I'm starting Galen's winter coat now, easing into it. I'll leave the body hair half an inch longer than I did last time, and I plan to take an inch or two off his ears. His ear hair is looking thin and straggly now; it won't improve when wet.

 

I haven’t found a name for the style I want for phoebe. Last time I trimmed just her body to 1” long, from the base of her neck to her tail, and around her body. I want her to have flared legs from her shoulder to foot, but blended from the body. She has short/puppy ears (just trimmed them again last week), I’m hoping she can stay in that trim until April/May. We get about the same amount of precipitation throughout the year, and don’t have snow or true cold to contend with, so if I end up shaving her down sooner, it won’t be a big deal.

 

This blurry little pup is the closest I can find to what I have in mind, but with a clean snoot.

Instead of a shave down in the summer, I’m thinking we will go for a Dutch or Dutch variation.

 

@Starla that's really cute, the body/legs remind me of a schnauzer trim minus the skirt

 

I do live in a climate that will be cold. Not like New England cold (where I grew up) but NYC cold. Would it be wrong to keep Blueberry in a longer Miami? I don’t want him to be cold but brushing is not relaxing for either pup or me.

 

We have NYC type weather. Last year I kept Babykins in a bikini and she was fine. I did morph it into a bit of a pony with some “mane“ down part of her back. Keep the bracelets and poofs etc. longer to be in proportion with how long the body hair is. I put a coat on her when it was very cold … especially windy or below freezing. She’s always too hot in the summer.

 

I'm in southeast Texas, where we basically have nine months of summer. Right now, I'm still keeping Simon stripped down into a Miami-ish trim with a #10 blade. Once he really starts getting his adult coat, we might work on a Dutch or Royal Dutch clip.

 

I'm torn about how long to let Oona's coat grow this winter, especially on her legs. I love the look of the wider 'pants' on poodles but I worry that will cause issues with snow balls. Plus she's still in her coat change and her legs and belly are still the most fleecy and puppyish, so I worry about inviting mats if I let her legs get long. I clipped her into a pseudo retriever-ish clip for the summer, so will definitely let her ears grow back.
I'm hoping to let the groomers do one nice fall body clip to even out my amateurish work, then let her grow out most of the winter except FFT and see how it goes. If snow balls and matting are a real problem I will consider clipping to an inch or 3/4 in all over like I did last year. It gets very cold here but she has a good jacket.

 

It’s cold where we are but I want to give the dogs at least one last short groom. I hope I can manage to do it, I’ve been really busy with family issues.

 

I hope your family is doing better this week, Dechi. Sounds like you've been needed at your parents a lot.

 

It doesn’t really start getting cold here in Virginia until November. I’ve probably got at least two more warm weather grooms before I start letting Happy grow out. When I do, the poms come off and I'll move to a lamb style cut. I'll be using my 5/8" or 3/4" clipper comb by the 1st of December. I also go high on the clean feet to avoid snow balls and wet hair. This is how she looked last winter.

 

Happy is gorgeous in this photo. Beautiful grooming.

 

I live in an area that does not participate in winter. We do get some chilly weather, but it doesn't last long. I will be investing in some easy to remove jackets. We don't get as much rain, so this would be when I would try the bracelets.

 

Every time I see the title of this thread, I momentarily forget we’re talking about poodles.

 

Best laugh I've had this week, thank you!!

And a good question. It still feels super hot here, but we definitely have real winters (Chicago burbs). He just got a short (but not shaved, like 3/8") do, so I'm guessing we'll fit in one more shortish cut in early October and then let it grow shaggier after that. The snowballs are a downside of the longer hair, but he LOVES the snow and being outside so much that it seems worth the trouble to keep him warm.

We don't do anything creative though. Either one short length or one long length pretty much all over.

 

@Basil_the_Spoo - I hate the idea of losing the bracelets ( I call them poodle boots ) for the winter, and am investing in waterproof "poodle leggings". I do not live in an area that gets snow, but it does rain here a lot!
This is a photo of the leggings:

 

Those leggings look really smart. They are probably smart to use in the fall too when there’s lots of leaves and yard debris floating around which gets caught up in poodle hair.

 

I think I’m just going to keep Bobby in his typical short cut. It’s so easy and I can actually maintain it all by myself.😉 I am letting his ear hair grow out a bit though so his ears don’t get too cold.
We live in cold Minnesota but Bobby has all of his winter gear…3 different jackets for different temps, scarves, snoods, boots and my latest purchase…gaiters for his legs. 😊

 

Evelyn will be staying short as well. I'm going to keep growing out his tail and ears, but I may tame his wild topknot if I can figure out how.

He's so biddable that I think I might try out a sweater or jacket over his normal 10.

 

Peggy’s at the groomer right now, getting a very short cut. She’s going to be chilly!

I’ve had good luck with Gold Paw Series fleeces on her and past dogs. The seams are on the outside, which is comfortable for longer term wear, and the fabric has nice stretch, so it clings like a second skin and doesn’t interfere with movement.

 

We might let Topper's har grow a little longer this winter, but plan to keep him relatively short. I love the "bell bottoms" look our groomer give him, but may need to trim higher on the feet to prevent snowballs. Topper has a few jackets that we can layer to keep him warm. We haven't tried any boots yet - I just realized that I should have spent time this summer densitizing him to boots!

 

I hope you took video the first time you put those on her!!!!!
I ordered my covers last night - should take 3 weeks to deliver.

 

Here's our current length..

It's 4/5ths of 1 index finger digit... I'm thinking I started too early for our mild fall/winters because I was worried she would get too hot today, a sunny 64°F (17.7°C)

 

My default winter groom is a modified continental clip, that is something I have been doing for years.
This was last year, not perfect but clean and tidy

 

My default winter groom is a modified continental clip, that is something I have been doing for years.
This was last year, not perfect but clean and tidy
View attachment 482247
View attachment 482248

You have more experience then me, I did a MC trim last year too after failing my rosette pattern. Would I need to be concerned about their derriere being cold if I went for a MC again?

One comment I got last year was "she forgot her pants" to which I rolled my eyes... Non poodle people.. humph.

 

They do well in the cold, I don't have to clothe them more than usual.
The cut is historic, I do it for similar reasons imo, as they did it in the past for keeping the important parts warm and keeping the coat manageable.

Yes the naked butts get some reactions, my nieces tease me because my nickname for Pia is pickle pants telling me I cannot call her that if she has no pants

 

Today is grooming day. It's still warm here so I'm going with one more summer cut before taking Happy's poms off and letting her grow out to a uniform length.

 

Every time I read this thread title, I visualize a group of happy hairy poodle owners preparing for winter hibernation.