The right tools are important! - Poodle Forum - Standard Poodle, Toy Poodle, Miniature Poodle Forum ALL Poodle owners too!

sarahmurphy · 11-10-2012, 05:25 AM

We're wearing the grooming equivalent of the cone of shame here... a couple of mats too close to the skin to warrant anything other than a shave down. Aunt Susan thinks Spike looks like Wylie Coyote... I prefer to think we're going for the Velveteen Poodle look... Lesson here - brushing daily with the wrong tools is just about as good as not brushing at all.... (we could have just cut out the mats, but that might have looked stranger...) Will post photos later... The upshot is his tail, ears and top knot were mat free! (I comb those....) The big mat was in the scruff of the neck, plays well with others area... nothing like other dog spit to set a mat, I guess...

We just bought a couple of LP brushes, but, alas, it is too late to save this coat...For those of you who use LP, which ones do you prefer? the groomer uses mostly silver/purple on him, and we bought red and gold...

sarah

Fluffyspoos · 11-10-2012, 05:47 AM

The slicker brush is important, yes, but you also need to get a comb as insurance to take that sucker right to the skin and find the hidden mats.

sarahmurphy · 11-10-2012, 05:50 AM

yeah, I've got that now...!

Maybe someone could do some basic grooming for novice owners videos here? It seems like there is a lot of detailed information, and even thought some of us seem to think we have understood, we missed something important (like use the comb all over, not just on the longer hair!)
sarah

CT Girl · 11-10-2012, 09:26 AM

I comb Swizzle every day and then finish off with my Les
Pouches. It is quick since I do it daily but every once and a while he gets some knots especially in the underarm area. Since you have a standard you have a lot more area to cover but maybe do him in sections with the comb and then finish off with the brush. One day for legs, one day for the torso and the next for the head. The bush picks up the tiny knots that the comb misses. I love my CC comb and use single green for underarms and silver for the rest. The silver brush is great.

Chagall's mom · 11-10-2012, 10:27 AM

I love, love, love my Chris Christensen Poodle Comb and never miss a day of running it through Chagall's hair. (I have two, just in case one grows legs and walks off! ha!) My favorite Les Pooch slickers are the Gold for wet blow-outs, the Silver for bracelets/longer hair, and the Green for the body. There are some good YouTube videos out there on brushing out your poodle. Line brushing is the gospel, it seems. I will try to locate some for you later. But, maybe one of the ace groomers on the forum, (oh fluffy! can you hear me now??) will work up a little primer for you.

For the time being, here's one.

You Tube

Mel · 11-10-2012, 12:31 PM

I also love my CC comb. Sandy is going through coat change and I think it's the only thing right now that's keeping me from grabbing the clippers and just taking it all off.

LEUllman · 11-10-2012, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chagall's mom

I love, love, love my Chris Christensen Poodle Comb and never miss a day of running it through Chagall's hair. (I have two, just in case one grows legs and walks off! ha!).

Funny you should mention having your CC Poodle comb "walk off." Ours disappeared almost a week ago, and I've been tearing up the house looking for it since. That is our one indispensible grooming tool. Finally found it today, slid down behind a chest of drawers, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Beau, come to daddy. We have work to do!"

caroline429 · 11-10-2012, 07:09 PM

I guess I probably line comb Cali....I say "I guess" because I'm not 100% sure what it means. LOL I do one little section at a time, first using the slicker on it and then going through the section with a comb. She is a mini so I don't have as much area to cover but it takes about an hour to do her thoroughly. Since she's relatively short right now, I only need to do her once a week. I occasionally find a small mat or two but I can usually just tease them apart without too much hair loss.

My slicker isn't anything special, it's called a Cazman soft slicker. I ordered it from an online store when I first got Cali. I had no idea what I should be getting but I quite like it. It's easy to hold, does a good job and really seems less harsh than some others I've seen. I invested some money in combs. I have a CC fine/coarse comb and a Greyhound poodle comb. I probably use the fine/coarse comb 90% of the time but that's probably because it's a little shorter so is easier to handle on a mini.

Indiana · 12-26-2012, 10:05 PM

Bump! This also happened to me this week with Indy! I can't believe that she was matted when her coat was so short...well it WAS in a short Miami for swimming in the summer, and I've been growing it out since but brushing every day. Boy was I shocked with I blow dried her this week and had to spend some time combing out MATS in that short hair! Dunno, maybe she's still in coat change, I thought that train had passed.