# Cording poodles



## Servicepoodlemomma (Jun 22, 2013)

I have seen some beautiful corded poodles and am tempted to try this with Dezba. How does one start and maintain the cords? How do you keep the dog clean and free of debree? Love the look, so just trying to learn what it would take to try it. 

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## CelebrityPoochesUSA (Nov 28, 2013)

I'm am so glad someone has asked this. I have been thinking about doing it down the line. 


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

I would be really worried about keeping the skin clean - poodles are so prone to bacterial and yeast infections on their skin....


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## Servicepoodlemomma (Jun 22, 2013)

Tiny Poodles said:


> I would be really worried about keeping the skin clean - poodles are so prone to bacterial and yeast infections on their skin....


Ya, that was one of my concerns. I known there are ways to keep a corded dog clean but I have no idea how to do it. 

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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Servicepoodlemomma said:


> Ya, that was one of my concerns. I known there are ways to keep a corded dog clean but I have no idea how to do it.
> 
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Well, I would love to hear from somebody who is currently doing it - from what I have read, you don't bath them often because it takes days for them to dry - which just seems like a recipe for skin problems to me. Of course, I am sure that there are some dogs who could tolerate it without problems, but I think that the majority could not.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

It is pretty difficult to do. It takes a lot of work and a lot of patience. Here is a link to a website that has some good info. I borrowed the kindle addition of the book and was pretty disappointed as all the info in it was stuff I already knew. But if you have no prior knowledge to cording it would be a good book to start off with. 
http://www.cordedpoodle.net
Basically cording is just controlled matting. Bathing only is how you start out(air or cage drying only and no brushing). I would still bathe on a regular basis to avoid the skin problems and smelling. Checking the coat every day and taking out any debris is a must. One lady I worked with kept her corded poodle in a lavender oil mixture to keep her smelling good. Once the cords start to form they must be dried completely to avoid mildew growth this can take up to 4 hours to do since you can't use a velocity dryer. In the book he talks about bathing the dogs in a mild bleach water to avoid mildew growth. 
Some poodles just don't have the coat that is needed to cord, so keep that in mind also. My Branna has a very soft straight coat in a lot of areas so she never corded properly even though I tried very hard to get her to.
Hope the link helps you a bit. It definitely helped me realize Branna was never going to be able to have a corded coat. 


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

It can take up to two years for an ADULT coat to cord. As stated it is basically controlled matting. You can also look at websites for Spanish Water Dogs, Pulik, Komondrok, or other corded breeds for information. I forget which group it is on Facebook but there is one with a file on cording coats. 

I have thought about possibly cording Jazz topknot and maybe her tail while keeping her body coat in a brushed clip. I have seen a few like that and they are cute plus it limits the amount of eww looking mats that are the start of cording a dog.


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## Anntig (Jun 9, 2010)

Cording's not really that hard to do, it just requires time and a lot of patience, the hardest part is setting the cords, for the first 6-8 months they're a matted mess and you have to be really dedicated to get them to form properly after that it's easy as, and requires minimal maintenance.

Zeph gets bathed once a month, I shampoo her -squeezing the soapy water through her cords rather than scrubbing, rinse and then rinse again with diluted acv to help her dry faster and cut down the risk of mould in the cords wrap her in absorbers and then stick her in the crate to dry for a couple of hours with the cage dryer (improvised version- Hv no nozzle and two fans) I usually wring out and rewrap her a couple of times during this, then when she's only slightly damp I take her out clip her and separate the cords, in summer I do it in the sun in winter in front of the fire, generally by the time I'm finished she's almost completely dry.

Aside from that the only maintenance required is separating the cords once a week or so which can be done quite easily when you're watching tv or just having quality time.
Overall I'd say it's far less work than maintaining a continental type clip you just have to be really willing to put up with that first 6-8 months of neglected dog look.

if you put corded or cording into the search bar you will find multiple threads from the last couple of years on this topic including the ones from Faerie and myself when we first started the process.


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## villavilla (Jul 30, 2013)

I have two standard poodles in cords. They have corded coats but are cut in continental clip and go to dog shows. I absolutely prefer cords to a "straight" coat because I am too lazy to brush (and wash) the dog once a week and because I like going to dog shows my poodles "need" a longer coat. Now my older corded poodle (male, 12 years old, has had cords since autumn 2008) haven't been bathed for - do I dare to say - almost three months. And he doesn't smell, if you think so. His cords are absolutely "ready" so there is no work to do in daily (or weekly) basis in his coat. Sometimes I just have to separate the cords with my fingers from each other in the bottom, near skin, though, especially because he wears a coat when we go out (because of his age and because we here in Northern Finland already have minus Celsius grades) and that makes that the cords fasten to each other.

How to start then? Just wash your poodle and let the coat be unbrushed. When I have washed my poodle, I first use a towel made of micro fibre or something like that and squeeze as much water out of coat as I can then I blow my poodles dry with a dog dryer. So you can blow it dry with a dog dryer (I have a Metro) but you are not supposed to do that as thoroughly as you do when drying a poodle with a "straight" coat. Just blow the water out of the coat, not straighten the coat. I always blow my corded ones after the bath! That way they are totally dry in 24 hours. You can also use a cage dryer as anntig wrote but since my older one doesn't like it, I prefer a regular dog dryer. Then when the coat matts you are supposed to work the coat with your fingers: separate cords from each other by tearing (don't know if that is the right word) them apart. If you can't do it with you fingers, then you can use scissors to make it easier. This video shows how to work on the coat 




A corded poodle can be bathed / washed as often as you want. It may be more demanding to get it dry but as told above with blowing I get mine dry in a decent time.

As told above my older one has had cords for several years. I started with him at a very short coat, a centimeter or two. The younger one (older's daughter, 2 years and 5 months at the time) had had cords 10 months as she received her first Finnish CAC in a dog show. Now she has two (three are required to get a title, Finnish Champion). So I am proud of my little girl  I started cording her when she was 13 months, before that she went to dog shows in a "straight" coat, so she had a long coat previously.

I've learned tricks of cording from my younger one's breeder who has (had) pumis and have a komondor as well. She has taught me mainly via mail, so this is no kind of science 

Corded poodles in Finnish Poodle Speciality in year 2012 (my older one is second form the left and the brown one is the mother of my younger)









Two pictures of my older corded poodle, both taken in dog shows year 2012 when he was 11 years old. Unfortunately the pictures are not of best quality


















On my blogg I've set pictures of my younger corded poodle getting to look more like a poodle, after having grown cords in her all body for nine months. If you press the tag corded-poodles on the right you'll find even more pictures of my corded ones.


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