[nab]

Pedey is my little partially disabled toy poodle. He has back and leg deformities that make it difficult for him to straighten his spine and hold himself up on his back leg. In esscense, he always looks like he's taking a poop.
He walks and runs just fine and is in no pain.

I've had him for a couple of months, originally as a foster and now as a permanent addition to our pack.

When I first got him, he had fleas, worms and diarrhea. He had recently been groomed by a 'big box' groomer and had an all over scruffy look to him.

I had him professionally groomed and he looked great. They did an excellent job but said he was a little fussy.

Since the first grooming, I've been keeping up with his fur with daily brushings and a little clip here and there with the scissors.

I decided to order clippers. After a bunch of research I actually think I ordered the wrong pair. They're Wahl cordless, but have the plastic clip-on blade things that govern the length of fur. That's not what I intended to order, but it's what I ended up with.

I clipped Pedey today and completely ruined his fur. I was going along okay, but fur kept getting caught in the plastic cover. I kept having to take it off to remove the fur or else it wouldn't cut. I was doing it on my back deck steps as Pedey can't hold himself up on his 4 legs. While I was doing his back I noticed some of the fur was being cut down to his skin. It was because one of the end teeth on the plastic guard had broken off and was allowing the fur to be cut as though there was no guard.

I ended up taking the guard off and shaving him down to his skin to even it out. At one point I must have come to close for comfort because he screamed and jumped out of my arms down 3 steps, falling on the grass and the clippers went flying into the air, hit the grass and flew into pieces. What a disaster.:doh:

Pedey was okay, just shaken up some. The clippers just came apart and my son was able to put them back together for me.

He now looks like a scraggly drown rat. I was able to save his top knot and ears at least.

The poor thing needs a sweater. I feel awful. I'm going to try and get a refund on the clippers. The plastic guards are horrible and they shouldn't have broken the first time I used them.

 

[Spencer]

I would for sure try and return it... Poor baby, at least hair grows back and he wasn't hurt. Give him lots of love and let him know those particular evil clippers are going away!

 

[KPoos]

You might end up having to reestablish the trust of the clipper now that he's had a bad experience. I'd just put them on and set them by him and talk soothingly to him and offer treats if he reacts positively. Just do a little bit at a time before you attemp grooming again so he trusts that they won't hurt him again.

 

[creativeparti]

Pedey is my little partially disabled toy poodle. He has back and leg deformities that make it difficult for him to straighten his spine and hold himself up on his back leg. In esscense, he always looks like he's taking a poop.
He walks and runs just fine and is in no pain.

I've had him for a couple of months, originally as a foster and now as a permanent addition to our pack.

When I first got him, he had fleas, worms and diarrhea. He had recently been groomed by a 'big box' groomer and had an all over scruffy look to him.

I had him professionally groomed and he looked great. They did an excellent job but said he was a little fussy.

Since the first grooming, I've been keeping up with his fur with daily brushings and a little clip here and there with the scissors.

I decided to order clippers. After a bunch of research I actually think I ordered the wrong pair. They're Wahl cordless, but have the plastic clip-on blade things that govern the length of fur. That's not what I intended to order, but it's what I ended up with.

I clipped Pedey today and completely ruined his fur. I was going along okay, but fur kept getting caught in the plastic cover. I kept having to take it off to remove the fur or else it wouldn't cut. I was doing it on my back deck steps as Pedey can't hold himself up on his 4 legs. While I was doing his back I noticed some of the fur was being cut down to his skin. It was because one of the end teeth on the plastic guard had broken off and was allowing the fur to be cut as though there was no guard.

I ended up taking the guard off and shaving him down to his skin to even it out. At one point I must have come to close for comfort because he screamed and jumped out of my arms down 3 steps, falling on the grass and the clippers went flying into the air, hit the grass and flew into pieces. What a disaster.:doh:

Pedey was okay, just shaken up some. The clippers just came apart and my son was able to put them back together for me.

He now looks like a scraggly drown rat. I was able to save his top knot and ears at least.

The poor thing needs a sweater. I feel awful. I'm going to try and get a refund on the clippers. The plastic guards are horrible and they shouldn't have broken the first time I used them.

hi there
, unless your little guy was completly groomed out and fluff dryed the whal clippers wont go thought the coat at all they are not really the best ones for a all over job...

personaly i would of kept taking him to the pros as he has all these issues and needs careful handling

im not saying yo have hurt him or anything just think with a dog with issues like his its best to get it done properly


at least the hair will grow back and he will look cute agian soon

 

[WonderPup]

that was my first thought too, that he wasn't totaly combed out?? If you're using a plastic snap on comb there cannot be ANY matts in the coat - at all, period. It won't cut because basicly the hair gets caught in the comb attachment and never makes it to the blade. You have to clip under any tangles or matts, not through them - it doesn't work that way.

With the lower powered clipper it would be difficult for anyone to get a nice all over clip unless the hair was totaly clean and dry and fluffed. I would agree on the advice to try and return them. DON'T get caught up in the desire for a cordless clipper, cordless means less power in a way. With a corder clipper, which shouldn't really be much heavier at all, you have a continued supply of steady power. Even before I was a groomer I had no use for anything cordless. Not even those little mustach trimmers that my mother kept buying me to do the dogs feet.

I might agree that with a special needs poodle like your baby it is probably in his best interest to continue to go to a careing professional, just make sure you find a good one that is willing to be gentle and kind and respectful of his condition.

As for the teeth of the blade hanging over the comb attachment and clipping down to the skin, not the prettiest haircut probably but don't sweat it. Hehehe, I did the EXACT SAME THING last year while I was cutting my husbands hair. ROFL, He didn't find the little stripes in the back of his head as amusing as I did but it grows back.
Getting clipped that close won't hurt them unless they get nicked or the skin is irritated, which you would have noticed by now. Live and learn I guess, hubby wouldn't let me cut his hair again after that until just reccently.

 

[Aidan]

I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience, without seeing the condition of the coat and such it's hard to say what went wrong. Even though you can run a brush or even a comb through the dog if its curly it just wont cut right with a guard it really has to be fluffed unfortunately.

Luckily poodle hair grows back fast and i've had excellent luck and I tell everyone about Halo Dream Coat food supplement, it grows coat really well! I used it on Dodger when I first got her, the breeder had shaved her down with a 7 all over which is pretty close to just skin, was way too short for me anyway!

Post on add on craigslist and see if a groomer would be willing to walk you through the process, or just maybe keep going to a groomer for a bit? Up to you though.

 

[nab]

I think I will leave it to the professionals from now on. I took him to a really nice lady who did an excellent job when I first got him. Her daughter carried him around the whole time when I wasn't there.
In between groomings I think I'll be able to keep his face and feet trimmed with scissors.

PetEdge replied back to my request to return them and said basically the same thing that you all said....these were not the clippers for a poodle's coat. I did have him combed out....he didn't have any matts for snarls, but his coat is extremely thick and curly around his backside. I don't know if that's what caused the plastic guard to break or not but I feel they should not have broken on the first use.

Thanks for all of your advice and comments. Pedey is the first poodle I've ever owned and I'm a 'do it yourselfer'. I had to try the grooming thing, it's just a lot harder than I thought! Plus it's really fun bringing him to the groomer and seeing how adorable he looks afterward.

 

[nab]

He did have some spots of irritated skin too.

I was surprised because when I clipped him down to his skin I noticed his skin was flaky. I bathed him and applied a conditioner thinking it would be soothing. He started scratching and licking at himself. I was getting worried that something was wrong, but he seems to have stopped.

 

[WonderPup]

So is pet edge going to let you return the clippers then ?

Sorry to hear about the skin irritation, but glad to hear it seems to have stopped bothering him.

 

[nab]

Yes, they're going to refund me the full purchase price minus S&H.

I was happy to hear that because I bought them at the end of Sept and hadn't gotten to use them until Nov. I was worried that they wouldn't refund me because they were used too.