# Show Grooming



## Kela (Aug 12, 2008)

Hi there 

I have an 8 month old standard poodle that I've been considering showing. I got a show contract from the breeder and I know he is up to snuff, I just haven't decided when I want to begin and what show quite yet.

My question is this, in the AKC guidelines, it says that poodles under 1 year of age *can* be shown in the puppy clip, but poodles over 1 year of age *must* be shown in the continental clip. It is phrased as such, I bolded the words I'm going to inquire about. 

Does this mean that a poodle under 1 year of age can be shown in a continental clip? Is it absolutely unheard of for a 10 or 11 month old to be shown in that clip?


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## mightymite (Aug 10, 2008)

Honestly, I have NEVER seen a puppy in the puppy classes shown in anything other than a puppy clip. In UKC - almost anything goes but most people just opt for the sporting clip for all classes.


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## Purple Poodle (May 5, 2008)

Puppies don't have enough coat for the proper look of a continental so the outline looks better in a puppy cut. I have a 15 month old Standard who I just put into a sporting clip while she matures and we work on training and a few other issues she has but I let he coat grow and played with it for the first few months just to see if and how I could care of a show coat. I also read every online thing I could find and bought the International Book of Poodle Clipping and Grooming and it was/is a tremendous help! 

From the AKC standard



> (b) Clip-- A Poodle under 12 months may be shown in the "Puppy" clip. In all regular classes, Poodles 12 months or over must be shown in the "English Saddle" or "Continental" clip. In the Stud Dog and Brood Bitch classes and in a non-competitive Parade of Champions, Poodles may be shown in the "Sporting" clip. A Poodle shown in any other type of clip shall be disqualified.
> 
> (1) "Puppy"--A Poodle under a year old may be shown in the "Puppy" clip with the coat long. The face, throat, feet and base of the tail are shaved. The entire shaven foot is visible. There is a pompon on the end of the tail. In order to give a neat appearance and a smooth unbroken line, shaping of the coat is permissible. (2) "English Saddle"--In the "English Saddle" clip the face, throat, feet, forelegs and base of the tail are shaved, leaving puffs on the forelegs and a pompon on the end of the tail. The hindquarters are covered with a short blanket of hair except for a curved shaved area on each flank and two shaved bands on each hindleg. The entire shaven foot and a portion of the shaven leg above the puff are visible. The rest of the body is left in full coat but may be shaped in order to insure overall balance. (3) "Continental"--In the "Continental" clip, the face, throat, feet, and base of the tail are shaved. The hindquarters are shaved with pompons (optional) on the hips. The legs are shaved, leaving bracelets on the hindlegs and puffs on the forelegs. There is a pompon on the end of the tail. The entire shaven foot and a portion of the shaven foreleg above the puff are visible. The rest of the body is left in full coat but may be shaped in order to insure overall balance. (4) "Sporting"--In the "Sporting" clip, a Poodle shall be shown with face, feet, throat, and base of tail shaved, leaving a scissored cap on the top of the head and a pompon on the end of the tail. The rest of the body, and legs are clipped or scissored to follow the outline of the dog leaving a short blanket of coat no longer than one inch in length. The hair on the legs may be slightly longer than that on the body.
> 
> In all clips the hair of the topknot may be left free or held in place by elastic bands. The hair is only of sufficient length to present a smooth outline. "Topknot" refers only to hair on the skull, from stop to occiput. This is the only area where elastic bands may be used.


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## Kela (Aug 12, 2008)

Thanks for all of the info! 

In my opinion, one of his bigger issues with his current coat is that there are some short hairs above his eyes that don't make it into the topknot. Since I've never trimmed these, I can only assume that the breeder accidentally clipped them before I got him. He looks so silly


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## mightymite (Aug 10, 2008)

This should make you feel better - or at least feel sorry for me. I've been showing my toy in UKC conformation - so at least coat isn't SO important and thank goodness for that. The little bugger rolled in TREE sap in my backyard. By the time i had finished clipping the mess out she looked like a rat had chewed away at her coat. 

I had to laugh, coming from Yorkies where it takes YEARS to grow coat, I was actaully releived that I was dealing with a poodle coat and know it WILL come back soon.


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## Kela (Aug 12, 2008)

Ack! My worst so far was giving my dog a greenie to chew on while I went out. I came back and there was a half eaten bone embedded in his fur with little green bits everywhere!

No more greenies ever for us!


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## SECRETO (Aug 20, 2008)

Yes, A Poodle Under A Year Is Allowed In A Continental Clip. Im Not Sure Where You Live But Im In Ca And Its Extremely Hard To Show Your Own Dog In Akc. (and Win) They Are Considered A Handler's Breed, Just Meaning There Are Not Many Breeder's That Show There Own Poodles Because Of All The Politics In The Ring. Pretty Much If Your Not A Well Known Handler To The Judge Your Chances Are About Nothing.

This Info Was Very Dissapointing To Me Because My Husband And I Have Shown Amstaffs Akc And Ukc With No Issues. We Have Championed Our Dogs Pretty Easy. But When I Decided I Would Get A Show Potential Standard P That Was The Info I Recieved From Multiple Reputible Breeders. Im A Pretty Determined Person Myself So I Still Want Ot Take On Akc Eventually But Im Going To Start With Ukc First. They Don't Require The Coat To Be So Perfectly Poofed And Long Like Akc Prefers. Plus I Need To Get Used To The Maintenance Of Such A Clip First. Lol 

I Hope You Do Well With What Ever You Decide. Showing Dogs Is A Lot Of Fun. Good Luck To You And Your Pooch. 

Ps Post A Pic Of Your Poodle, I Would Love To See


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## SECRETO (Aug 20, 2008)

*Show Clip / Akc Showing*

Yes, A Poodle Under A Year Is Allowed In A Continental Clip. Im Not Sure Where You Live But Im In Ca And Its Extremely Hard To Show Your Own Dog In Akc. (and Win) They Are Considered A Handler's Breed, Just Meaning There Are Not Many Breeder's That Show There Own Poodles Because Of All The Politics In The Ring. Pretty Much If Your Not A Well Known Handler To The Judge Your Chances Are About Nothing.

This Info Was Very Dissapointing To Me Because My Husband And I Have Shown Amstaffs Akc And Ukc With No Issues. We Have Championed Our Dogs Pretty Easy. But When I Decided I Would Get A Show Potential Standard P That Was The Info I Recieved From Multiple Reputible Breeders. Im A Pretty Determined Person Myself So I Still Want Ot Take On Akc Eventually But Im Going To Start With Ukc First. They Don't Require The Coat To Be So Perfectly Poofed And Long Like Akc Prefers. Plus I Need To Get Used To The Maintenance Of Such A Clip First. Lol 

I Hope You Do Well With What Ever You Decide. Showing Dogs Is A Lot Of Fun. Good Luck To You And Your Pooch. 

Ps Post A Pic Of Your Poodle, I Would Love To See


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## mightymite (Aug 10, 2008)

Honestly, it doesn't get much worse than in the poodle ring. My breeder is now strictly a UKC breeder and even had written into my agreement that I only show UKC conformation - that was years of showing in AKC. His dogs are all AKC/UKC registered and they come from AKC champions, but he doesn't want anything to do with that poodle-ring politics.


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## Kela (Aug 12, 2008)

Thank you for the info! I've heard that there are lots of "politics" in the show ring, especially surrounding poodles so that does make me nervous. I've always wanted to give it a shot though and figure that now is as good of a time as any! 

I did go ahead and give my puppy a preliminary cut, assuming that I won't be trying my first show until later in the year. 









I know, we have lots of work to do! Still have the puppy wispy hairs and some more shaping to do. I think I need to shorten the jacket a little bit, but I may just have a pro go in and clean it up. I'm going to try and get someone who will clip the coat and coach me on it as well. I've groomed my own dogs always but I still need more practice especially if I'm going to show them.


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## SECRETO (Aug 20, 2008)

I your dog looks great for just learning the cut. I have to say that when I did my 1st cont clip a few months ago I thought the coat was a little long. Biggest mistake I made ! lol Then I had to look at him looking goofy until it grew back and Im still waiting....it's almost there. Your dog's cut looks really nice.

I have to ask about the rosettes. I left rosettes off my boy but now I want to add them. Is there a special technique or just free hand ?


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## Kela (Aug 12, 2008)

I learned a trick for doing pom poms on the ankles, you brush all the hair straight up and then grab the pom pom holding the hair up, and you trim in a circle around the top. This makes it really rounded.

I used that trick on the pom poms (since I didn't know what I was doing) and I just kept brushing the hair straight up, and I'd trim off a moon shape at the top. Then I'd brush straight down, and trim off a moon shape at the bottom...and just kept doing that all the way around in a circle. That made it nice and round.

I heard a trick on another forum...place a glass over the hair that you want to keep..and then use the clippers around it, lol. Still have to trim the hair thats left into a ball though but that could help get the circles in the right place!


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