The English Saddle and the Continental are what most people think of as traditional clips. Although both clips were originally hunting clips created as a compromise between warmth and practicality, in their current form they are high maintenance. I can't even be bothered with makeup and curling irons for myself. Life is definitely too short for me to be putting topknots into bands and blow drying my dogs' ankles. My guys get wash-n-wear haircuts.

 

I always wanted a poodle so I could play groomer and try ALL the clips. Turns out I can’t handle a furry face. Sure, it’s cute, but I don’t want to live with it! 🤷‍♀️ I have to look at my calendar to be sure, but I think this was ~7 weeks of growth. I was trying to get to a furry face, but the constantly damp snoot got to me. Now we’re going for a pony-poo look, with a mane and tail, and maybe bracelets. Or maybe even that will be too much when she is swimming daily and she will get a big shave down - head included!
After Saturday’s trim:

shaggy girl on Friday:

Edit: I was wrong. This is 4 weeks of growth.

 

I agree with Starla, a fluffy face is adorable but after a couple weeks of growth both Reggie and I are ready to get rid of the soggy mustache and beard. My favorites are probably the German and the modified continental. The lines are so striking

 

I like a clean face but length on the body varies with the time of year and I like a shorter topknot and hair left all down the tail. Even my Golden Doodle has a clean face.

 

That's cool Cariboo Poodle. As much as I'd like to have a fluffy face, I think the soggy beard would put me off as had been mentioned. I guess I'd just have to see for myself!

I might be partial to poodles but I love doodles as well, in fact they're part of what first hooked me into the poodle world! Would love to see a pic of your Golden Doodle 

 

So far I've always kept Elroy in a retriever clip. Reasonably long top knot, ears, and tail with the rest of the body/legs about ½" long, shaved face, feet, and tail. I think I'm open to other non-poodle clips in the future, but it hasn't happened yet 😅🤣!

 

I personally like a clean face, before we were showing we did do lots of different non-traditional clips. We even did a part poodlington one time. One day I would like to be able to some really fun creative grooms like a pony saddle clip.

 

I got called a horrible dog owner in a Poodle grooming Facebook group for this clip.

2021-9-24 Simon DSC_4587 by Rosemary Elwell, on Flickr

According to that person, Poodles are supposed to be fluffy, and how dare I clip him down like that. I wound up having to bock them, they were so bent out of shape over it. 🤷‍♀️

Probably my favorite clip is the Royal Dutch. It's pretty "old-fashioned" these days, but I just love it. The first Poodle I ever remember seeing was a parti-colored mini in a regular Dutch clip.

2022-2-23 Simon's 1st birthday DSC_9821 by Rosemary Elwell, on Flickr

He's currently back in a Scruff Puppy bikini clip again. Yay coat change and nasty weeds. :/ I really don't like a fuzzy, bushy face. Give me a clean muzzle any day of the week.

 

I got called a horrible dog owner in a Poodle grooming Facebook group for this clip.

2021-9-24 Simon DSC_4587 by Rosemary Elwell, on Flickr

According to that person, Poodles are supposed to be fluffy, and how dare I clip him down like that. I wound up having to bock them, they were so bent out of shape over it. 🤷‍♀️

Probably my favorite clip is the Royal Dutch. It's pretty "old-fashioned" these days, but I just love it. The first Poodle I ever remember seeing was a parti-colored mini in a regular Dutch clip.

2022-2-23 Simon's 1st birthday DSC_9821 by Rosemary Elwell, on Flickr

He's currently back in a Scruff Puppy bikini clip again. Yay coat change and nasty weeds. :/ I really don't like a fuzzy, bushy face. Give me a clean muzzle any day of the week.

Looks fantastic!! 'Horrible owner'?
Grrrrrrr....

 

The greatest thing about Poodles is there's no "wrong" way to groom them! And if you don't like what you do, it grows back pretty fast and you can try again.

Dublin has been in the typical continental, modified continental, "kennel clip", "puppy cut", german clip, and he's been an Airedale. He's had clean face, he's had shaggy face, he's had "donut", he's had mustache. Long ears, short ears. Long tail, short tail. Bracelets, no bracelets, bell bottoms. Shamrocks on his butt, hearts on his butt, green ears/tail, candy corn legs.

So far, Limerick has only been in a modified lamb clip. Nothing crazy fun with him just yet, he's still working on standing still for everything lmao. Eventually he'll go through the same things Dublin did and probably more!

 

As a professional groomer the biggest thing I hear is don’t make them look like a poodle from doodle owners and a lot of poodle owners 😩

 

Ha! I'm pretty sure the non-stop compliments would cease if Elroy didn't look like a Poodle! I'm not quite open to the big hair of the continental clip though. That's just too much!

 

Wow, 100% yes to the poll so far!

Thanks so much for the input so far. Love the photos as well, they are all beautiful

 

I like some of the Asian styles on toys especially the faces, but for bigger dogs I prefer a cleaner face.

With Nano’s fluffy face I avoid the gross beard by keeping his chin and lips short and it works well.

 

We just like Poppy to have a 'short' cut.
Like her face clear and poodle feet.
Short because she spends a lot of time in a rural environmnet, so easier to keep on top of things.

Our groomer would love to do something more, 'pretty' dog thing, but so far it's not for us.

But I keep thinking it might be fun one day to have a 'proper' poodle cut.
But which one....?
Hmmmm....

 

I once read in some other poodle group, that someone was saying that their poodle would be embarrassed if their tail wasn’t docked. People are weird and just like to project their vanity on their dogs, kids or cars etc.

I think everyone should just get the trim they like and can maintain.

 

I love the fancy clips but I'm not a fancy person. I know that I cannot maintain such a look so there's no point. Plus since I'm not a groomer I also like to go the cheap route and just get the German shave.

 

That lady would be horrified with me. My 10 blade needs sharpening and I only have one, so I have shaved Annie with a 15 blade in the past.

I imagine she'd also be shocked to hear what blade show groomers use on the shaved parts of the body! And vets!

I try to shave Annie down before she gets matted when I know I'll be too busy to keep up. She's been in everything from a continental to a royal dutch to a complete shave down.

As for non traditional cuts, not really sure what those include? maybe some of the creative grooming, Modern trim, etc? Yes, I'll try anything unless it has long hair on the face. Although If I had an apricot or red poodle, I'd be very tempted by this trim:

My biggest problem with some of the fun trims like the Modern is that my hands hurt if I spend too much time brushing, and my dog likes to run into patches of burrs on our walks!

 

In the summer I clip all my dogs bodies down with a number 10 blade. My Golden Doodle I even clip her head right down but on the more Poodles I try and leave more topknot and clean off their feet. They are never matted and do very little brushing if any even when they grow longer. Don't know if it is the texture of their coats but even the times I have taken them into a groomer, they always remark that I must brush them a lot because no matts, even though they have not been brushed.

 

Gypsy, the dog on the left has completely lost her black front legs now, they have faded to grey, Bonnie, in the middle is the Golden Doodle, Gypsy's mother by a purebred Poodle and Izzy is my little rescue Poodle.

 

I’m not even sure what a Traditional cut is or what a Non-traditional one is?

Who is deciding which is what? Someone can argue a Miami is not traditional because it’s not a clip allowed in AKC conformation. Styles change over time so what was allowed in the conformation ring 30 years ago has been tweaked by time into something a little different if you look closely at the details such as the length and shape of the jacket or the topknot.

Is a German clip traditional? It’s not in my 1972 edition of Shirlee Kalstone poodle grooming book. The Summe Miami is in the book.

Perhaps if you defined what you meant and posted photos I could better understand the question and answer it.

I don’t mean o be snarky but I just don’t know what you think traditional and non-traditional means.

 

Is a German clip traditional? It’s not in my 1972 edition of Shirlee Kalstone poodle grooming book.

The German clip in the Kalstone book is not the same as what is described or shown in photos on PF. The body and leg hair is much longer. This photo is what is described in her book (with optional mustache).

 

Reraven that is an impressively groomed dog. Wish I could achieve such a polished look on Theo.

There’s several editions of her book Mine was the 8th printing in 1972 and has no German clip at all. I wish it did. Maybe one day I’ll buy another edition that has it.

Like many things overtime styles change, get tweaked etc. Lots of poodle clips have subtle changes even in the AKC conformation ring

 

Here's another example of what I would consider "non-traditional" for a poodle. Not much topknot, furry face, mostly one length.

And of course there's always something like this Gotta love creative grooming.

 

Ooo I love the not much top knot furry face, mostly one length look.

 

Got to mix it up!

 

Thanks Naturalpoodle - that helps - although all the traditional looks have clean faces - but there were mustaches that were popular in the 50's and 60's too.

I'm all for any style that the dog is comfortable with and the owner can keep mat free and tidy. So I'm open to almost anything. But I do prefer a clean face because it's easier to keep the dog clean.

 

I think when most people say "non-traditional" they mean without shaved faces. But I'd also say pony clips and all-over clips are non-traditional. I think people who are involved with the breed have a dislike for fluffy faces because they cover up the structure of the dog's face that breeders consider so important. But I think most are fine with their puppy buyers choosing any style so long as they maintain it well.

I have on rare occasions seen those weird people who believe poodles should be long and fluffy. But I think that's obscure pet people and not groomers or breeders!

Personally I have a huge dislike for grossness on a dog's face like eye gunk buildup or wet beards. Most dogs with fluffy faces seem to have issues with these. But definitely not all of them if the owner keeps on top of cleaning the face. I grew Misha's face out once and I enjoyed the change for a bit, but after a while I felt like I couldn't connect with him as well without seeing his facial expressions.

I think a lot of people look at the shaved face/feet poodle cuts and think they are frou frou. To me it's the opposite. A shaved face is always dry and clean and the eyes are easy to keep clean. Shaved feet don't track in mud and don't get painful burrs caught between the toes. I feel like the shaved face/feet developed as a practical method for keeping these dogs clean.

Here are pics of Misha in various styles.

 

I love the pictures. Just stunning. Poodles are beautiful with and without all the fluff.

I'm thinking of shaving Remy down totally for the summer so I was looking at the two pictures of Misha totally shaved down. Remy really suffers in the heat. What should I tell my groomer? Just shave everything? Here's how Remy looks now. Not traditional, but so cute. I love the little ruff on his back.

 

@Skylar I was thinking of those mustaches in the 50s and 60s, they were definitely more "coiffed" than an all over shaggy face though. I think Winston Churchill had such a one he adored. Actually I saw one on social media recently as well, it's a funky style.

@Raindrops Misha is a gorgeous poodle in any clip! BTW I occasionally show your YT video of Misha doing the flying trot to friends and family, he's lovely.

I do like the long and fluffy look on a poodle as well as almost any clip, so I may just be one of those weird people ha ha.

I think I would come to the same conclusion after trying a full face though, I am a bit averse to the feeling of wet whiskers on a dog, not to mention the potential discoloration around the mouth and eyes on light-coloured dogs with a shaggy face.

Thanks for the input!