New-Need help with grooming supplies - Poodle Forum - Standard Poodle, Toy Poodle, Miniature Poodle Forum ALL Poodle owners too!

Mom2Tucker · 02-12-2013, 09:26 PM

I have a male black Standard, Tucker, 70#, & still filling out. He is my Mobility Service Dog, donated by a Standard Poodle breeder. He has pretty thick hair that is very curly. I groom him myself. I keep him pretty short because he wears a backpack, and needs to be bathed weekly to be clean for going out in public. He has very sensitive skin. VERY. Brushing him a lot with the slicker, blade getting too hot (I switch blades often), cutting him too short, and some shampoos will cause him to break out in a staph infection. His hair is a little dry right now.

So right now I use a five on the body and tail, a 3/4HT on the legs then scissor, a 10 with a 1" SOC for the head and ears (I just do kind of a modified puppy head with no topknot) then scissor, a 10 on the face & neck & belly, and a large trimmer to shave his feet. I have a grooming table & Air Force Commander variable speed dryer given to me by the breeder, Andis AGC 2-speed clippers, and various other grooming items.

I need help with picking brushes, combs, shampoos, conditioners, grooming sprays that would be good for my situation. After reading on this forum, I know I'll want a CC Poodle comb, and don't know what brushes. I was thinking about the Gold or Fusion pin, or the wood pin brushes. I need something gentle. I also want his hair more shiny and conditioned, and I need to be able to brush through his coat which gets very tight little curls right next to the skin. I'm sure the right supplies and products would help make grooming and maintenance easier. Also what grooming video would you recommend for pet grooming? I want to learn much better skills.

Any recommendations on supplies, products, videos, or grooming techniques would be much appreciated! I want to learn from you all!

Lene · 02-12-2013, 11:04 PM

Staph infections doesn't come from shampoo... It would be a bacteria residing within the dog... He should be treated for this bacteria by a vet...

Mom2Tucker · 02-13-2013, 12:12 AM

Yes, he has been treated for this numerous times. When I got him he had severe allergy problems. He got down to 49#. He had horrible food allergies and a somewhat weakened immune system that caused constant diarrhea, ear infections, eye infections and Staph skin infections. Finally finding a food he could eat and putting him on probiotics and essential fatty acids resolved all of this, but his skin is still really sensitive. My vet says some dogs can be really sensitive. She has another patient who breaks out in immediate staph infections if he's just shaved too close. He had another staph infection last time I groomed him. Basically he's doing fantastic, especially considering where he was last year. Thank you, though, for your concern

CT Girl · 02-13-2013, 05:17 PM

I find the silver les pouches brush to be gentle. Les pouches also has a great puppy shampoo. I use it for Swizzle's face but considering your dog's sensitivity issues it might make a good whole body shampoo. Try CC Peace and Kindness to calm irritated skin after a close shave. Have you tried fish oil to help make his skin more supple?

Mom2Tucker · 02-13-2013, 05:34 PM

Yes, he takes fish oil capsules (the EFA's). Those and the probiotics have helped. Thank you for your suggestions- I really appreciate it!

msminnamouse · 02-20-2013, 11:31 AM

It sounds like it might be your technique? Like he might be getting razor and brush burns. I say maybe. Because I have no idea what you're doing. Maybe you're not washing out all the shampoo? Could be a lot of reasons. A lot of people scrape the skin with the brush because they don't use the proper technique.

I think it would be very helpful if you could find a professional groomer who does poodle to give you some lessons or at least allow you to watch. So you can see the correct way to handle the equipment and how to use it. For example, I was holding my shears completely wrong before my lessons and couldn't figure out why I sucked so bad! Turns out I'm pretty decent at scissoring!

You also need to keep your equipment very clean and sanitized so it doesn't harbor bacteria and upset his skin.

One tip for helping to avoid irritation is using a blade comb on his body so his skin is kept away from the blade's surface. And you might want to use a #15 on his face, feet and privates.

There are special shampoos you can buy with aloe, tea tree oil, and such. Be sure to find out the ingredients to make sure there's nothing in there he's allergic to.

Mom2Tucker · 02-20-2013, 02:51 PM

Thanks so much for your suggestions. I did have a professional groomer friend give me lessons, but didn't teach me about line brushing (which I learned to do correctly on this forum). I do rinse very, very well and have found a shampoo that is very gentle so I'm pretty sure it isn't that. I'm not sure if it is my scissoring technique or not, but that should not have an effect on his skin, that would just make him look awful, right? I do have 2 of each blade that I use on his body and switch off so he doesn't burn, but maybe that's not enough.

I appreciate your suggestion of using a guide comb on his body to keep him from burning, I think that might be the ticket. I always just used them for the longer head and leg lengths. I'll have to order the Wahl SS SOCs in some shorter lengths and give them a try. I'm afraid that a 15 would be too close of a cut for the face and privates. The vet asked me not to use shorter than a 10 because of his problems, but I guess I could try it once and see what happens. I do use a 30 on his feet without a problem.

I just ordered the Shirlee Kalstone Poodle book on grooming- it should be here any day. I'm thinking I should order some grooming videos on pet poodle grooming, scissoring technique and SOC's. Do you have any suggestions as to which might be good ones? They're very expensive, and I don't want to waste my money.

Thanks again for your help