Tools For Grooming a Std Poodle (From old Board)

[AussieFan]

I had originally posted this on the old board, but since I have been busy with changes at work I have not had time to reply.


"Trying to help my MIL out.

She used to have 2 Std Poodles done at the pet something in Erie PA until the groomer that did her poodles passed away. Both are done whit what appears to be a lamb clip. Since there is a money issue (FIL passed away last year) (She was paying less that $50.00/dog). I have volunteered to groom her poodles.(Unless there is somebody who can do a really good job in that price range NW PA - NE OH). She is checking with the breeder of 1 of poodles to see if she can give me some training. (there is a distance issue though) The other poodle is a rescue (or so to say).

My wife and I have 2 aussies and a beagle/aussie mix. I have been doing the grooming on these for about 6 years. (The breeder taught me how.) From reading other post here I now know that I have some work cut out for myself.

I am trying to figure out what I still need to buy so I can do this. I currently have:
Grooming Table w/regular arm
6" thinning and straight sheers
Large assortment of brushes and combs
Super Duck Dryer
a palm sized Wahl trimmer (I am not impressed with it.)
Mars King coat brush
plenty of towels, MicroFibre Towel, and water absorbant towels (like for drying cars)
Dremel and scissor type nail trimmer.

I wash in a house tub/shower unit.

I am currently looking at buying:
Andis Clipper - 2 speed super or Ultra
- will also get cleaner, blade cooler, lube
- I need to figure out which size blades (Which - Wahl, Oster or Andis - Regular blades?)
Sheers (looking at Gator or Dubl Duck)(?Master Groom?)
- 10" straight
- curved?
Dryer
- Double K Airmax (would the 2000 AD work?)

Would a corded trimmer be recommended?

Besides exceeding my knowledge. How does my selection of tools look? Is there anything else that I might need?


BTW, I am paying for the tools and would like to keep the total under $500.




Thanks for your help in advance.

Kurt"

Thanks Hairdevl, Grinch, Kim, Helly and Rapuzzled

Blades and Clippers:
It looks like depending on the length of coat that my MIL wants I should be looking at 10 for the tail and feet (included with clipper)
a 30 for the feet and somewhere between a 3 and 7 for the body. Get a set of combs to make trimming the legs easier,

I will probably get the Andis Ultra Edge 2 speed Clippers from petedge since they include 10 and 7FC on special right now.
Also from petedge they have a special on Wahl blades.
Any particular combs work better than others?

Helly, I will take your advise and skip the blade cooler and get a piece marble flooring. Will it cool the blade quicker is you freeze the marble prior to using? You also indicated that the Wahl Clippers would run cooler, in looking at the specs I see that they run slower, therefore less heat. (That makes sense to me.) So, that would make low speed on the Andis the same as high on the Wahl, and if I use the Andis on low speed I should be fine. Right?


Scissors:
I will probably either get Dubl Duck or Heritage 10" straight and curved scissors.
Does anybody know of place where I can try different scissors? I just bought a new pair of thinning shears since my original pair did not fit my hand correctly. I travel on a regular basis between Erie PA, Youngstown OH, Canton/Akron OH, Cleveland OH, to just East of Toledo OH.

Books:
My MIL is supposed to already have "Poodle Clipping & Grooming: The International Reference" by Shirlee Kalstone.
I also picked up "ultimate doge grooming" by Eileen Geeson.

Is there a good reasonably priced video?

Dryer:
Is the Double K Airmax a good choice?

BTW, I will not be making any money on this. I am just trying to save my MIL some $$$.

[diamienono]

The airmax is a good choice. I just got one and love it. The AD will work, but take twice as long to dry. Go to the blade guys website. They can teach you proper oiling and the proper use of blade coolant. You should never spray on the teeth of the blade. It strips it of the oils.
If you were around here NE Pa I could recomend a great shop that would do it for $50 ea. As far as what blades you need you can check the Andis website they have charts. Also somewhere on this site there is a how to for each breed and that will tell you what you need. You are looking at putting out a lot of money just to save your MIL some money.

[Helly]

A piece of marble flooring will work, if you happen to have a spare piece laying around. If not, get a cheap-o piece of ceramic tile. I think I paid less than a dollar for all the pieces I have. You can even buy broken or chipped pieces. They don't need to be perfect, just big enough to set your blade on.

A also wouldn't freeze them first, but you can speed things along by having a small fan blowing on them.

Regarding the clippers; yes, the Andis clipper runs faster. That's great for powering through really dense coats and speeding up a groom, which is important for those of us who have to groom a lot of dogs each day. But you aren't going to be doing that. You really don't need all that speed. Save yourself 20 bucks or so and get the Wahl KM2. They'll get the job done just fine. And use the $20 to buy a Wahl blade, your choice of size.

Andis clippers are more vulnerable to getting moisture in the motor. If you get them ALWAYS keep the clipper with the clipper pointed down when you're cleaning blades. Blade wash running into the clipper will fry the motor. Oh, speaking of washing blades, you need to run new blades through blade wash before you use them. They have a rust inhibiting coating applied at the factory, and it'll gum them up if you don't wash it off with blade wash.

Actually, I won't use Andis clippers, because they kill my hands. I use the KM2 all day, every day. And I'm faster than a bunny with a pack of beagles on his tail.

For what you're going to be using it for, the Airmax dryer should be ok. It won't dry as fast as the heavy duty dryers we like to do, and you'll have to brush a bit more to straighten the hair, but just like the clippers, you don't need all that power for doing the occasional groom on a pet dog.

[toomuchfunbnme]

Good Luck!

Yep, if you check out Andis.com and click on their grooming guides and tips at the top of their page you will find lots of great info about blades and examples of poodle styles. Also the grooming guides on this site are awsome! It's really nice of you to groom those poodles! You might like it so much, maybe you will want to become a groomer full time! Good luck!

[nicshred]

Hi, I also work in PA , Hermitage area. The women who passed away was a great person and started me in grooming 10 plus years ago. I groom standards for $50 each as long as they are on regular scheduled appointments. You are taking on a huge task , standards are great to groom I enjoy grooming them . I even own one...

[AussieFan]

Thanks for all of the input. Sorry for the delay but have to pay the bills. I understand that this will be a huge undertaking and will be costing me some money now but saving me money in the long run.

I will probably get the Airmax. I tried something the other day just to see the results... I used the exhaust on out vacuum cleaner to blow the water off our 1 aussie the other day (after being towel dried, of course) and was amazed on how nice she turned out. The only thing that I did not like about it was no heat. Lesson learned… get the right tool for the job.

I talked to my MIL the other day and found that the body is clipped between 1/2” and 3/4”, legs around 1”, feet #40 face and sanitary probably the same or a little less.

I checked out the BladeGuyz website and the Andis site. Great info at both sites.

Helly:
You bring up some really good points. Now that I have a better idea of what size blade that I will need the Wahl makes better financial sense.

With what I know now would combs work better for the body or should I be looking at the proper size blade? I think that the necessary blade sizes currently would be 40, 15 or 30, 10 (comes with the clippers) and approx 5/8 HT blade if combs won’t work.

Nicshed:
Would you be willing to give me some instruction? If so how much $$? I currently travel to western PA – Hermitage, Greenville, Titusville, Mercer, Meadville, Grove City and areas in between. I should be in Hermitage in the next 2 weeks.

Thanks again

Kurt

[nicshred]

I am always willing to show others what I have learned so far....you never know it all. I live in Franklin PA . Feel free to email and let me know a good time , if I'm not at a show with the bouv crew will show you all the tips and tricks I have learned on them standards.

talk soon
trish

[nicshred]

Lets see if this works now. Email and let me know when you will around this area. I enjoy sharing what I know and have learned over the years. I live in Franklin PA .
Talk soon
Trish