[For Want of Poodle]

Hey poodle friends, Annie here with a question.

Yesterday my human got a box on her porch. Except, it wasnt a good box with balls and treats and toys, it had this loud dryer thing in it.

So she stuck me in the tub and wet my hair, and then took me out on the porch to try it out.
The sound is fine, just another one of those stupid noisy human things, but I HATE the feeling of it if she turns it up or uses a concentrator cone. She worked for like half an hour, and it was awful. She just finished my tail and half of my sides, that's it!!! Then she brushed me with me on her lap for another half hour which was kinda nice, but I do NOT approve of her new toy. She says it would probably be faster if I would let her use the concentrator or turn it up from the lowest speed, but I am not convinced.

So - any poodles here wanna tell my human how to do better? How long does it take YOUR human to HV dry you? Cause honestly, I think she is pretty bad at it. Even if my tail looks pretty awesome and she wont stop petting my sides because they are so soft.

 

[Vita]

This is Bella. When I was a puppy, my human got one of these contraptions too. She said it was a present for me. It sounded like a roaring monster, even to her ears. It felt like I was in a hurricane and I was so little it could blow me away. Even the very brave cat ran away and hid.

Every time she used it, she got really tired and couldn't finish totally drying me; maybe it's b/c my hair was so long thick or the noise or me crying. After a few times she put the monster in a box where it lays like a vampire in a coffin. We'd both like to drive a stake through it's heart but she complains it was too expensive, whatever that means.

See this pic? It looked like this. Some sneaky human added a pic of a happy looking dog. Unless that dog is deaf, I can't imagine it being happy anywhere near that thing.

My human finally found a professional groomer, and her dryer stands up and she only has to point the thingy at me for the air to come out. It's not too loud and doesn't scare me.

 

[EVpoodle]

This is Evie. My mom started drying me with the horrible thing when I just a wee pup, although she started with just showing it to me and giving my treats, then turning it and not pointing it at me. Then after a while she started drying me just on the back and slowly worked her way up my body. She eventually did turn up the pressure on it. Now it takes her like 1 to 2 hours to dry me, although she has started to say that she is going to get a higher powered dryer, and this thing called a stand dryer.

 

[Basil_the_Spoo]

Dad got me one the first week I came home for my weekly shower & dry at home. After the shower, a quick zoom and shake, I then head straight to my cage automatically where Dad feeds me treats and blasts me with air. It takes rougly 25-30 minutes. I'm 18 weeks old now and my fur's about as long as a human pinky finger. From weeks 8-15 Dad would have it on a less scary intensity, but now he does it at full blast after week 15 and it doesn't appear to bother me one bit because I want treats badddddly. After I'm 90% dry, Dad slicker brushes me and I'm ready for a nap.

At first Dad would try to air dry me outside the cage, but I was too wiggly. Dad got smart and gives me treats to spin me around the cage so he can blow dry my wet spots like my butt and my back.

From slicker brush to shower to dry to another slicker brush, the process takes rougly 1 hr-1h10m... depending on how wiggly I am during brushing.

Dad got me this one:
Amazon.com _ Newest Dog Dryer Professional Grooming Dog Hair Dryers For Dogs With Led Screen High Velocity Dog Blower Dryer Low-noise 8 Adjustable Speeds Temperature Controllab Pet Force Blow For Pet Grooming3.2HP _ Pet Supplie

 

[Raindrops]

Misha here. My mom uses one of these on me all of the time. The first time she used it on me, she tried it while I was on the floor and I hated it. But the second time, she put me up on my grooming table and I suddenly understood what was happening! She wasn't attacking me with the air, she was trying to make me less wet and cold! It turns out that these machines make your hair nice and fluffy and dry and you spend much less time shivering waiting to dry. Now I like it so much that I insist on being dried with this machine after my bath. My mom also started out using it on low power, but I have gotten used to it and now she can use the flat bit at almost full power to dry most of my body. She lowers the power to do most of my head and especially my ears. Make sure your mom is plugging your ears too! This thing is very loud and it is much easier to tolerate with ear plugs. I still don't really like my face being dried but she tries to do that as gently as possible. It's still better than being cold and wet!

Another tip... suggest to your mom that she use an "all over" approach rather than doing one little section at a time. That way you'll be less cold. It might not make as perfect of a fluff to your hair, but I think it is much faster and I like to not be so cold and wet.

 

[For Want of Poodle]

Bella - I wish my human was as smart and reasonable as yours!!! I would be happy to put that thing back in its box, and never see it again.

Misha- hmmm.... you are persuasive. I used to LOVE when she used her human hairdryer on me, and insist on it, but since it has been summer she has been lazy and just putting me on the porch to dry in the sun. Maybe, maybe, if she put the heat setting on for a while and ONLY used the low setting, I might agree it was like her nice hairdryer? I guess it might be ok to be on the table too, I am a good girl on the table. And yes - FASTER would be better. I will make her try that (though the human was impressed with how it took a mat out of my tail).

Basil, Evie - your people were very smart to start when you were a puppy, and had far less hair to dry!!!

 

[twyla]

Poodle gang here, momo got the air blaster and practiced drying our hair when we weren't even wet silly human. One thing momo does is hug us in a towel before were get blasted with air.
twyla here, I wrap the pups in a towel to get most of the water off them, mind it's not toweling off or patting dry that tends knot up longer hair. Also I turn up the speed with the concentrator off, it takes me roughly 15 - 20 minutes to bathe, hug dry and HV dry my pups used to take 45 minutes a dog

 

[Click-N-Treat]

My mom teached me to likes the dryer by using it when it was off and pretending. Then she turned it on and it went ROAAAAAAR and I gotten scared, but it only wented roaaaaar for a second before Mom turned it off. Then she taked me off the table. We did this every day and I got lots of cookies. I was a very small puppy when this happened. One day I got covered in bubbles and was all wet. Then mom turned on the roar machine. And all the water blasted off me and I got all dry.

Mom got me a Happy Hoodie to wear when she blow drys me. Now I just fall asleep on the table. I don't like having my topknot or my ears dried, but the rest of me is just fine.

I hope this helps.
Love,
Noelle

 

[scooterscout99]

Yes, the Happy Hoodie helps. But after 4 years, my spoo still likes to tuck his head under my arm while being dried, and I'm like a contortionist trying to let him no matter what body part I'm working on. The grooming process is smoother and less stressful once I learned to relax. Teaching a dog to lie down during grooming is ideal. Wish I knew this early on, and knew how large he would grow. He doesn't fit on a 36" table on his side and I refuse to buy a larger one.

 

[Raven's Mom]

I do not keep my dogs very long ever, usually a Miami in the summer and a puppy cut in winter, so it only takes about 40 minutes to get one dry. I usually bathe them at the same time then by time one is dry with the dryer, the other one is close from air drying. Neither one likes it but someone on here told me to put cotton in the ears and that does help, A LOT!
I will add that I gave up on my grooming table because I couldn’t afford an adjustable one and it was never the right height. I bought an adjustable 4 ft folding table from Amazon and now if I need it for human things I have it in addition it using for grooming. Love that now on the lowest setting I can a tactually reach Wren’s top knot comfortably.

 

[For Want of Poodle]

Annie here - thank you all for the suggestions, i got a bath today and she used that stupid machine again and it was much less awful. Still not great, but less awful.

It took about 45 min, and my human got everything but my head done. My human dried while her mom combed. They put cotton balls in my ears, and put a headband around my ears so they didnt flop. They even did the top of my head a bit with one human holding my ears down! She didnt use any fancy attachments, started on low, and inched up to 1/3 from low while drying. She also put me up on the table, as i am more tolerant of weird human things when on ghe table. I didnt like mg feet being done, but my human said those are the most tangled part of me because i dont like brushing them either. I even after a few spiy outs, consented to eating treats while she was blowing.

Now my human says i am super fluffy and soft and pettable and way easier to brush, but they keep mentioning "clippers" after lunch. Uh oh. She says it wasnt a perfect fluff dry, but was worth the money. I disagree, but she doesnt listen to me!!

 

[Raindrops]

Annie here - thank you all for the suggestions, i got a bath today and she used that stupid machine again and it was much less awful. Still not great, but less awful.

It took about 45 min, and my human got everything but my head done. My human dried while her mom combed. They put cotton balls in my ears, and put a headband around my ears so they didnt flop. They even did the top of my head a bit with one human holding my ears down! She didnt use any fancy attachments, started on low, and inched up to 1/3 from low while drying. She also put me up on the table, as i am more tolerant of weird human things when on ghe table. I didnt like mg feet being done, but my human said those are the most tangled part of me because i dont like brushing them either. I even after a few spiy outs, consented to eating treats while she was blowing.

Now my human says i am super fluffy and soft and pettable and way easier to brush, but they keep mentioning "clippers" after lunch. Uh oh. She says it wasnt a perfect fluff dry, but was worth the money. I disagree, but she doesnt listen to me!!

Misha here- Good for you Annie! I am sure you will come to appreciate the machine! I also have a hard time with my head being done. My human keeps it on low and is very careful not to let the air get pointed into my ears. That's the worst! As you get used to it, your human can turn the power up higher and it will get you dry much faster. The best part is that everybody you meet will tell you how beautiful and fluffy you are!

 

[For Want of Poodle]

Annie here.... yup, there were clippers. I survived.... but i am DONE with this grooming business. My human says i should have been born a doberman or something if i wanted to avoid the grooming stuff. She also says i am very pretty, and very soft.

I am hiding on the porch where maybe she wont get any more ideas.

After drying - small fluffy bear.

After clipping - much more poodley but see that "go away, human" glare?

 

[Raindrops]

Annie here.... yup, there were clippers. I survived.... but i am DONE with this grooming business. My human says i should have been born a doberman or something if i wanted to avoid the grooming stuff. She also says i am very pretty, and very soft.

I am hiding on the porch where maybe she wont get any more ideas.

After drying - small fluffy bear.
View attachment 469630
After clipping - much more poodley but see that "go away, human" glare?
View attachment 469629

Haha! She is giving you quite the look! She looks great though! I just did Misha's paws and face yesterday. Really rough. I can't do the body and the extremities in the same day.

 

[For Want of Poodle]

I never do it all at once either, but my mom was helping and kept egging me on... it was too much for all of us, not doing this again all in one day, though feel so much better about her. Tomorrow is grooming Trixie, who at least is faster to groom. I hadnt even done FFT in 6 weeks, probably.

Grooming was a bit of a comedy of errors today. I had originally wanted to use a 1" comb, ended up using a 1/2" comb due to pressure not to have to groom her again any time soon, with 3/4 " on legs... Annie now has a scalped (white) patch on one inner back leg because mom asked to help with a spot she said i had missed, grabbed the clippers, went at it... with a 30 blade and no comb. She was like "look at how much i am getting off from under here". Ahhh!!! Stopped her and put the comb on.

She also has longer fur on her front legs than her back legs - again, mom asked to help touch up a back leg, took the short comb i was using on her torso and started in on her back legs with it reversed. AHH!!! Ended up having to do both back legs with the short comb to even it out. So a bit lopsided, and shorter than i had planned lol.

Too many groomers on one dog, i am not used to having help grooming.
Reminding myself its just hair, it will grow.