# Dana's new haircut!



## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

My biggest problem, though, was the front legs! They're all choppy and uneven! How do groomers make those nice smooth columns? Flyingduster, Cameo, and others... help!! :argh:










The back legs aren't too bad... maybe a little too hairy.










Here's a pic with Dana's tail up. I think I might have to take a little more hair off of it too.










If there's one thing I've got the hang of, though, it's the topknot! I think it looks pretty darn good...


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

As for Dana's allergies, well... 










I've discovered that Dana's not only allergic to foods, she's also allergic to some shampoos and conditioners. :argh: Poodles shouldn't be allowed to be allergic to shampoo!!!

Oh well... she didn't seem to have too much of a reaction to this last one I used. Or maybe it's just the fact that I diluted it to the nth degree. Does anyone know of a good hypoallergenic shampoo that leaves poodle hair nice and crisp for scissoring? 

The hypoallergenic shampoo I tried on Dana left her coat oily and heavy and gross. And Dana was allergic to it.

So anyway, sorry for talking everyone's metaphorical ears off... here are a couple more pics of Dana, just because I like showing pictures of my dog:




























Hey, can we post more than 4 pics at once, now? Nice! 


.


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## Aidan (Mar 4, 2009)

Nice, I love it! I think he looks much better in the german trim. He appears longer in the body in the miami and the german seems to square him off better. Just my opinion though!

I love the topknot as well!


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## KalaMama (Nov 20, 2009)

Very nice. Looks really good and much better than the Miami. Good job!


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

Aidan said:


> Nice, I love it! I think he looks much better in the german trim. He appears longer in the body in the miami and the german seems to square him off better. Just my opinion though!
> 
> I love the topknot as well!


Thanks, Aidan!  Dana appears longer in body because she is! LOL! She's 23 inches tall and 23.5 inches long. :laugh:



KalaMama said:


> Very nice. Looks really good and much better than the Miami. Good job!


Thanks, KalaMama! Dana looked kinda horrible in the miami...  Especially in that picture!! LOL!


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## ArreauStandardPoodle (Sep 1, 2009)

What a glorious haircut!! Awesome job!!!


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## Aidan (Mar 4, 2009)

They German trim definitely hides it then!


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Wow! She looks gorgeous!!  Great job!


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## Cameo (Feb 5, 2010)

if you don't mind, I'd like to try something with your picture. I'm not very good at Paint, but I'll try, lol.

I think you did great for being a non-groomer  I also feel this trim (or any trim that doesn't shorten her legs) looks very nice on her and makes her look more square. 

PS: yes, do take more off her tail. Her lil bunny tail, like Cameo's!


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## Cameo (Feb 5, 2010)

ok, this is NOT an expert paint job, but I hope you can see what I'm talking about.

First of all, bring her chest up to her elbows. Don't leave hardly ANY hair there. If you have to clipper with a 7 and then blend into the spring of the ribs. She needs more leg length and this will do that. fill in the area between her tuck up and her back leg and let the hair grow in. Bring the point of her shoulder up and carve out an area to set her legs under her. Shorten the hair on the front of her front legs a bit and lengthen the hair on the backs of her front legs. Same with the back legs, the need a bit more hair on the fronts and fill in where it turns into her foot. Bring her crest out and straight up and blend into TK. 

On the front legs, they are too full. Bring them in as paralelle lines with the shoulder. To get a nice smooth finish, spray, comb up/out, scissor, repeat. Make sure when you scissor, you don't bounce your shears. keep them moving smooth over the coat. Don't CLUTCH your shears, use your thumb to open and close them. 

The back legs, again parralelle (damn spellings, errr) lines. You don't want the legs to bulge out at the bottoms. They should be straight lines. The widest part of the thigh will determine where your lines start. 

You have done a great job so far and hope this helps a bit.


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

OOOHHHH, Nice  Good job!


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## BFF (Jun 10, 2009)

Cameo, you drew some great suggestions. I'm going to keep them in mind for Zulee too. 

Dana looks fantastic in her new trim! I admire your scissoring and know it's only going to get better. Dana looks so happy and her hair looks nice and bright. Wish I had a suggestion on shampoo. I know there was a 'natural' thread in the grooming section somewhere. It's hard since dog shampoos aren't required to list all of their ingredients.

I love how you have scissored her topknot. It looks very even. I can see where making the changes Cameo suggested will further accentuate her positives while tweaking the negatives. Someday, I'll be prepared to get some feedback with Zulee. :embarrassed:

One suggestion I have to get a straight line on the legs is to hold their leg out (front forward and back leg backward) then scissor each side straight up. I hold Zulee's foot. She's pretty good about letting me do the front. The back is a different story. She is ever so slightly cow hocked, so getting the back legs straight is very difficult on a wiggle worm. In order to save time, I get a basic line using the metal clip on combs and finish with scissors.


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## poodleholic (Jan 6, 2010)

Very nice groom!

A little "trick" I learned in getting even front legs when scissoring is to brush the hair over to one side of the leg, then scissor. Then brush it to the other side, and scissor. Works well. 

A great shampoo for dogs with allergies is EQyss Micro-Tec Shampoo. Nice, fresh scent, and, like all their products, rinses out easily.


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

Oooooh! Thank you Cameo! 

I can see how bringing the chest up will lengthen her legs.



Cameo said:


> fill in the area between her tuck up and her back leg and let the hair grow in.


Do you just mean the front of her back leg needs more hair? 



Cameo said:


> Bring the point of her shoulder up and carve out an area to set her legs under her.


I actually understand what you mean there! Cool! :dance:



Cameo said:


> parralelle (damn spellings, errr)


*Parallel LOL!! :laugh: I'm not that smart, I had to look it up. :alberteinstein:



Cameo said:


> To get a nice smooth finish, *spray*, comb up/out, scissor, repeat.


Spray!? Is this a grooming secret that I don't know about?? Need to know more about this "spray"!! :scared:



Cameo said:


> You have done a great job so far and hope this helps a bit.


Thank you so much, Cameo!!! This helps alot!!  I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have access to the wonderful people on this forum. That, and the fact that the groomer at my work lets me use all her stuff!!! 

And thank you, everyone who said that Dana looked great! It's nice to get some encouraging comments sometimes. All my friends are like: "Eww, a poodle!" And five minutes later they're all like: "She's soooo *fluffy*!!!!!" LOL!!


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

ArreauStandardPoodle said:


> What a glorious haircut!! Awesome job!!!





Fluffyspoos said:


> Wow! She looks gorgeous!! Great job!





WonderPup said:


> OOOHHHH, Nice Good job!





BFF said:


> Dana looks fantastic in her new trim!





poodleholic said:


> Very nice groom!



:biggrin1:Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!


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## *heather* (Jul 30, 2009)

WOW!! You did do an awesome job!! I am so inspired by you! And Cameo's comments are so helpful to those of us trying at home!! I cannot wait to get Rogan out of his miami, it's not a flattering cut on him either  live and learn!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I agree - a much more flattering cut on Dana!


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## spoowhisperer (Apr 26, 2010)

Wow!!! You did a wonderful transformation! I actually lurked quite a bit yesterday and just studied your photos and admired your work, such a talent!

And *Cameo*, so awesome to share your knowledge! Your are a teacher! Even if someone has the know-how, they don't always have the talent to be able to convey! Hoping if I ever post photos of my mini Kai calling for help on grooming, you'll pop in to share a thought or two. Or maybe 3 or 4. :>)

I think Dana found her new look, it certainly shows her beauty!


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## partial2poodles (Feb 11, 2010)

Only remove hair from the underside of the tail...by leaving it short there, you are visually shortening her body length. And by leaving the top fuller and blended into the back, it also makes her back appear shorter. One more trick to making her look TALLER---the bottom of her chest (underneath) should never appear longer than the elboq...so shorten the chest...I dont care if you do it with a #7 and blend well, it needs to be shorter, therefore giving her the illusion of longer legs. It IS a nice groom on a slightly less than perfect dog. I love seeing grooms like this...this is the real world. Not everyone has a dog posessing show dog bodies. Great Job!


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

*heather* said:


> WOW!! You did do an awesome job!! I am so inspired by you! And Cameo's comments are so helpful to those of us trying at home!! I cannot wait to get Rogan out of his miami, it's not a flattering cut on him either  live and learn!


Thank you. I think Rogan would look dashing in a German!  *hint, hint*



fjm said:


> I agree - a much more flattering cut on Dana!


Thanks!  I don't think I'll be putting Dana in another Miami anytime soon! 



spoowhisperer said:


> Wow!!! You did a wonderful transformation! I actually lurked quite a bit yesterday and just studied your photos and admired your work, such a talent!


Well, Thank you! :biggrin:


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

partial2poodles said:


> Only remove hair from the underside of the tail...by leaving it short there, you are visually shortening her body length. And by leaving the top fuller and blended into the back, it also makes her back appear shorter.


Should I also remove hair from the sides? How skinny should I make her tail?



partial2poodles said:


> One more trick to making her look TALLER---the bottom of her chest (underneath) should never appear longer than the elbow...so shorten the chest...I don't care if you do it with a #7 and blend well, it needs to be shorter, therefore giving her the illusion of longer legs.


Okay. Cameo said the exact same thing! LOL! I guess I should listen.  I'll give Dana another bath in a week or so and I'll tweak her trim. Hopefully, I won't make it worse! :shocked:



partial2poodles said:


> It IS a nice groom on a slightly less than perfect dog. I love seeing grooms like this...this is the real world. Not everyone has a dog possessing show dog bodies. Great Job!


Thank you!


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## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

Shave up the back side of the tail (I used a 7F when I had Paris in a german trim...) and blend the sides and top into it








(pretty sure this was a week or so of growth from her groom...)


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## 2 Poods (Oct 20, 2010)

Wow! I think you did a good job. I might have to try that clip on my poodles but I would have to let their hair grow in alot more. I have my poodles in the town & country clip. But I do like the german clip. Thanks for the inspiration!


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## Cameo (Feb 5, 2010)

Salukie said:


> Oooooh! Thank you Cameo!
> 
> I can see how bringing the chest up will lengthen her legs.
> 
> ...


Here's another try at paint, lol. I've filled in the parts and even with my lame attempt, I think it's easier to see the difference. 

You can see at the tuck up where it curves down into the front of the back leg, as well as, all the way down the front leg, that I've added MORE hair. That will visually help to shorten the length of the body and add balance. 

As for the spray, I use Crown Royale. It's a remarkable grooming spray that reduces static, makes the hair stand out, and helps to release tangles/matts, as well as conditions. I use it for scissoring and brush outs. It makes a huge difference.


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## creativeparti (Mar 9, 2009)

woo well done you did a great job


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

flyingduster said:


> Shave up the back side of the tail (I used a 7F when I had Paris in a german trim...) and blend the sides and top into it
> (pretty sure this was a week or so of growth from her groom...)


Okay, I'll try that. Thanks, FD. Paris always looks so gorgeous!


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

Cameo said:


> You can see at the tuck up where it curves down into the front of the back leg, as well as, all the way down the front leg, that I've added MORE hair. That will visually help to shorten the length of the body and add balance.


Okay... I think I see what you mean. Gotta look at the two pics side by side...












Cameo said:


> As for the spray, I use Crown Royale. It's a remarkable grooming spray that reduces static, makes the hair stand out, and helps to release tangles/matts, as well as conditions. I use it for scissoring and brush outs. It makes a huge difference.


Is this the one you mean?
Crown Royale Ultimate Detangling Spray 16oz [16 oz. w/sprayer] - $13.99 : K9 Grooming Supplies, The Art of Canine E-commerce

I didn't find any Crown Royale products on the Petedge site where I usually order stuff. Would this one be a good substitute?
PetEdge: Davis Fluff Out Finishing Spray for Dogs and Cats

I'm a little confused as to how spraying this on a dry coat will make it better for scissoring. Won't it just make it wet? (It doesn't take much to confuse me. LOL)

If I'm using the spray, do I also need to condition the coat during the bath?

I keep giggling at the name "Crown Royale" It makes me think of these items:



















Not very useful for grooming. LOL! :laugh:


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

creativeparti said:


> woo well done you did a great job


Thank you


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

2 Poods said:


> Wow! I think you did a good job. I might have to try that clip on my poodles but I would have to let their hair grow in a lot more. I have my poodles in the town & country clip. But I do like the german clip. Thanks for the inspiration!


You're welcome and thank you very much for the compliment!


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## Cameo (Feb 5, 2010)

Salukie,

Here's what i use Crown Royale Magic Touch Formula 3 - Cherrybrook

You use a misting spray bottle that put out a fine mist and it really makes the hair stand out better and eliminates the static. It doesn't make the coat wet unless you REALLY spray it on. You just want a fine mist right where you are scissoring/brushing, then comb, scissor. The little hairs that need to be cut will "stick out" better and it really makes for a smooth look. Once you try it, you will see what I mean. I like the Crown Royale because it doesn't leave the coat feeling tacky and washes out cleanly, unlike some of the other silicon-based sprays (which build up on the coat over time). It REALLY helps release mats and tangles too. You can use a multitude of other things, Fluff Out, Ruff Out, EZ Glide, The Stuff, etc etc as a scissoring spray, just dilute it down more than the recommeded amount. I DO (sometimes) use a regular conditioner as well, but not every time. They to can tend to build up and I like a nice crisp coat  If you notice the coat seems to BLAH or wimpy, you can do 2 good bathings (I use IOD Salon Elements Stay Clean for clarifying) with a clarifying shampoo, then one with a texturizing shampoo. That should rid the coat of build up, then you can apply a light misting of the Crown Royale before drying, then again as your brushing and scissoring.


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

Oooh.... okay! 

That stuff looks good! Where can I order that in Canada? Hmm....

Thanks again, Cameo for all the good tips!


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## pudlemom (Apr 16, 2010)

How long is Dana's tail my Kate has a chicken :chicken: nugget too and I just dont know what to do with it I like the way Dana's looks in her new do. I'm looking for a new do too she is currently in a miami and I am growing tired of it.


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

Hi Pudlemom! 

Dana's lil tail is about 3 inches. There's not much there. :\

I might try growing a pom on it again someday but I chopped it off this time because her puppy fur was just going all floppy. 

I modeled her tail after Desmond's tail a little bit.  Let me see if I can find that pic of Desmond...

I think poodle tails will stop being docked someday. Then all poos will have long glorious Vinnie tails!  LOL And no more chicken nuggets! It's a good thing that Dana doesn't care about the length of her tail! LOL!!


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

Here it is! 

http://www.poodleforum.com/3-poodle-pictures/7636-haircut-haircut.html

Desmond is so cute!


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## pudlemom (Apr 16, 2010)

Kate's is 3 1/2" so she dose not have much either, She will be a year in 13 days she has really curly hair so it stays in a nice little pom, little being the key work :laugh:
I'm just sacred to cut it in fear that it may look worse than it already dose but I think Dana's looks good considering what we have to work with so maybe I will go for it I will post pics if I get the guts.


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

Go for it!  It will grow back! Our girls are close in age; Dana's gonna be a year old tomorrow! Is Kate the creme coloured one in your avatar?

I'm so glad I trimmed Dana's tail. It looks much better as a terrier tail than as a poodle tail wannabe. LOL! :laugh:


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## pudlemom (Apr 16, 2010)

Desmond Dose look cute and he is in the chicken nugget club too LOL. Here is Kate in her first hair cut in june her tail is a little more full now. No that Sonja In my avatar she was my frist spoo and my heart dog.


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

I think the trim is spectacular! It really does compliment her better than the Miami. I only wish I could groom this well.


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## neVar (Dec 25, 2009)

Saluki- i'm using the K9 nano spray when scissoring- so good. 

Also if you want some good visual help on legs etc jodi murpheys' scisorring dvd is great


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## Salukie (Dec 18, 2009)

pudlemom said:


> Desmond Dose look cute and he is in the chicken nugget club too LOL. Here is Kate in her first hair cut in june her tail is a little more full now. No that Sonja In my avatar she was my frist spoo and my heart dog.


Oh she's so cute!  

:lol: LOL @ "chicken nugget club" We should start one! LOL :laugh: But then the full tailed poos will feel left out. :aetsch:

It took about 3 months for Dana to grow out her miami... It's still growing out in spots. I think Kate would look very good with a "terrier tail" (that's what I'm calling it, LOL. It's a little short to be a proper "carrot tail". Unless... it's a baby carrot!! :rofl

Are you going to scissor her topknot or keep the tied look?



cbrand said:


> I think the trim is spectacular! It really does compliment her better than the Miami. I only wish I could groom this well.


Thank you, cbrand!  



neVar said:


> Saluki- i'm using the K9 nano spray when scissoring- so good.
> 
> Also if you want some good visual help on legs etc jodi murpheys' scisorring dvd is great


Oohh.. gotta go find Jodi Murphy videos...  Thanks, Nevar! 

(OOps... gotta go easy on the smileys!! :shocked: Now that we can post more than four, I've gone a little overboard...)


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## pudlemom (Apr 16, 2010)

Are you going to scissor her topknot or keep the tied look?



I'm thinking about scissoring it she is going thru the coat change and it mat's the second I finish brushing it out, ugg coat change!


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