[Mister]

Mister before and after... Need help also...

So i groomed Mister tonight after letting him grown out for a couple months...I have decided to attempt Pom Poms again but without much luck. I think the hair needs to grow longer in order for it to be more rounded, right?

Also now that i look back at the pics im going to make his topknot shorter and im wondering if the crest needs to come down too...it looks a bit funky. But here goes...please feel free to give me advise on it all. Oh and i did a #5 on his body :0 Thats the shortest ive ever done on his body.

Oh and i think the pom poms need to come down more too, right? The first pic is after roughing him in because his hair was pretty long and i wanted to drying to go faster. The pics i posted with my horse were from two days ago if you want to see what his length was before.

 

[flyingduster]

ooo, looking good! Yes a little more length on his bracelets (muscle bands!) will balance them a bit better, but I don't think they need to be any lower really. Perhaps take a smidge off the top/front of the back ones, so they aren't straight across the top, but angle downwards towards the front... The topknot is cute, and I've heard the V referred to as a german topknot...? But I'm not sure if that's what you wanted! I wouldn't call it a crest at all anyway, a crest goes right down the neck...

looks good though!

 

[creativeparti]

well done he looks great... yep he defently needs more hair on his poms but it wont take to long

i think you need to blend the neck in a bit more.....

 

[Mandycasey'smom]

He looks awsome Great job

 

[kanatadoggroomer]

Great! Yes, he does need more pom hair, but it'll come in time! I prefer a more blended topknot, but what you have done is perfectly acceptable.

 

[ArreauStandardPoodle]

I don't do top knots like this but it looks lovely. I would say leave those bracelets completely alone until they grow out now. Once they grow for another few months, you should be able to shape them and make them look great. He suits the "muscle bands"!!

 

[Mister]

Thanks for the lovely comments gals...i knewi could coount on you! I will leave them alone for a few more months then attempt to shape them or have a better groomer friend do it and set the pattern for me. As for the topknot i wasnt really shown how to properly do them and just fake it half the time lol. Could some of you post some pics of a topknot with a shorter body like this? I want it to be longer but not as outrageous as it is right now. Arent you supposed to have a bit come down to the neck? Perhaps a lot more blended though. His body was long to begin with and i think i left way too much on....

FD- So i want his back "muscle bands" (so cute!!!) to be angled downward from the hock to the front? Is it to give him that uphill appearance is that something totally different?

 

[Olie]

I agree with Arreau let the pom poms grow, you did a great job I think! But I do have a questions - How long did it take to get the puffy on Misters tail? As you know Olie has one too he's 6 months and its growing very slow....

 

[flyingduster]

Mister, the angle is just the angle that is done on the rear poms! It accentuates the angle of the hock.
eg:

Ollie, I cna't answer for Mister obviously, but Paris' tail was short all over in August for her german trim, and 6 months later it's a fairly decent pom pom now, though still has a fair bit of growing to do, it's definitaly oval now rather than the xmas tree it was before!!! lol

 

[AgilityIG]

He looks great!! I think that's the fun thing about Poodle hair - it just keeps growing and you can adjust as it grows and do different things!

 

[Mister]

Thanks for the pic FD, it makes more sense now seeing it lol.
And Ollie i have onyl barely trimmed Misters tail since ive had him (16 months) because it is missing hair on the top and grows slow. Im afraid if i cut it all off that it would take a year to come back lol.

 

[Savannah]

Thanks for the lovely comments gals...i knewi could coount on you! I will leave them alone for a few more months then attempt to shape them or have a better groomer friend do it and set the pattern for me. As for the topknot i wasnt really shown how to properly do them and just fake it half the time lol. Could some of you post some pics of a topknot with a shorter body like this? I want it to be longer but not as outrageous as it is right now. Arent you supposed to have a bit come down to the neck? Perhaps a lot more blended though. His body was long to begin with and i think i left way too much on....

FD- So i want his back "muscle bands" (so cute!!!) to be angled downward from the hock to the front? Is it to give him that uphill appearance is that something totally different?

Topknots are highly personal, and every groomer does them a little different. If it was me grooming him, I'd say the topknot is just about the perfect length on top, but it needs to be tightened up on the sides a bit. I like them very round If you brush the ears down and hold them under his chin (lightly, if you pull his head skin out of shape it'll look funny when you let go of his ears) it's easier to get that nice line.
Someone once told me to scissor a square on the poodle's head: straight from the corner of the eye, over the ear and toward the back of the head on both sides; then straight up from the back of the neck to the occiput; and straight across the front. Then just round off your corners and you're set. It works, but it takes some tweaking to get the ledge over the eyes and that tiny bit of volume on the sides.

I recommend setting the back poms first, then drawing an imaginary line straight across the front legs so you know how high to make them. The line across the tops of both sets on poms should be perfectly parallel to the table.
Really, though, I think you've done an excellent job. The way you've blended the "v" at the base of the skull is not typical, but looks very nice. That style is sometimes used in pattern clips such as the dutch or sweetheart.
Well done, and just remember the best part about poodle grooming: you can experiment all you want, it always grows back!

 

[kanatadoggroomer]

Barbara Bird, a renowned groomer, has a video on youtube on scissoring a poodle topknot. Her username is groomclassroom. If you do a search for her name, her videos will come up.