# What age for clipping down puppy coat?



## SpooChi (Dec 3, 2018)

I'm interested in hearing about others opinions on this as well. 

I _think_ I plan to clip a tiny amount every couple weeks after we bring puppy home, both to keep it under control, and to help get her used to the process of a full body grooming. But I don't see other people doing that very often, a lot of people love the big, fluffy, round puppy look.


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

I think it depends on how dedicated you want to be to keeping the coat free of mats. When Wilson's coat was taking almost three hours a night to keep it combed out, I gave up. He was 10 months old when I gave him his first drastic hair cut. Even though his legs were still pretty long, removing the body length was a real time and energy saver.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

I have always groomed my own poodles, I usually wait a week after their arrival and then start grooming regularly. Poodles are groomed for life, unless your puppy is being shown IMHO they should be clipped down sooner rather than later.


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## Johanna (Jun 21, 2017)

I agree with Twyla. Just cut the hair back when it becomes a problem! If you cut too much, never mind - it will grow back.


My last standard poodle had a difficult coat - she tended to cord (and I do not like the look of cords at all). I kept her short all her life using a 10 or 7 blade on her legs and body. She usually wore bracelets, had a tail pom, and her ears were long. I clipped her face/feet/tail with a 30 and her belly and sanitary with a 15.


My current poodle is a miniature currently in show coat, so her mane coat has never been clipped, just scissored enough to have a smooth outline. I am currently changing her trim from a Continental to an English Saddle. That will take 4-5 months. Once she is no longer being shown she will wear the same clip as my standard - essentially a Miami.


There are so many ways to groom a poodle and the big idea is to start grooming them at 3-4 weeks of age and keep it up!


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## Asta's Mom (Aug 20, 2014)

Please start giving your puppy grooming sessions. I did not do this with Asta and now he is a terror to groom. Start with small sessions then work up to full body is my suggestion.


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## Mysticrealm (Jan 31, 2016)

Any age that you desire once your puppy is acclimated enough to the grooming process to handle a full hair cut.


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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

I do 2 of mine with a 4 on the body and legs and kee[ pompoms on legs, tail and their top knot. the other one I do in a modified Continental. I do not let the mane grow, it was a lot of work to much for me. I got one from a breeder who also groomes, it is heaven doing her, the 15 yr old is great, but my 5 year old still hates it so the sooner the better


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## MerrysSarah (Dec 9, 2018)

glorybeecosta said:


> I do 2 of mine with a 4 on the body and legs and kee[ pompoms on legs, tail and their top knot. the other one I do in a modified Continental. I do not let the mane grow, it was a lot of work to much for me. I got one from a breeder who also groomes, it is heaven doing her, the 15 yr old is great, but my 5 year old still hates it so the sooner the better


Glorybeecosta do you have a picture of them with body length cut with a 4? That's the length I'm considering in the next couple months when spring starts comes around but I can't seem to picture it!

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk


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## Mysticrealm (Jan 31, 2016)

This is a 5 on the body and legs which is just a touch shorter than a 4 









This is a 4 on the body with scissored longer legs and crest


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## rp17 (Jun 6, 2018)

I'm glad we started early (15 weeks) to get ours used to regular grooming. He was a bit squirmy and it was a challenge that first time, but he's so good about it now as we've been grooming him every 6 or so weeks since then.
I don't have a lot of great pics (dark puppy who moves nonstop), but here's a few showing different lengths at different ages. We don't shave his face short right now, but hopefully this gives you some idea of the body length on a miniature puppy. We're grooming him ourselves so it's still a learning process with one extra short topknot mishap along the way.
- First pic is at 12 weeks before any full body groom. Total cottonball! Would be even flufflier if he was freshly brushed, but this was during our summer lake vacation.
- Second pic is 15 weeks after our first ever grooming attempt. We used the 1" comb on the clippers. If you want to keep the puppy fluff but get him used to grooming, this is a good length.
- Third pic is 6 months with either 3/4" or 1" comb. Can't remember for sure as we were mostly doing 3/4" inch by this point, but there was one month we tried leaving a full inch. 
- Fourth pic is 7 months with the 3/4" comb.


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## asuk (Jan 6, 2017)

i trim milo all around with an 18mm comb with a 30 blade on my bravura when he was around 10 weeks old. i cant stand the fluff since he was a summer puppy and it was hard to keep clean and dry.

i have been grooming bit by bit when we got him at 8.5 weeks. and i concur, do little bits every time so he is used to grooming. with a wiggly puppy, it might take days to finish grooming. they do get better as they get older and if they are desensitize to it.


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## Curlydogs (Jun 28, 2010)

Thanks for all of the feedback. I think I will start full body grooming within the next few weeks so he gets used to it. He seems to be a quick learner with grooming - at first he wouldn't let me near his face, but now he sits through his face/neck without too much wiggling! (For some strange reason he (luckily) does not minded his feet being clipped.) 

We used to do a 7F body with scissored legs, topknot and tail pompom on our adult Standard, but I think I will keep the body longer on this little guy at least until Spring.

Thanks again, all!


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## CharlieA (Oct 11, 2018)

I'm thinking its time to give the pup its first cut. I like to use sizzors for the body and legs, and a fine small clipper for the close cutting. I leave them a little long on the body the first time so they get accustomed to being in a clip. I like to keep them in a German clip.


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