloring too

[elyse]

I think you did a GREAT job - she looks so pretty

[Karen & Lucy]

Thanks elyse.