# Going to a new groomer and feeling guilty



## outwest (May 1, 2011)

It sounds like you should keep going to the new groomer if you can deal with her calling some of the shots, except maybe for the dying part? Once you get to know her you can ask to change some things. It is really hard to find a groomer willing and able to do a good poodle cut. I feel fortunate to find a groomer who loves my spoo and does a great job, but the only cuts that shop knows are the pet cuts. It has been rough trying to get anything else, but I stay because there is no one else I trust with my dog. Also, some shops aren't crazy about spoos and charge a fortune for them!


----------



## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

katbrat said:


> It was kind of funny that when I asked that her body be kept a bit longer than was normal, she told me that that was not the standard for that kind of cut. I went with what she recomended, as dh put it the grooming she does is like her calling card, good or bad. I had asked that her tail not be touched because I liked it really fluffy. She actually called me to ask about it and explained about tail, top knot and poms being balanced. I actually learned about that here, but was being a bit stubborn. Where is the embarrassed smiley? I gave the ok to trim her tail. She really does know spoo's. *She actually wanted to learn to groom spoos and there weren't any, so she got one herself.* He is a 70 pound male that walks around town in a modified cont and this week he is pink and purple!


My bold.

It sounds to me like yr new groomer is a real 'student of the game'. And yr dh is right, her 'name' is on yr dog. 

But, to be totally fair, we'll just have to see pix of Lexi 'rocking' her new 'do', eh?


----------



## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

I am buying new camera batteries this afternoon, the pictures off the cell phone just aren't cutting it. Hope to have pictures up soon! I am not going to dye Lexi, tho ds keeps tying to "convince" me her tail needs to be a bright color so we don't loose her in the snow! LOL! This poodle grooming and different cuts are new to me and right now a Miami is pretty adventurous for me!


----------



## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

katbrat said:


> I am buying new camera batteries this afternoon, the pictures off the cell phone just aren't cutting it. Hope to have pictures up soon! I am not going to dye Lexi, tho ds keeps tying to "convince" me her tail needs to be a bright color so we don't loose her in the snow! LOL! This poodle grooming and different cuts are new to me and right now a Miami is pretty adventurous for me!


I love the Miami for Spring / Summer, although I use the #5F and not a #7F on the body (latter is too short for my tastes). It's such a poodley trim while still being easy to maintain. 

Can't wait to see pics!


----------



## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

No new camera batteries yet, so I will have to download from the phone. She is pretty short, think I will go a bit longer next time. 20778 20779
20780 The last one is of her sleeping as I combed out her feet and tail.  I have a great camera, seriously getting new batteries tomorrow. Just a side note, the green rug she is laying on is not the green rug she was pictured on when I first posted pictures when we first got her. She was chewing on a Nylabone on the old rug, and it must have snagged because the next thing we know, she is laying in a HUGE pile of green and beige loops.


----------



## Tymaca (Oct 13, 2011)

katbrat said:


> N She is pretty short, think I will go a bit longer next time.


She is so cute! How big is she? Her paws look huge.


----------



## poodlelover (Oct 19, 2008)

She looks great, do you have any before pictures? How old is she?


----------



## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

She will be nine months old November 1st, is about 20-21 inches tall and weighs 38 lbs. Here is a before from two weeks ago.
20782
20783


----------



## outwest (May 1, 2011)

WOW! She is about the same size as my 9 month old spoo. Mine is 21.5 inches and 37 pounds.

Lexi looks fabulous in her Miami. She is rocking it. She has a terrific, dense coat for a white. It looks like her new groomer really got her bracelets even. Her body is short, but it looks good. You can ask the groomer to let her body hair grow a little and not trim it next time, just shape it.

I am looking forward to doing the Miami once I am done with the UKC shows. At least I know my groomer knows that trim. I want my spoo to have curls showing on her body, so will ask for the body a little longer. Girls must have curls. I also like my spoos face short so the dark skin shows through, so will ask for her face shorter than Lexi's. I think a lot of people like a little more fuzz on the face than I do. I always say, "As short as possible without razor burn."


----------



## Panda (Jan 7, 2010)

Wow she is beautiful! I love that trim on her! I wish I could do that trim on Panda but he doesnt have a very good coat yet (hoping its still changing) and he has flat feet so having them shaved looks silly on him


----------



## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

Actually as a groomer there is no reason why the groomer couldn't leave the body longer. I am not a fan of really short bodies on the white/cream since one see's pink skin. Do you know what blade your groomer used? I would think a #3 blade which is a 1/2" is short enough. I love her TK & bracelets. Groomer did a good job


----------



## mom24doggies (Mar 28, 2011)

3dogs said:


> Actually as a groomer there is no reason why the groomer couldn't leave the body longer. I am not a fan of really short bodies on the white/cream since one see's pink skin. Do you know what blade your groomer used? I would think a #3 blade which is a 1/2" is short enough. I love her TK & bracelets. Groomer did a good job


 With a Miami, a #3 doesn't give enough definition to the bracelets...IMO, it looks kinda silly. The longest I will do is a 4, which is somewhere around 3/8". I prefer a #5 or a #7. Although I do agree that a #7 can be too short for a white poodle, what with their pink skin and all. 

And I agree that the groomer did a good job...she looks really pretty. 

@ Panda: I shave my boy's feet and they are pretty flat...it doesn't look silly to me.  Does your boy get plenty of exercise on a bumpier surface? Walking on concrete just makes the feet worse, I've found. Trev runs around on our good ol' Texas landscape a lot (think lots of rocks and bumps.  ) and it helps his feet look a little less awful, especially his back ones.


----------



## Panda (Jan 7, 2010)

Panda has a birth defect where his pasterns are too long, his back right foot is the worst and is really pronounced (this is a really bad pic from when he was a very young puppy)









His other feet are no where near as bad but still far from a tight Poodle foot.

Oh and he is normally walked on the pavement to the field near our house, is grass good at tightening them up? We dont have any pebble beaches near us or anything like that, just a grass field or a woods... are these better than pavement?


----------



## mom24doggies (Mar 28, 2011)

Panda said:


> Panda has a birth defect where his pasterns are too long, his back right foot is the worst and is really pronounced (this is a really bad pic from when he was a very young puppy)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Aww, poor baby...that looks like it almost hurts.  And yeah, I would think that woods/grassy areas would be at least a little better, especially the woods. Basically anywhere where the terrain is not perfectly level, like concrete.  It doesn't give them perfect feet, but it does help. Keeping the nails pretty short helps too.


----------



## Panda (Jan 7, 2010)

It doesn't appear to hurt him although every now and then he will do a little hop if he steps on something sharp as he doesn't walk on his pads but the delicate skin between them on that foot. I took him to a specialist orthopedic vet when he was a young pup and he said it wont cause him arthritis or any other condition and that it shouldn't affect him at all. He also paces but I presume this is unrelated. It just looks bad which is why I keep his feet fluffy for now.


----------



## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Lexi looks beautiful! And if it makes you feel any better, Chagall has two groomers (and two vets) and I am now starting to home groom him some, as well as planning to give a third groomer a try. He is EASY to groom, my desire is to see what different groomers can do and to have him away from me for the briefest time possible. Both groomers I presently use are darn good; one has offered to groom him privately in her home. It's okay to have options!! No need to feel guilty at all!! This all reminds me of my mother once being so guilt ridden over wanting to change hairdressers in the same beauty shop. She'd always gone to the owner but one day she was out sick, so another hairdresser did my mother's hair and she MUCH preferred her. My mother called me in a state of total angst as to what to do? I told her "Mom, it's your hair, use the beautician who does it the best. Someone else will be sitting in the owner's chair in your time slot in no time. I was right, and the salon owner wasn't miffed in the least! :bashful:


----------



## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

I have to admit, that when I first picked her up I was thinking I would defiantly go longer next time, but it has been a week and I am amazed how that short, I can see pink skin look is gone. I was brushing her out and it was kind of strange not having any body hair to brush.


----------



## Panda (Jan 7, 2010)

It is so much quicker to brush them out in that trim isn't it, Panda was in it once but his hair was too floppy for it then but he doesnt have a great coat even now so not sure he would ever have nice looking poms


----------



## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

Panda, we had a toy for fourteen years who never did get anything more than soft baby poodle fur, so this is all new stuff for us with Lexi. Your baby is adorable.


----------

