Just got new poodle!

[luvpups]

I just got a new poodle yesterday. White standard. He is already 7 months old and has not gotten groomed yet. Just feet, face and tail. Any suggestions on what to do with him for now? I would like to use him to compete and am going to look into showing.

[sheilabgroomer]

What a little beauty..the potential is endless!!! Are you sure he has never had a "full groom" yet? His coat is not that long for a 7 mo old that has never had a cut (I don't think, but I am not a "poodle" expert). As far as what grooms to do, I would think to let him grow out more so you have more of a choice when you do pick a style. Maybe just practice lightly scissoring him in a "puppy cut" so he gets used to the process and you get to know each other. Have fun!!! One day I am going to get a high maintenence pup for a pet that I can get creative with, but for now w/having young kids and being so busy w/other things all of my animals are "easy maintence"..lol

[barkaboutus]

I agree, this pup has definitely had a haircut if this photo is current. I have 6 standards and a 7 month old thats never had a clip before is a LOT longer than this.... but a haircut is no big deal. As for what clip, I would put him in the clip you will do him in for the ring. Start now so you can practice practice practice. All of mine, except for one, stay in that clip for that reason.

[winterroo]

See if the breeder will show you how to start trimming in the puppy show trim and explain how to maintain the coat while you are showing. There is a lot of tips and tricks they do to grow all of that hair (wrapping ears, banding and wrapping topknots, putting them in oil, yadda yadda yadda), and believe me, with regular grooming, it will not grow like it should. Oh, and have fun with coat change, YIKES!!! It is really a pain to keep them in all that hair when they are going through that! I know from experience-I was not very good at growing coat, LOL!!! I didn't have the patience to pick through that matted up nasty neck hair with a pin brush-you can't use a slicker cuz it breaks coat! Good luck!

[Kim in SD]

Congrats on the new puppy!!
I'm envious, I want a standard sooo bad!
I would do what sheila said. I just groomed a 7m old a few days ago, first groom. He was a doll, I put him in a puppy cut, we're going to do a saddle clip on him when hes Full Grown, and I get to color him. Keep us updated on the pix.

[milhasavilla]

I just got a new poodle yesterday. White standard. He is already 7 months old and has not gotten groomed yet. Just feet, face and tail. Any suggestions on what to do with him for now? I would like to use him to compete and am going to look into showing.

Congratulations on being a new mommy luvpups!! He's adorable...LOVE his face. I don't have any suggestions regarding a cut, I'm so not good at grooming standards. (I know my areas of weakness and am not ashamed to say it). Just wanted to say Congratulations and Good Luck with him - he's a Beaut!!

[Poodlefluff]

Aw what a cute face. What are you nameing your new baby. He may have never gotten a full hair cut -white poodles grow hair much slower than black standards. So I can believe he is that length with never have been cut. If I were grooming him to show I would just keep his face feet and tail clipped, scissor the front chest and rear butt area short leave no more than 2 inches, and don't touch his head or neck hair. Leave legs as full as possible, but scissored , don't trim the hair on his back hocks, do a search on the net for pics of show puppy clip.

[PoodlePal]

He is adorable. You will love having a standard poodle.
Wonderful retrievers and great water dogs (after you are done showing, of course).

First of all, if you are planning on showing him DO NOT use collars, chokers, etc. on your dog ... it will break the coat around his neck. You can purchase fur saver chokers from Ryan's for when you walk him. (I've attached a picture of them (the computer wouldn't accept the size picture unless I rotated it - sorry).

I would not do any trimming on his coat until you have direction from someone who is a show groomer. My breeder did all the scissoring on my poodles when they were being shown. I did the weekly maintenance on their coats (bath, oil & conditioner, then blow dry) and I would clip the face, feet & tail set. Like someone else said this breed is a lot of work when they go through coat change. You have to be very careful that you don't break the coat when you are dematting them. Standard poodles need to be line brushed with a pin brush. (I found using the Les Pouches blue brush (FINISH SIDE ONLY) worked great on dematting my poodle's coat.

Hope you enjoy your poodles as much as I do mine.

Michelle

[plushpuppy]

How pretty, I would love to have a standard so that I could experiment lol

[luvpups]

My poodle

Thanks to all of you on the info. I named him "Rex" after the Q-B on the Bears. Hopefully he will bring us good luck for the Superbowl! I am going to start obedience class tonight and on Wednesday's they have drop in conformation classes. I will go to that to see if he would be good for the show ring.He is turning out to be a wonderful dog so far. He is great with my other 2 dogs and good with the brushing and grooming basics. I don't know if he was groomed, the breeder said she only did face, feet and tail. He is supposed to be white, but is still very cream. How long does it usually take to turn white? Any suggestions on books to get or videos on standards?

[Jengroomer]

he's so cute!! Have fun with him!!

[ejmj30]

I got my poodle at the same age, and he looked just like that. Same thing, never been groomed, so I'd say you're right. I wanted to grow my guy out to full show trim, but couldn't cut it since I was 8 months pregnant at his worst point. I shave him into a town and country to save his legs, but make his body a whole lot easier. Now he's grown back into a modified puppy clip. I'm competing with him at Intergroom. Sooo excited.

My first bit of advice: ditch the collars, and fast! Those will be your worst nightmare. Others said it will break coat, but if you're planning on showing him, but still wanting to keep him long, those will put matts on his neck faster than you can clip his nails!!

Next, if you don't have a stand dryer: GET ONE! Just force drying them after a bath, even to where you think they're totally dry doesn't cut it, at least in my book. They will matt up faster than you can say Poo... The fluff dryer keeps that freshly groomed look for up to a week.

Find a reputable Std. breeder in your area and ask her if you can have her help you groom him. That's the best thing I could've ever done. In fact that's how I got my poodle by training with a breeder around here. If you do go, bring a notebook, pen, camera, and ask about a video camera, that way you can get the absolute most out of every meeting with her.

It's soooo exciting!! If you don't end up showing him, color him often! It's so much fun and people go crazy for it. Even afterwards, when the color's fading and you can't see the image, people are still asking about it. Get cards made up and carry them with you at all times when you have him out with you. He's a billboard for you now, esp if you have your own shop. Walk him and walk him proud! Enjoy!!

[ejmj30]

Forgot to mention you MUST get Shirlee Kalstone's book, Poodle Clipping and Styling (I think). It's in petedge. Great reference, and has tons of ideas for you.

[winterroo]

I believe (but don't quote me on this, I am not an expert) that a white is a white and starts out much more white than your guy. A cream has the darker ears like him. I have a cream and she looks very white until she is next to a white. The cream ears will fade eventually so he will appear to be white. The dog in my avatar is a cream, and the dog in my profile is a white. It is even hard to tell them apart when they are next to each other...but the white doesn't have the cream colored ears.

[Poodlefluff]

The dog in my avatar is called Ice White, there is white, cream, and Ice white. When Ice white pups are babies they have no cream on their ears. Your baby will be white or cream, but he won't be Ice white.