Grooming Woes

[Stacy]

I know I overshare. And I know this is highly insignificant in the big picture. And I know it's just hair and it will grow. But I'm soooo bummed. 

Katie and Maggie's groomer moved away. And when I say away I mean far away - like a 17 hour round trip (I checked.)  She had been Katie's groomer since we moved here in 2015 - I think she had only been groomed twice by someone else. And I knew I was spoiled. She hand scissored Katie and she only charged maybe $60. She taught me so many things. She helped me get a few decent grooming tools and figure out at least the brushing thing. I don't think Katie's had a matt on her for 2 years. The girls adore her and she's one of the few people trust implicitly with them. And we won't even mention that her shop was 5 minutes away from home. 

But life must go on and dogs must be groomed. So today I took them to the groomer who replaced my beloved groomer. And it's not a disaster. It's not. It's just hair, right? That's what I always think when someone is bemoaning the way their dog was groomed. But, she cut.off.their.beards. I did not know this was a thing I had to tell her. And Maggie, I can't say anything. We're still working out the brushing kinks. She doesn't like it, and she has hair that tangles. She was kind of a mess (but not that big of a mess.) But Katie! All she needed was a bath and a trim and she came home with a summer cut and no beard! And to add insult to injury she shaved up about 2 inches on her tail. She didn't have a single tangle in her tail. Why would she even do that? 

I know, I know. It will grow back. Eventually. But I'm whining here. And now I am in search of a new groomer who is exactly like the old groomer. And I don't think it's a thing. And somehow I'm sitting here wondering exactly how I could justify driving 17 hours every time the girls need their hair done. 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I found a great groomer, but both my doodles would just cry and shake as I brought them into the salon.  They have been shaved to the skin, had razor burns, and cuts, ear infection from the bath, diarrhea afterwards......on and on.  They always looked fine, sometimes shorter than I'd like, due to matts.  But after about 6 groomings,  I just couldn't take it anymore and decided to do them myself again. I had for the first 7 and 5 years of their lives, but they were just getting to be too much with working and grandchildren.  Very time consuming.

Grooming seemed like a luxury to me, but to have them so upset, it just wasn't worth it.  I'd trade a not so nice haircut for them being happy and excited to see their groomer and always come out without any discomfort.  It's good that your girls didn't seem to mind and didn't suffer any injuries. And I have a feeling this new person will want very much to do them to your specifications.  And yes, it grows back very quickly.  But if you want them a specific way and you just cant seem to get through to her, you might give home grooming a try. Start out with just doing the belly and sanity cuts, maybe paws and up the leg a little.  I did find that this time around, it is much better cuz I broke down and bought a grooming table, new clippers with nice comb attachments, and a cape to keep hair off me, and it makes all the difference.  Total investment was paid back with one grooming. 

[Stacy]

See, and what you describe there is why I am so devastated to lose my groomer. Katie would run into the salon and fly into her arms. I joked that she liked the groomer more than me. She did a beautiful job with them, and then Katie would come home prancing around like, "aren't I pretty, mommy!" She really had a spa day. If the haircut hadn't been half as nice I still would have adored her, just because of the way she treated them. 

I'm sure the new groomer will work out okay. We just have to figure out how to get them longer. I still have a call to make to a place who claims to do poodle cuts. I know they're not shaving down show poodles. (Well, not the whole poodle anyway.) But I won't sacrifice the dogs comfort for a better cut. It's just hair. No one ever died of a bad haircut. Katie won't need to be groomed for a long time after this one. She doesn't really matt and she lets me comb through her ears and tail nicely. Maggie we're still working on figuring out the optimal grooming schedule. She does matt and she makes me chase her all over the house with the comb when I'm trying to keep the tangles out of her tail. 

Maybe one of these days I'll take the plunge and try to do some of my own grooming. I just feel like I can barely find the hidden tangles to keep them combed out. How can I possibly do the whole thing!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I think a place that advertises poodle cuts will NOT give you a doodle cut. I’ll bet that show poodles are groomed by their handlers. They can’t take a chance that that coat is not perfect.  (I’m reading a mystery series by Laurien Berenson right now that features dog show poodles and grooming is a featured part of each book. LOL)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's the main reason I didn;t even consider showing Jasper. I can barely do my own hair, lol, and it's hard to find a groomer who really knows how to groom show cuts. (Or "trims", as they say in the fancy.) 

[Stacy]

I know I'm not in the fancy, but I really think it would do the breed good if they started really looking at the dogs instead of the skill of the haircut. How many wonderful dogs don't get shown because the owner isn't a master groomer. And how many flaws get covered up by a good haircut? But that's just me. It sounds like the dog show world is highly political anyway. I would like to be in dogs, but I wouldn't even know where to begin.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Stick with the performance competitions; you're still "in dogs", and in a way that's a lot more fun for the dogs.
From what I understand, the haircuts don't really hide anything from a trained eye and trained hands. It is very political, though.

[Stacy]

You're so right. We've been having such a good time training. I can't imagine that conformation would be as much fun. 

[DonMarie and Picco]

I was going through videos to get some pointers and one was a person interviewing a poodle groomer working on a doodle and complaining about how hard they are to work on because their coats are so different and how much better poodles were!  I couldn't even finish watching it!

[Stacy]

I will give them that doodles are challenging to groom. I've had three, and all three coats are completely different. Ava was long and shaggy and she did shed. I spent half my life combing her, but we both loved it. Katie is curly and shaggy and when she gets groomed she puffs out like a chubby little cotton ball. But she's pretty silky and if I work at it even a little bit she doesn't really matt. Maggie... I still haven't figured her hair out. When she's short she is white and soft. But when her hair starts growing she gets these long wiry apricot colored hairs mixed with the softer ones. She matts something fierce. Even her tail and ears, and those are the areas where I don't have any trouble at all with Katie. If Katie gets tangled it's mostly armpits. Ears and tail are easy. There is no one size fits all groom to the doodles. 

I feel like poodle coats should be more standardized across the breed. If I learned how to groom a poodle I should be able to groom most poodles. But doodles are a mixed bag.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Meet Mr. Mat - alias Ned. Ned is 10 and he went through the major mat phase - like you blink and he has 12 new mats - for 2 1/2 years!   He mats less now = less meaning you can actually sit down before you find those 12 new mats! 

[DonMarie and Picco]

Yes Doodles are all different but they were being snotty about it & putting down doodles in the video!  A day or two after Picco gets groomed, some clumps of long hairs start popping out.  It's like they hide when the clippers come.  I do brush and go over him a couple times and it still happens.  It happens after a pro cut too!  One groomer said I could bring him back and they would take care of it but I thought it was easier just to snip them off as they pop out!

[DonMarie and Picco]

You are sure right about the cost!  I can't imagine have how much you would pay for grooming more than one dog.  Do you get discounts for multi-dogs?