# Poodles High Maintenance? NO!!! :)



## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

As pet owners and show pet owners what do you feel are the highest maintenance thing's you need to do to keep up with your poodles coats or overall cleanliness? I really love ours but it is much more work than I think people antisipate. 
Honestly both my BF and I work FT and we are in poodle world once we come home - no complaining here but sometimes I wonder if there are easier ways of doing things


----------



## mandi (May 13, 2009)

I hear you! I think 2 things that are helpful is to brush very often so the tangles don't become so time-consuming....and am finding when it is rainy that I have to keep a small wash bin with towels at the back door as Paulie just loves to get into mud...then I have to stop everything and vacuum and mop the entrie kitchen...so an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure as they say!


----------



## KPoos (Aug 29, 2009)

I don't know why I don't find Harry to be all that time consuming. I mean when I groom him yes but I keep him pretty short and he's good to go. He doesn't really matt and I don't need to bathe him really often so it all gets done when he gets groomed by me. What are you talking about having to do with your poodles?


----------



## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

Umm I spent three hours this week just washing, drying and re-banding Delilah's show coat. I'd call that high maintenance!


----------



## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

KPoos said:


> I don't know why I don't find Harry to be all that time consuming. I mean when I groom him yes but I keep him pretty short and he's good to go. He doesn't really matt and I don't need to bathe him really often so it all gets done when he gets groomed by me. What are you talking about having to do with your poodles?


I mentioned overall cleanliness as well.  

Mine seems to drag SO much dirt in. I am a clean freak......hwell: Olie being a pup is always playing and he tends to grab with his mouth on Suri's ears, neck and tail - it's never gotten rough but I'm constantly combing her and she does get tangles in her hair so I am looking at products for that now. Also when they eat, drink it can get messy.....

They will do zoomies in the yard after they poop and sometimes I cant get to it fast enough and you can imagine that.........so bathing some weeks is more than once. So therefore oyu dont want to dry their skin SO then I switch up products and so on.........That might have been to much info but I know I am not alone so wanted to see how others handled someof their HM issues. OK?


----------



## Birdie (Jun 28, 2009)

I don't consider him high maintenance since I WANTED a dog that I could spend hours grooming, so when people ask if it's hard to take care of his coat, I don't know what to say! lol, I love it, but it's probably too much for a lot of people.


----------



## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Birdie said:


> I don't consider him high maintenance since I WANTED a dog that I could spend hours grooming, so when people ask if it's hard to take care of his coat, I don't know what to say! lol, I love it, but it's probably too much for a lot of people.


Lol, we wanted ours as well, dont want to mislead I can also afford to groom away from home but I like doing it. I just wonder if there are easier ways, products or systems people use - NOT just for grooming but cleanliness, you know.


----------



## sprngrdn (Sep 17, 2009)

Ollie,

I think I understand what you mean, I have 4 small mini/toys and they are a handful. We just got two feet of snow here in Jersey and then it began melting = mud. My kitchen is a mess. I keep doggie wipes and a very large towel next to my kitchen door, and every time they come back in -they know to stand on the large rug until mom wipes their feet. For the most part this helps to control the chaos, but sometimes they are too excited and take off before I can grab them. I use a groomer - unfortunately I have no idea how to groom and I am too fearful of hurting them. I really wish I was more educated PRIOR to getting my dogs. I am learning so much from reading this site!!!! THANK-YOU EVERYONE!!!


----------



## KPoos (Aug 29, 2009)

Ollie shave their ears down. That was one of the best things I've ever done. Harry's matting problems when he was changing coat were never in the ears but shaving his ears has helped keep him cleaner. I can't let mine out in the yard STILL! It's so annoying because I know he wants to go to his yard so that's probably why they stay so clean. I have to take him out in the front on a leash to potty. Mia is still young so she stays right with me when she potties and doesn't get dirty. We are talking once every 2 weeks for a bath because they just do not smell or get dirty and I swear I only brush them once a week and they don't matt. Again though we don't go to dog parks and stuff for them to get dirty. I'm sure things will change when the yard is put back together and they can go out and enjoy it.


----------



## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

sprngrdn said:


> Ollie,
> 
> I think I understand what you mean, I have 4 small mini/toys and they are a handful. We just got two feet of snow here in Jersey and then it began melting = mud. My kitchen is a mess. I keep doggie wipes and a very large towel next to my kitchen door, and every time they come back in -they know to stand on the large rug until mom wipes their feet. For the most part this helps to control the chaos, but sometimes they are too excited and take off before I can grab them. I use a groomer - unfortunately I have no idea how to groom and I am too fearful of hurting them. I really wish I was more educated PRIOR to getting my dogs. I am learning so much from reading this site!!!! THANK-YOU EVERYONE!!!


See, I need to get creative with my training......we still have some work I like the wait on the rug thats a good idea.


----------



## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

KPoos said:


> Ollie shave their ears down. That was one of the best things I've ever done. Harry's matting problems when he was changing coat were never in the ears but shaving his ears has helped keep him cleaner. I can't let mine out in the yard STILL! It's so annoying because I know he wants to go to his yard so that's probably why they stay so clean. I have to take him out in the front on a leash to potty. Mia is still young so she stays right with me when she potties and doesn't get dirty. We are talking once every 2 weeks for a bath because they just do not smell or get dirty and I swear I only brush them once a week and they don't matt. Again though we don't go to dog parks and stuff for them to get dirty. I'm sure things will change when the yard is put back together and they can go out and enjoy it.


Exactly my BF is still complaining of the obstacles we have run into of getting the new fence in! The economy is bad and people dont seem to want work, and then when you have HOA's and want to change anything.....so that has increased the dirt. I would have to get the go ahead from Olie's Dad on the ears...But Suri I have been looking at doing in bands from time to time and honestly I love to see the top knot grown and the pin in the front where it lays back - she's not showing anymore......but you never know. Thanks!


----------



## KPoos (Aug 29, 2009)

The problem with more than one dog is that they do chew on each other and the slobber matts up the hair if it's long. If I don't end up showing Mia I'll shave off her ears. Show Ollie's dad the picture of Harry with his ears shaved (you can also scissor them instead of shave them all the way off) so that he can see how much easier it is to care for them and maybe that will sway him.

Yeah our yard has issues because of the slant of it. I think that the neighbor's yards slant into ours causing water to just stand in the middle of ours. That sucks for us because now we have to pay for a truck load of dirt to raise it and slant it so that the water will flow away from the yard and out into the street in the front and then put sod down. It's an expensive project and one that's going to require additional men to help dh fix. That also requires our yard NOT to have standing water and for my dh to have time off. So we are looking into the new year and obviously we want the sod to have a chance to grow so we have to put that down when it's the appropriate season. For now we do what we can but it still sucks that our backyard is basically not usable for any of us.


----------



## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

I only brush Paris every week or so, she's never matted, but can be tangled by then with her coat length! I wipe feet in winter, and the water bowl lives outside now due to the slopping of water everywhere by a certain big fluffy dog.... I bath her whenever I get around to it and want to, which can be a month, or can be a week, I do rinse her legs down if they're muddy in winter too though.


----------



## KPoos (Aug 29, 2009)

What's with the sloppy water drinking? If I could keep it outside I would. I'm considering letting them get their water in the garage. It's bad because we have all tile and my 2 year old slipped and really hurt herself on dog water on the floor that I had missed. Most of the time I go right behind them with a paper towel to clean up but when you miss it someone is going to slip.


----------



## redcricket (Dec 5, 2009)

Funny that you mention the sloppy drinking! Last night I stepped right in a big ole puddle from Cricket drinking, and I hopped right on the computer to look up heated dog bowls. They have some pretty reasonably priced ones out there that I am thinking of getting for my deck. I usually have her water bowl outside in spring, summer and fall, but come winter I have to put it back inside, because it freezes up. I already am tired of wiping up water puddles!! LOL!


----------



## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

KPoos said:


> What's with the sloppy water drinking? If I could keep it outside I would. I'm considering letting them get their water in the garage. It's bad because we have all tile and my 2 year old slipped and really hurt herself on dog water on the floor that I had missed. Most of the time I go right behind them with a paper towel to clean up but when you miss it someone is going to slip.


I had a ton of poddy pads left so I have been using those as a carpet so to speak. Suri has a habit of drinking and coming right to me and laying her head on me, ok I love but its kinda gross..........


----------



## mandi (May 13, 2009)

Paulie likes to sometimes put a foot into his water bowl in the kitchen so even if it is not muddy outside, he will now have muddy footprints to track around the kitchen for me:doh:


----------



## spoospirit (Mar 10, 2009)

cbrand said:


> Umm I spent three hours this week just washing, drying and re-banding Delilah's show coat. I'd call that high maintenance!



_Same here....three hours on Billy and two hours on Taffy. But, that's the world of the show coat maintenance. Let me see.....wash to stip out products, re-wash with a good shampoo, rub in leave-in conditioner if not showing. Up on the table for blow dry with high-speed dryer (takes longer than you may think) then fluff up with warm air dryer. Ears take forever to dry!! Speaking of ears, pull hair and clean well with cotton ball and ear cleaner and dry well!. Shave, shave, shave. Eyeball from every direction including from above to make sure both sides are even. Can't have an uneven dog running around. It might walk into a wall.  Pull up that coat and clip, clip, clip to shape. Eyeball for all directions again. If I find a knot, work it out gently trying not to break coat. Dremmel those nails. Part hair and band sections; then band sections together. Voila! Three hours, and one broken back later, a finished poodle....for a week or so anyway! I think I'll take a nap now...LOL
_


----------



## Mercury's Mom (Dec 6, 2009)

If you have a blower it really helps to blow them out on the porch, in the mud room etc before being let in the house. It blows out dust, weeds, and so on in dry weather and obviously dries them in wet weather. I swear it helps keep the house cleaner and their coat from getting as easily knotted. I have a completely dirt yard in the front so its a great thing to know. I read it somewhere on here a while back although Im not sure who suggested it.

I love my spoos a bit fuzzy and with long ears but they have gotten used to getting brushed quickly before bed every night and I basically just run the brush through them from head to toe and it takes about 5min each dog. Of course they are still fairly young so we'll see how much that changes when their coat changes and they actually grow long ear fringe. 

As for the drooling after drinking part, nothing compares to how much my shar pei does that so I have just had to get used to keeping a towl under the water bowl. It helps a little anyway. When my old spoo had super long ear hair I would actually pull his ears back behind his head and have him wear them as a pony tail, losely though as I would never put the band around his ear leather, but around his actual fringe. Funny looking but helpful. He never seemed to notice. These two don't seem to be water lovers like he was and haven't cought them trying to paw in their water bowl like he would so that is a blessing. 

Honestly, my kids drag more of the outside in with them than the dogs do even though we all take our shoes off before entering. My middle boy is autistic so whenever he is outside he lays down which means his hair (which is down past his rear) comes in full if sticks, weeds, etc and the blower really helps with him as well. It pretty funny, the poodle boys and my 9yr old line up to be blown before they can come in. Sometimes my other kids want the treatment as well.


----------



## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Funny, I set our blower out on the sunporch last night which is where they come in. So we will see if this helps.


----------



## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

yup, I don't have a blower at home, but I frequently 'cheat' and just blow paris' coat out to 'make do' until I can get around to bathing her. It makes a big difference to how clean she looks!!


----------



## bigpoodleperson (Jul 14, 2009)

Hmmm, i dont have that much problem with keeping Riley clean. Our yard is not dirty. We have grass and then a long area of natural grass/weeds. He loves going in there, but in the summer nothing gets on him, and we cut it down in the fall. He is a pretty clean dog. 

I dont brush/bathe him as often as i should, but he is never truely matted (because of his tick coat he almost starts to get dredlocks instead of mats). As Kpoos said, shaving his ears helped alot!! I Love having his ears shaved for many reasons! It also helps him look cleaner for longer. I have tons of pics of if your BF wants to see (he is light colored like Ollie). 

If we go hiking and his coat is long when he will pick up all the burrs/stickers. If his legs are shorter then we do very well. I find that the thing that gets him dirty the most and makes him smell is the slobber from other dogs. We dont go to the DP often because of that. He gets sticky and smelly.


----------



## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Our Dog Park has pretty great dogs and owners so I don't have an issue there and when its rainy and muddy hey that's my problem I cannot complain on that one MY FAULT! We went today I have a video waiting on that now. My problem which I am slowly solving is right now dead grass in the yard = in paws and tracked in and the way its been raining here has caused LOTs of extra work and bath's. So I now have a blower on the porch, the wipes at the door and a towel and getting the rugs this weekend. I like the idea of the tray for them to step into so I need to get one of those too.


----------

