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Hello Poodle Forum! Long time reader, first time poster here.
Wanted to share the results of our first ever home grooming experiment with our 5 month old standard poodle pup, Riley, who we have had since mid February. She is my first poodle, although my partner had poodles growing up.
While still very cute, our girl was starting to get pretty shaggy and harder to keep clean with her hair so long. We had hoped to take her to a local groomer but then COVID hit and everything shut down. So we ordered a set of clippers online, read a bunch of grooming posts on here and watched a lot of youtube videos until we decided to just go for it and hope for the best. In addition to being our first time grooming a poodle, this was Riley's first grooming experience since she left her breeder at 10 weeks! So lots of nerves all around...
I think it turned out pretty good! Riley seems very happy with her new 'do and was pretty well behaved throughout most of the brushing, bathing, drying and grooming process (aided by lots of treats). She's not a huge fan of the bath and as we discovered she absolutely HATES the blow dryer, but was pretty good with the clippers and stood mostly nice and still on our makeshift grooming table (my old desk that I set up in our laundry room). I wasn't going for anything fancy - just less hair, more or less same length all over using a no. 4 comb attachment. I got more confident towards the end and used a no. 1 comb to give more definition around her face. I was not confident enough to try shaving her face or feet... I might save that for next time.
I'm so happy we did this because she looks, and I think feels, so much better now and we now have the confidence that we can do this ourselves. I think we likely will continue to groom her at home once the lockdown eases up to save money, at least for more regular grooming needs. I'm hoping our experience can provide other neophytes out there with the confidence that you can do this! I know reading the grooming stories on here certainly gave me some.
For those interested, we got the Wahl Arco SE clipper with the 5 in 1 blade and used the plastic snap on combs that come with it. After doing some research it seemed like a decent option that wouldn't break the bank and, most importantly, was available online from PetSmart. I was pretty happy with it.
Some before and after shots below - let us know what you think!
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Wanted to share the results of our first ever home grooming experiment with our 5 month old standard poodle pup, Riley, who we have had since mid February. She is my first poodle, although my partner had poodles growing up.
While still very cute, our girl was starting to get pretty shaggy and harder to keep clean with her hair so long. We had hoped to take her to a local groomer but then COVID hit and everything shut down. So we ordered a set of clippers online, read a bunch of grooming posts on here and watched a lot of youtube videos until we decided to just go for it and hope for the best. In addition to being our first time grooming a poodle, this was Riley's first grooming experience since she left her breeder at 10 weeks! So lots of nerves all around...
I think it turned out pretty good! Riley seems very happy with her new 'do and was pretty well behaved throughout most of the brushing, bathing, drying and grooming process (aided by lots of treats). She's not a huge fan of the bath and as we discovered she absolutely HATES the blow dryer, but was pretty good with the clippers and stood mostly nice and still on our makeshift grooming table (my old desk that I set up in our laundry room). I wasn't going for anything fancy - just less hair, more or less same length all over using a no. 4 comb attachment. I got more confident towards the end and used a no. 1 comb to give more definition around her face. I was not confident enough to try shaving her face or feet... I might save that for next time.
I'm so happy we did this because she looks, and I think feels, so much better now and we now have the confidence that we can do this ourselves. I think we likely will continue to groom her at home once the lockdown eases up to save money, at least for more regular grooming needs. I'm hoping our experience can provide other neophytes out there with the confidence that you can do this! I know reading the grooming stories on here certainly gave me some.
For those interested, we got the Wahl Arco SE clipper with the 5 in 1 blade and used the plastic snap on combs that come with it. After doing some research it seemed like a decent option that wouldn't break the bank and, most importantly, was available online from PetSmart. I was pretty happy with it.
Some before and after shots below - let us know what you think!
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