# First full groom // miniature poodle



## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

You can schedule a full groom ASAP, if you want. Buck came to us with several FTT’s and baths under his belt. I waited until his vaccinations were done and then off to the groomer he went and ever after. I don’t understand why you would wait for coat change for a full groom when you can stay ahead of the mats and tangles with one.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Grooming a poodle does not damage the coat. Do it now, while your dog is still young, so he can become used to it. Nothing worse than a poodle who doesn’t tolerate grooming.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

We're always puzzled when we hear members reporting that the groomer says that the adult coat would be damaged by grooming the puppy coat.

It's just not true.

As Mfmst said, you really don't want to go thru the matting of coat change with unnecessarily long fur, That's a nightmare.

As Dechi said, it's so important for a poodle to get used to full grooming early in their lives. The longer you wait, the harder it is for them to accept it. 

Whoever ends up doing the lifelong grooming will probably throw you a party for making the process easier for your pup, and by extension, for the groomer.


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## Vee (Mar 2, 2018)

He's very cute! I love reds in teddy trims.

Not grooming can be more damaging to the coat, especially if it gets Matted. Trimming the coat keeps the coat stronger and it's better for the dog to learn how to be fully groomed at a young age. That was bad advise! Only breeds with double coats are damaged when clipped. I starting to trim divas coat at 12 weeks. 
The dog on the right is a doodle it does have a good finish though. you wont have a problem getting a good finish on your dog but it depends on the groomer. Good scissors, good scissoring technique and of course a good fluff dry will achieve the best results. I've worked with groomers that don't fluff dry poodles! so they don't have a good even finish so you may want to check yours will fluff dry.


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## Mysticrealm (Jan 31, 2016)

There is absolutely zero reason to wait. You could have done a full groom shave down at 8 weeks old and not have damaged any coat. I’d honestly be very worried about my breeders education if she’s saying that you have to wait like that.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Our groomer, who I adore, has also advised against doing any body clips until Peggy's adult coat is in. So this is upsetting to me! I want to trust her.....

She does see Peggy once a month for sanitary, face, and paws, and to build a relationship with her/get her comfortable with the grooming process. And oh boy is it ever working! Peggy loves her.


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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Our groomer, who I adore, has also advised against doing any body clips until Peggy's adult coat is in. So this is upsetting to me! I want to trust her.....
> 
> She does see Peggy once a month for sanitary, face, and paws, and to build a relationship with her/get her comfortable with the grooming process. And oh boy is it ever working! Peggy loves her.


She may be saying that because it's more difficult to work with the soft puppy coat, especially with the legs. But I've been giving Misha full body trims every 2-4 weeks since 12 weeks and at 7 months his coat is getting much easier to work with. I don't know that I'd trust a groomer who says that either. You might ask why and see what she says.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Raindrops said:


> PeggyTheParti said:
> 
> 
> > Our groomer, who I adore, has also advised against doing any body clips until Peggy's adult coat is in. So this is upsetting to me! I want to trust her.....
> ...


She says it damages the texture of the coat and, if I understood her correctly, makes it harder to manage when the adult coat starts growing in. Not quite right, I guess?

To be fair, I DO adore Peggy's puppy fluff. And I know it'll be a distant memory before we know it. 

She's getting loads of exposure to the sights, sounds, smells, and tediousness of grooming with her monthly 90-minute appointments.


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## Vee (Mar 2, 2018)

Top show dog owner/groomers scissor their dogs coats very early and often if it damaged the coat they certainly wouldn't be doing it. It certainly doesn't damage the coat. I was never taught this when training and my tutor also owned poodles.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

Pup go for it, take him to a groomer now or you will have a nightmare on your hands, he won't know how to behave and he will mat up. It doesn't damage the coat.


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## Mysticrealm (Jan 31, 2016)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Our groomer, who I adore, has also advised against doing any body clips until Peggy's adult coat is in. So this is upsetting to me! I want to trust her.....
> 
> She does see Peggy once a month for sanitary, face, and paws, and to build a relationship with her/get her comfortable with the grooming process. And oh boy is it ever working! Peggy loves her.


Puppy coat change can start at 9ish months and last till 18+ months old. I honestly don’t know anyone that could maintain an entire dog with 18 months of growth ESPECIALLY during coat change where dogs can matt within days. Even show dogs only keep that much growth on their topknots and necks and they are bathed, dried, brushed, and banded/wrapped weekly or sometimes even more often during coat change. 
What’s gonna damage the coat (but not permanently, nothing you do during grooming as long as you don’t somehow damage the skin by burning it or something will permanently damage the coat, the damage parts will just need to grow out to be cut off ) is constantly dematting a dog to try to maintain a year plus worth of growth through coat change and that dematting that damages the coat will encourage more matting creating more damage. This will also make the dog hate grooming. 
Some old school poodle people even shave their 8 week old puppies ‘bald’ cause they believe it improves texture!


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Mysticrealm said:


> PeggyTheParti said:
> 
> 
> > Our groomer, who I adore, has also advised against doing any body clips until Peggy's adult coat is in. So this is upsetting to me! I want to trust her.....
> ...


It didn't make a whole lot of sense to us, but I've just been so grateful for this groomer. Didn't want to make a fuss. Thank you (and to everyone else!) for your insight.

At Peggy's December appointment, I'm going to say it's time. Her coat looks gorgeous for a few days after grooming, but it's already too much for us to maintain properly. The upside is it forces us to keep working with her on brushing.


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

I would want my poo to have had a full groom before ever taking it home the first time! This makes no sense. How can it affect their coat? The biggest problem would be if they were not later able to tolerate being groomed in my mind.


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## Johanna (Jun 21, 2017)

Clipping and scissoring does not damage the coat! I am amazed that anyone thinks that. Any puppy who is not being shown in conformation is better off clipped short - really short - maybe 1/2 inch of body coat. That will be easy to keep free of mats. Topknot, tail, and bracelets (if used) are, of course, longer.

Those of us who show in conformation can hardly wait to put a puppy into an adult clip because the puppy clip is so much more work.

And all the people who mentioned that poodles who are groomed regularly from the time they are 4 or 5 weeks old are much less upset by being groomed - good for you! That's absolutely true.

Little babies need to have only face/feet/tail clipped and nails clipped/ground. Once the body coat is over an inch long it can be cut back. Many show puppies have their body coat cut back severely at about 3 months of age - sometimes that results in better coat texture. I've not tried it myself.


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## Carolinek (Apr 2, 2014)

I’ve also been told it’s best to groom early and often. Your breeder must be mis-informed. 

Gracie has a beautiful, thick coat and has been regularly groomed since she was 6 weeks old or so. Still has a soft puppy coat.


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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

PeggyTheParti said:


> She says it damages the texture of the coat and, if I understood her correctly, makes it harder to manage when the adult coat starts growing in. Not quite right, I guess?
> 
> To be fair, I DO adore Peggy's puppy fluff. And I know it'll be a distant memory before we know it.
> 
> She's getting loads of exposure to the sights, sounds, smells, and tediousness of grooming with her monthly 90-minute appointments.


Hmm. I do know that it is sort of easier to trim a lot off at once than it is to just trim a little. You get a more even cut because it gets picked up better by the comb. Other than that I'm not sure there are valid reasons. I have only experienced increasingly easy grooms as my pup's coat grows in and the texture is improving. Still soft but getting much denser. It likely is just something she has never experienced but avoids because of misinformation.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Raindrops said:


> PeggyTheParti said:
> 
> 
> > She says it damages the texture of the coat and, if I understood her correctly, makes it harder to manage when the adult coat starts growing in. Not quite right, I guess?
> ...


I'm hoping to surprise my husband just before Christmas with a full body clip. 

For Peggy not for him! ?

Our groomer seems to be coming around to the idea, and as long as Peggy still has her nice clean feet and face, I'm okay with saying farewell to some of the fluff. But I'll sure miss it.

I'm forever fighting puppy fever, even when I'm in the thick of raising one. And that sweet puppy fluff is going to be calling my name.


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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

PeggyTheParti said:


> I'm hoping to surprise my husband just before Christmas with a full body clip.
> 
> For Peggy not for him! ?
> 
> ...


Haha I thought I felt that way too until I cut it short one time and loved it. It is so much easier to brush and dry and it shows off their beautiful athletic bodies. I enjoy growing it out to a point as well though. But recently the tk got trimmed way back because I just could not deal with brushing it out anymore. Once it's frustrating to both me and the dog it's not worth it. I'm sure both Peggy and your husband will love how athletic she looks with a clip!


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

Anyone who would recommend to not groom at a very young age is very inexperienced. Are you sure they really have experience? I only deal with both breeders and groomers with a lot of experience. None of them would ever suggest what was recommended to you.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

kontiki said:


> Anyone who would recommend to not groom at a very young age is very inexperienced. Are you sure they really have experience? I only deal with both breeders and groomers with a lot of experience. None of them would ever suggest what was recommended to you.


Not sure if that was directed to me? But yes - she's experienced, super passionate, and continually expanding her education. She runs a busy grooming business that is enthusiastically recommended by fellow poodle owners in our community (as well as our trainer), and she has the best dog handling skills of any groomer I've encountered in the past 20 years (which is why I'll absolutely continue to use her, despite this one bit of questionable advice). 

I've seen the issue debated enough times online to know that there must be a reason for her to have made the recommendation she did, even if it's ultimately misguided. 

Plus, she's adamant about shaving feet, face, and sanitary. It's not like she said to hold off on all grooming. She insists on seeing Peggy every four weeks for her first year, for increasingly detailed sessions. We're currently at about 90 minutes.

We've got a more old school groomer in town that I originally reached out to (also highly recommended) and she wanted to do a 3-hour appointment right from the start. Peggy would have fallen to pieces.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Raindrops said:


> PeggyTheParti said:
> 
> 
> > I'm hoping to surprise my husband just before Christmas with a full body clip.
> ...


I can't wait to see what she looks like under there! The first face shave was such a shock. I tell her she looks like Big Bird. ?


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. My breeder, a top show dog breeder, highly sought after professional handler (for 50 years) and picky, picky, picky the whole time we were showing Matisse (together) about his hair (don't do this, do this, don't use that brush, use this groomer or that one, not that other one... yada yada) started grooming Matisse and_ all _his puppies when they were about 4 weeks of age. Full groom. No doubt, he took a token amount off the jacket because you want that to grow out for conformation. But if anything, it would improve the coat because you're not apt to get as many split ends and other forms of breakage when the hair is trimmed.

Here's baby Matisse. See how he's already becoming accustomed to being groomed in every way.



Puppies need to learn very young that grooming is a pleasant and non-frightening experience. If it is put off till later, you'll have a very hard time.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

PB, I could look at a whole thread of baby Matisse photos. I just LOVE him!!


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