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Lucy's first "big girl" haircut (aka CC)

9K views 50 replies 26 participants last post by  ArreauStandardPoodle 
#1 ·
Some of you were participating in my other thread "My growing girl" and y'all gave me a germ of an idea to get Lucy into a professional groomer for her first real haircut. I've been having fun keeping up with her FFT since she came to me as an 8 week old bundle of puppy breath, but it was getting to be time for something more...

Bismarck doesn't have a ton of great groomers. We have some good ones and some not-so-good ones, but few GREAT ones (and especially great ones who know how to do POODLES!!) I chose a groomer whose shop is called The Pawfect Poodle because her claims were that she has done professional grooming for over 35 years and poodles are her specialty. I've also spoken with other groomers in town who have told me that "no one in town can do a poodle like Christine!" So - just remember, this is a work in progress and I can only see it getting better with time.

Christine was VERY complimentary about Lucy - she loved her coat (said I have done a GREAT job keeping it mat-free and clean) :love:, she loved Lucy's attitude and demeanor and she even offered babysitting services if we ever go on vacation, because she said she "LOVES THIS DOG!!" She also confided that she does NOT offer sitting services to just anyone!!

So.... here is my sweet baby Lucybug in all her big girl glory!!! (I love the one where she's playing "Pat the Cat"!!)

Edited to add - I asked the groomer to keep Lucy's shaved parts a little longer because of our continuing winter season - as we progress with her cut, it will all start coming together better!! :)
 

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#2 ·
I for one am thrilled and more than impressed!!! Doing a CC from full puppy coat is a challenge the first go round. It WILL only get better and better, and your wonderful groomer makes some small corrections, and Lucybug's coat gets longer and coarser.

Her jacket is a bit too far forward, and when that is corrected her rosettes will look better placed.

Her ears are remarkable. It is hard to believe she is only five and a half months old. How can such a baby look so regal and elegant??

I am proud of you for taking the plunge and proud of her for impressing the groomer so much. Way to go ladies!!!
 
#5 ·
I hope your husband has fun showing her off around town :p
We took Lucy and Meau to Rally class last night and hubby was as proud as a peacock to be strutting around with Lucy!! He really does love his girl! :) :love:

Thanks for all your kind comments! We really are blessed to have her in our lives!
 
#6 ·
I am so impressed at how pretty Betty Jo and Jenny's little sister is. She looks wonderful its hard to believe that only that old. She's growing so fast. Mind you part of the reason that the groomer could do such a lovely job on her must be all the care you give her and how wonderfully you keep her. Great job
 
#21 ·
Thanks p2p... I am not going to show her in conformation but we may see what a stir we can make in the rally trials! :lol:


Wow! Look at those ears! Is she a coat factory or what? Her groom looks fabulous, and she is a gorgeous girl herself. ^^
Maybe we should've named her Burlington (coat factory...) Ok... Not as funny as it sounded in my head :) She had TONS more coat before Christine scissored her down - but I am pleased with her ability to grow that beautiful coat! Thanks for the compliments!

........there she is! I guess I missed this today. I had a feeling you were going to do it. And I think Christine did a great job. I love it.
Thanks Olie! Yeah, once I get an idea in my head I obsess until I git'r'done!! I'm happy with this as her first groom, and I can't wait to see how it develops!

Wow. She looks great. She has almost as much hair as my 9 month old. She is very pretty. It should be easy to maintain this between pro grooms. She did take off a little too much on the back of the jacket which is exactly what I did(but mines worse) so I just created a new line and let the hair grow in, but I guess that only matters if you were going to show.
As I keep this maintained between grooms, I'm going to move the line on her jacket back a bit - I'll have to count on Arreau to help me with how much to let grow back - and I'm not showing her; so you're right It doesn't REALLY matter!

She is fantastic and a beautiful color!!!!
Thanks everyone, so much, for your compliments!!!

(OK, Arreau - I'm just showing off with the quote feature!!!) HAAAAAA!
 
#20 ·
Wow. She looks great. She has almost as much hair as my 9 month old. She is very pretty. It should be easy to maintain this between pro grooms. She did take off a little too much on the back of the jacket which is exactly what I did(but mines worse) so I just created a new line and let the hair grow in, but I guess that only matters if you were going to show. She is fantastic and a beautiful color!!!!
 
#23 ·
My she looks like a grown poodle now! Its amazing how fast it truely goes and you only really realize it when you start to look at pictures. The groomer really did do a fantastic job! Dont you love it when people offer to babysit your dog? :D We get that often and it makes me feel really good that people love my dog as much as i do and it shows what a good boy he is (and that ALL that hard work did infact pay off)!
 
#25 · (Edited)
She looks amazing! I wasn't expecting a full CC at all, I thought it was just a consult.
ME TOO!!!! Or at the very most, I thought Christine would just "clean up" her puppy cut; but once she had Lucy on her table and got her hands on her... Well... you can see the results!! Christine told me that she would never do a CC on any of her other client's poodles if they asked because none of their coats are remotely in good enough condition to start a pattern like that - she was sooo complimentary about how well Lucy was combed out and I think that may be one of the reasons she decided to take the plunge. That, and the fact that Lucy was great for her on the table and didn't argue with her about anything!

I can't get over how beautiful and grown up she looks, she was a cute fuzzy puppy last week. Be honest were you even the tiniest bit upset over how much she "aged" at the groomers?
Oh geeeez, that's a hard question... When I left the groomers to go back to work on Thursday afternoon, I knew she was going to set the pattern and Lucy's beautiful full coat would be gone (as a matter of fact, Christine started clipping her before I even left the salon so I could see about how much she was going to be taking off) :scared: When I got back to work, I told my co-worker that I felt just like I did when I dropped Katy off at kindergarten the first time... We were crossing a line that we couldn't uncross, but it wasn't a BAD line - just a new one!!

I don't think I ever felt "upset" but maybe a little "anxious" and the more I see her in her new 'do; the more I'm liking it!! The other thing that I count on is the fact that poodle hair grows (and grows, and grows) and I can change it up in the future whenever I want to...

I want to keep Lucy's topknot growing out so I can put it up in bands, but the groomer was sort of trying to talk me out of it. She was telling me how much work it was to do that and she could scissor the topknot so it would look really nice - and I'm sure she CAN, but right now I want a banded topknot!! I explained that I'm planning on Lucy being with me for the next 15 years and we'll be going through all kinds of transformations and maybe, someday, if I get tired of "all the work" of a banded topknot, I can have it trimmed up - but not yet...

The best thing is that I think LUCY likes the new clip! She's a lot more comfortable inside the house (she used to get hot at night and we'd have to turn the ceiling fan on in the bedroom) and she still seems fine outside - she's never in a hurry to rush back into the house after going potty; so all in all - WE'RE HAPPY!! :)
 
#29 ·
I agree entirely. The scissored head on a CC takes a lot of the elegance out of it too.

When my adoptive families call me with grooming questions, the first thing I tell them is don't be in a rush to clip the puppy down. Once the back is clipped off and the top knot is scissored, they don't look like babies anymore. They are only puppies once, so if they can tolerate the extra brushing, try and hang onto it for as ong as possible because your baby won't be your baby anymore once clipped off into a lamb, town and country or bikini. I think the big reason is the head. So while Lucy looks hot in this (and the maintenance has been cut in half) her head looks the same and she is still PC's Princess Lucybug Fancy Pants.
 
#27 ·
I simply cannot believe how fantastic she looks!!!!!!!!!
At 5 1/2 months old, she looks better than some of these fully grown ones I've been seeing!
Christina did a wonderful job on her, and it will be so exciting growing and tweaking over the next couple of months to get it absolutely perfect!
She'll be the star at her Rally O class! and around town and everywhere she goes.
She is just breathtaking!!:)
 
#35 ·
Ayayayayyaaaaaaaaa- WHAT A MAGNIFICENT SITE !!!! She is just splendidly elegant and delicately refined in every way !!!!! The only other name for her wold be J' adore LOL !!!!!

She is unbelievably pretty and feminine :dancing2: - and isn't that fantastic that you found such a great groomer :first: ??? What a relief !!!!! She came out as a true princess as she is - like young extraordinary beautiful debutante ready for the first ball !!!

I do not know to whom to congratulate more LOL - to super-Mom Plum or to Lady Arreau for producing such fantastic dogs ?????? :star::humble:
 
#37 ·
You are way too sweet. We are both proud for our own reasons, but also for common reasons. As the breeder, I cannot believe, honestly, that one of my five and a half month old babies can be this elegant ALREADY!!! I am blessed that Mom Plum shares so much with me so I can be a part of this and watch another Arreeau girl growing up to be beautiful. (I have the same kind of relationship with Trillium too). How lucky can a breeder. beautiful kids with beautiful families!!
 
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