Grooming Poodles Made Easy

By Geraldine Dimarco | December 3, 2009 | Popularity: unranked (?)

If you own a poodle, you will shortly discover that grooming them can take up a lot of money. This is why many poodle owners have decided to go ahead and try grooming their dogs themselves, and they are discovering that this is something that is much more straightforward than they might have thought. You’ll find that all you need to make sure that you are competent when it comes to grooming poodles is the ability to be patient and show a little bit of manual dexterity.

Grooming standard poodles completely takes about three hours, once you get good at it. While you’re still learning, you might have to spread the job out over a few days. This is both to give you a break, and for your poodle. If you’re not willing to learn poodle grooming on your own, or are worried about the time it takes, you’ll have to choose a professional to do it. Remember to pick this person out carefully. Talking to other poodle owners is a good way to find a good groomer.

When considering grooming poodles, you’ll find that you should think about what kind of trim that you prefer. Your poodle’s coat can be shaped into a number of different looks, all of them attractive, but remember that the longer and more shaped that your dog’s coat needs to be, the more maintenance that it will need. Similarly, if your dog is a show dog, you’ll also find that you need to have some sort of variation on the lion cut, which does require a fair amount of upkeep.

If you have a show poodle, remember that it will have a lion cut of some sort. A lion cut has three standard variations, including a puppy cut, an English saddle cut and a continental cut. You’ll find that these all have ths ame standard look and they all come from a time when poodles were used to retrieve birds that had been shot into the water, as the long ruff of fur on the chest would protect the lungs and the fur on the legs would protect the bones.

For non-competing poodles, there’s a lot more to choose from. You can choose a shorter trim, which is easier to maintain, and especially easier to dry in the winter. longer trims are showier, but they’ll require more maintenance. Check some grooming books, or take a look at a few poodles to figure out what you prefer.

Most people choose to clip the fur at the base of the tail and on the feet and face very short. It works better for the dog’s hygiene, since long hair can trap food. Short clipped feet don’t pick up grass seeds, and mean that your dog won’t track in as much dirt. Remember that shorter coats are easier to wash and dry, and they don’t need as much brushing as a fluffy, long coat. Always wash your poodle before grooming to keep your clippers and scissors in good shape. Use high quality equipment, too. While it’s more expensive to start with, it’ll make poodle grooming much easier.

For more on poodle grooming as well as information on poodle training, you can’t go past Poodle Information.

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