[MustLoveDogs]

I wanted to make sure I was comfortable doing the grooming at all before I bought more equipment, and now after doing the body groom on my standard puppy, I see that I need a table for sure. I got it done, and she was very well-behaved, but it was exhausting! I had her on a counter in my laundry room, and I'm short, so I had to stand on a stepstool to do her back. She's 4 months old. That will not work when she's full size. Plus i had no way of tying her most of the time, and that made it take a lot longer. I'd really like one that I can fold up when I'm not using it and with a pedal to manually adjust the height. All recommendations welcome!

 

[peppersb]

Michelle (your breeder!) comes to my house to groom my two poodles. She brings a folding grooming table -- nothing fancy. It is very easy to get the dogs up on the table. The dogs stand nicely without being tied. I imagine that not all poodles would be so cooperative, but Cleo is pretty mellow, right?

I would be very careful about tying a dog to a grooming table. I've heard of dogs being killed because the groomer stepped away and the dog jumped off the table hanging itself. I guess it is OK if you are right there 100% of the time. I'm sure the groomers here know more about that than I do, but it makes me nervous.

Here are a couple of pictures of Michelle grooming Sam on her portable grooming table. (For those who don't know, Sam is Cleo's daddy.)

PS. Sorry about the upside down and sideways photos. Not sure how to correct that.

 

[Skylar]

I’ve only groomed a minipoo and a tpoo so I can’t answer what the best grooming table for a spoo is.

But I do have some advice....don’t get too large of a table otherwise you will be chasing your dog around it. I’m wondering if part of your problem is your counter gave Cleo too much space. I have a grooming arm with grooming noose but I never use it. My dog doesn’t always stand as perfectly still as I would like but she’s never so far away that I can’t groom her. I only have room for her to stand and a little space to put my grooming tools.

 

[Johanna]

Plus i had no way of tying her most of the time, and that made it take a lot longer. I'd really like one that I can fold up when I'm not using it and with a pedal to manually adjust the height. All recommendations welcome!

No need to tie a dog on a grooming table. Poodles are trained to just stay there. If you go to the grooming area of a dog show you will see poodles on their tables with no restraint even if the owner/handler is nowhere nearby. Of course, most show dogs start being table trained as tiny puppies - if they ever show any desire to leap off the table they are corrected firmly (but not harshly).

Every grooming table I have ever seen can be folded up, but the only ones with adjustable height are very expensive (about $800). I taught my dogs to lie down in the sphinx position to have their faces shaved and topknots and neck hair trimmed.

BTW, because I show in obedience as well as other sports, I use the command "lie" for lying down on the grooming table rather than "down".

 

[MustLoveDogs]

I think you're right, the problem is my counter is too large. It's a repurposed kitchen counter that's fastened to the wall in my laundry room. It's more than 4 feet wide and a little more than 2 feet deep. I covered it with a nonslip mat, and I use up part of the space with a box of supplies. Cleo is very mellow on the table. But if she decides to go closer to the wall, this puts her too far away from me. She can easily turn around, but since I can't access her from the other side, i need her to turn around, even if it also means she's moving a lot. She doesn't mind the trimmer at all, or brushing, most of the time. But she investigates when i'm doing her feet or toenails, and her head goes directly into my line of vision. I'm sure the counter is a bit too tall for me as well.

peppersb, thank you for those pics of Sam! Cleo has a beautiful daddy. Michelle acclimated Cleo to the table so well, i'm sure that's a big part of why Cleo is so good now when she's being groomed.

It does sound like my best option is a free-standing table--What size? 36x24? And, i will work on teaching her to do a down so i can reach her head! Thank you for this advice!

 

[MustLoveDogs]

I ordered a table, finally! I got the medium Flying Pig, i saw mentioned in another thread, i think. I expect this will be a huge help with grooming and even everyday brushing.

 

[MustLoveDogs]

Flying Pig

Here's my new table--already tried it for brushing, and it was so much easier because Cleo can't walk around. She does however enjoy entertaining herself by dropping her ball off the edge of the table onto the ground (i let her bring a ball or something else she likes to chew on) and staring at it until I get it for her. It's a great game.

 

[Mufar42]

I have the same flying pig table for Renn, but I bought a large. There is no extra room on it when I can get him up on it. I find it to be a nice sturdy table and mine has pretty much taken a permanent place in my laundry room. LOL

 

[MustLoveDogs]

You know, I almost got a large but i didn't want her to be able to move around so much. My previous set-up was both too tall for me and too wide (you can see part of it behind the table). I may find that this is too small, we'll see. It is sturdy, and yet it folds up nicely if i did need to move it. So far, so good!