My 1st poodle groom need advice

[sunshinetm]

OK don't laugh or scream...believe it or not the lady loved it, but I don't think she knows the proper way he should have looked. Yesterday I asked for tips for grooming a standard poodle, my 1st poodle. Here are the pictures of my groom. I really don't want to show anyone but I want able to groom the poodles good so I need to know all of the things I did wrong. I really want to be good at this so don't be shy in advice just not rude. LOL I know my lines, feet bevels or lack of & so much more are wrong, I need help!!! I made a deal with the lady that owns the poodle that I will groom her poodle for almost nothing every 4-6 weeks for 1 year & she will let me practice & learn on her dog. I did get very lucky because this poodle stood on the table forever while I groomed him not fussing at all, what a great dog to learn with. It didn't seem like he had a ton of hair & seemed pretty thin with hip bones kinda sticking out on top. I wasn't sure what to do with the tail because the hair was to short to make a pom. Any & all constructive advice welcome. I will use it all for the next time I groom this dog. Thanks for the help. Terri

[sunshinetm]

More poodle pics

More pics so you can critique it all. No laughing or gasping for air as you look at them. LOL Thanks, Terri

[Pixie]

Well when I first saw the second pic I thought his top knot needs to be a lot full, more on top, but then I looked at the before pic. You didn't have anything to really work with, it was short to begin with.

I think you did a pretty nice job.

[sunshinetm]

top knot

How do I let the top grow if they come in for a trim every 6 weeks & still make it look decent while I try & get it to grow out more? Also, the ears don't look right especially at the top any sugetions? Don't even get me started on the foot bevel thing, I need someone to teach my how to do that in person very badly. Thanks for looking, Terri

[sittingpretty]

1st Poodle

I think you did a great job!! He looks very handsome. I also thought you took his head too short, then realized the topknot was already quite short. I hope the owner will let his coat grow out at least a little bit so you will have more coat to work with. You are giving her a terrific deal for 1 yr. it would be nice to have more hair to really practice on.

nice job!
sittingpretty

[sittingpretty]

When you see him the next time, just set the sides of the head. The top can just be trimmed to shape up.


good luck,
sittingpretty

[onions]

You are being very hard on yourself....
You did a GREAT job with what you had to start with & your inexperience!!!
(no offense, he might have been a sweetheart, but he's not the best looking poodle....that schnoz...oh my!)

I would try to angle (bevel) the bottom of the leg more.
(I don't speak technical talk, either).....yours look too straight across, almost like pant legs.
I just take curved scissors & go around nice from the clean foot then scissor the leg.
But I just do simple pet poodle trims, others here I'm sure have better advice.

[sunshinetm]

pant legs

OMG Onions, they do look like pant legs...straight legs at that. The video kept saying scissor straight down, Colum like. So where do I start beveling? Do you have any pics of some good legs? Poodle legs that is...

[Integrity36]

I think you did a lovely job, with the little hair you had to work with!
looks like you are on your way to being a great groomer!
I am so, not laughing.

[petgroomaustralia]

You did a nice neat groom. Less shaving on the feet, they are a bit too high. For the bevels, the easy way is to run your closed hand down the lower leg to the clipper line from the feet and then trim all the hair around your fist that falls below the clipper line, this should give you an automatic bevel when you release the foot. You are off to a great start.

[neanea]

you did a great job!

[luvpups]

I think you are being to hard on yourself too. You did not have much coat to work with from the start so it is not like you can get all the parts looking perfect. First with the ears, since they are short to start, they look funny to you because the hair sticks out and is not falling down. Nothing you can do about that. If they want to keep it short, maybe take it even shorter than it is now so it does not look so bulky. Think German trim. Maybe a 4 or 5 blade and trim around the whole ear and shave out the inside with a 10. The legs should be scissored straight, the reason they look like pants is that the hair is so short. You can leave some extra hair on the hock next time and let it grow out to get some angulation going. As far as the bevel, you are not gonna get much there either with this length but it you grow it out a little you can do what petgroomaustrailia said. Is this dog coming off of a shave last time and growing out, or is this how they keep it?

[corisa66]

I think your first poodle looks great. If this is your starting point, your gonna be a star in a year. Only thing I would say is in agreement with the others before me. He does need more topknot but totally not your fault at all..I would really barely touch his head for a while. I do think your feet are done too high and thats why you are beating yourself up about that area. He reminds me of my first Standards when I was in my twenties. Although I have only been grooming for a couple of years, when I worked at the clinic I groomed and my very best friend had 2 standards. She let me practice on them for free for years. My feet used to be too high too...the boys looked like they were wearing floods for about 6 months. Even now I have to really concentrate when I do a poodle foot...telling myself over and over, ok Cori just the foot not the ankles LOL. Your buddy there didnt have a lot of coat to play with for bevels. I really like the shaping on him though, I think you did awesome.

[sunshinetm]

Thank you

You all are awesome! Thanks for the advice. I don't know how long she will let him grow out. but she did say she will bring him in at least every 6 weeks. Hopefully this is a sign she wants to keep up with the grooming & not let him get a matted mess. She just got the dog in Dec of 09 & said the dog has only had puppy cuts so far & she wants it to look more like a poodle. The dog is only a little over a year old so will his body fill out more as he gets older? He seemed so skinny to me & his hip bones kinda stuck up in the back. I hear about grooming so the dogs flaws don't show but I wouldn't know if the dog had a flaw or not. LOL I did try to make the hip bones not so noticeable but there was barely enough hair to really hide it good. I will see if she will let it grow out longer allowing me to practice more on style, scissoring & lines, after all this is why I am grooming the dog for next to nothing right? How do you know how high to shave the feet? The feet shaving thing took me forever, any tricks to that? On the throat how fknow how far down to start shaving the v? On the face do you shave a straight line from the corner of the eye to the top corner of the ear? I think I didn't shave up high enough there. The v thing between the eyes seems hard to me to for some reason. I will keep practicing though & get better, ust gonna tae me a while since I only groom a few dogs a week except in the summer I do a lot more. Thanks again for all of the advice & for sharing your knowledge & experience. You all are the best! Terri

[Kifaru]

I laughed a little. Chuckled, really - because I've seen Poodle sent home that didn't look nearly that good, from groomers who've had a lot more practice. He looks very nice. He probably will fill in a bit as he matures, but some of that is just Poodle-ness. Look on the bright side, all those poky spots will help you as you learn to set angles.

If you don't have actual Poodle feet to practice on, practice on your own fingers; with the clipper off, run the blade around your fingers and figure out how the machine balances in your hand as you get down into the 'webbing', and how it feels to use just the edge of the blade vs. the entire flat surface.

Growing out his topknot, I'd just tidy off those pesky sticky-outies for a few grooms, practice setting that little bevel that will keep it from flopping into his eyes; floppy brow hair is just asking for the owner to whack it back at home!

It may just be the picture quality, but there seems to be some ridging in the body and leg coat - when you're scissoring, be sure you're combing and lifting the coat as you go. It helps me to comb leg hair upwards, lift the leg and give it a gentle shake to let the hair settle naturally.

You're ahead of the game, he looks handsome, neat, and happy.