First grooming

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Hi there,

I need some advise.  Koda will be 6 months old next week and she is going for her first professional groom.  Should we get her hair cut short?

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I much prefer typing of any kind on my desktop rather than my tablet/phone... it's soooo much easier.  I don't really text though, so I'm slow, maybe that's why?  I'm a bit of a "dinosaur" too for my age when it comes to my phone, my friends must find it frustrating :p  I will go days without checking my phone, they know messaging me by facebook or sending an email will likely get a quicker response.

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

They did a great job!

[Tammie]

Wow what a great grandma you to Koda!  She is so cute!  Make sure wshare after pictures.  

[Wanda Klomp]

Ask for a scissor cut grooming with attachment comb 19 mm for the body and all the rest by hand with thinning scissors. This will leave her looking bice and fluffy like a little bear cub AND makes her coat much more easily to handle for you. Best of both worlds :-) xxx

[Stacy]

I don't know about Rosalyn, but I can't find anyone in my area who will scissor cut. I had a groomer who did it, but she moved to Arkansas. Around here everyone seems to be strictly clippers, with maybe a tiny bit of scissoring on the face, the ends of the ears, and tail. I wish I knew someone who groomed their own show dog who could teach me. But I don't think that I can learn enough on youtube to be brave enough to try it.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I think I'd have a hard time finding a groomer here too who would scissor cut... and if they did they'd charge more than all my grooming supplies combined for a single cut lol.  I thought about buying clippers myself but I don't think I could get her hair long enough for my liking with clippers.

Get yourself a nice pair of shears, apologize to your doodle in advance for your ineptitude and just go for it! What's the worse that happens, they look silly for a month or two while it grows back?

To make things speedier I just use my hand as a length guide and hack away at Riley's ridiculous amount of hair for an hour or so with 7" shears, sometimes another hour the next day.  I even things out with thinning shears if there are obvious rough spots.  I use small round tipped, curved scissors for her face and sanitary areas.

Youtube was really helpful for trimming the face but I pretty much just trim her the same length everywhere else (I don't cut much off her tail though).  

[Stacy]

The lady who used to scissor cut Katie actually charged less than the replacement groomers who use clippers. Jana was always sad when we came in for our summer cut and I told her to just shave her shortish. I couldn't handle her hair when we were swimming frequently. I've been through 3 groomers since she left and this is the first one who I feel like might be our new grooming home. It's not even about the hair cut. I'm not *that* picky. It's about the dogs response to the groomers themselves. Katie loved Jana. Adored her. She would have happily gone home with her and told me not to let the door hit me on the way out. That's what I want for the girls. Someone who really cares for them. I trusted her implicitly to take care of them. I'm still really sad she's gone. She would have been the perfect person to watch them so I could go out of town. 

I might give hair cutting a try at some point. Lord knows I spend a fortune on grooming, and it always grows back! But you have to realize that you're talking to the girl who is hopeless at her own hair. I can do a ponytail or a messy braid. I was talking to someone at work one day and she said, I would love to straighten your hair. My response, I spent 30 minutes straightening it this morning. I guess it didn't work. You do a really nice job with Riley. I guess I just look at all of their parts and get overwhelmed thinking about it!

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

I like your comments.  I actually used to groom my bichon and I still did Khloe my yorkie.  But  I am taking Koda and Khloe to the a professional since this is Koda's first time being groomed.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Very very difficult to find a groomer nowadays who does hand scissoring. If I were going to show Jasper, I'd have to drive an hour each way to get him groomed. And I'm in a large metropolitan area.
Wanda is in the Netherlands, so she probably has no idea what is available here. 

[Stacy]

What we need is a show dog mentor to teach us to do them ourselves. But I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen while I have doodles! 

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

I agree Stacy.  I don't see that happening.   I am older now and no time to groom a doodle.  Hence why the girls are going back to the groomers!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

"Do it yourself" is not in my vocabulary. I come from a long line of proud "call a professional" people. 

I've had my own dogs since 1977; 42 years- and I have never given a dog a bath. The closest I've ever come was when JD once got his entire "undercarriage" covered in mud and I had to get him into the tub to rinse him off. I don't think either one of us stopped shaking for several hours after that. 

Jasper has had his feet rinsed in the kitchen sink a few times. 

And thank Dog none of them has ever tangled with a skunk, but even then...I have a 24/7 emergency dog deskunking company on speed dial. https://skunkmasters.com/?keyword_session_id=vt~adwordskt~%2Bdog%20...