# A standard Poodle Owner spends about 10 hours a week on grooming



## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

I read the other day the most Spoo owners spend 10 hours per week on grooming. I wondered if you guys think that is about right? I have two and I do something everyday! I have never kept my eye on the clock, but that got me wondering what I do spend and I am thinking about keeping up with it. But do I really want to know! That is the question. lol Has anyone ever kept up with their time? How much time to you guessimate that you spend per week, or day ect. I keep my dogs coat in a easy to care for cut and it is still a lot of time. I do let mine be "real " dogs. They get playtime outside , off leash everyday ect.


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

Is that including bathing and clipping? Yeah, with 2 spoos, you probably don't want to keep track of all the time you spend grooming, LOL. I have a mpoo, and I think I spend about spend about 4 hrs per week for brushing/combing/teeth brushing. About every other week I will bathe her, so that adds some more time too.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

That seems a bit high...I don't spend 10 hours on my two a week. But I do break it up a lot, like clip nails one night, do ears another night, and baths and grooming which takes a couple of hours (for both) on Saturdays. But even with daily brushing/teeth brushing, I wouldn't think it takes 10 hours. Maybe the article was talking about maintaining a show coat?


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

It depends on how long they are and if it's bath and blowdry week, but maybe 10 hours when you have a show dog?


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## Ms Stella (Aug 16, 2010)

I have one in a show coat and one in a lamb like cut..it takes about 3 hrs for the bath, blow dry and brushing each week for one and 30 minutes every other day for brushing and blowing out again..so thats 4.5 hrs and then there is time for nails, ears, rebanding hair..Id say about 15 minutes a day..so 1.5 more hrs..now we are up to 6 hrs per week..I shave Madonna about every week...1 hr more....So Madonna takes about 7 hrs a week Stella takes about 1 hr to wash dry each week.. and if I am going to scissor work that adds about an hour for Stella and 2 hrs for Madonna...but I only do that every other week..I guess that puts me up to 8 hours one week and 10 hours the next week when I have to scissor and do Stella's FFT along with Madonna's shaving and tidying up..whew!


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## mom24doggies (Mar 28, 2011)

I think it depends on the clip, like Ms Stella said. A short clip isn't going to take much time in maintenance where as a long or show clip may very well take more than 10 hrs.


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

I don't do 10 hours per week. But I do have to do something everyday for both of them . I would guess I spend at least 5 hours a week. My girls have short coats, but just keeping the tk, ears and tails mat free takes alot of time. Then then there is the weekly ear cleaning and nail grinding .I clip them at least every 2 weeks. Baths come every 3 weeks for my Blue and every 2 weeks for my Cream. I don't blow dry very often. It does take alot of time even with a short coats, can't imagine keeping up a show coat... hats off to you guys that do!


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## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

Lets see, it takes me about 30 minuets to drive round trip to the groomers, another 30 minutes for drop off and pick up while we stand around and chat. So, nope, only about two hours every five weeks!  I don't bath or groom Lexi but I do spend about two-three hours a week, brushing and cleaning ears. I admire the ones who groom their own dogs. The idea of getting clippers near a dogs face just plain out scares me.


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

I agree with you katbrat, I'm terrified to shave F/F/T. LOL at your time analysis. you could cut down that time by finding a mobile groomer to come to your house.


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## flyingpoodle (Feb 5, 2012)

I saw the 10 hours somewhere for SHOW coat. I love to fuss over grooming but I can't usually get it over 5 hours a week even with bath, blow dry, fft, clipping, etc. and some weeks it is half hour.


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

katbrat said:


> Lets see, it takes me about 30 minuets to drive round trip to the groomers, another 30 minutes for drop off and pick up while we stand around and chat. So, nope, only about two hours every five weeks!  I don't bath or groom Lexi but I do spend about two-three hours a week, brushing and cleaning ears. I admire the ones who groom their own dogs. The idea of getting clippers near a dogs face just plain out scares me.


You just perfectly described how I deal with grooming Beau, except we do it every three to four weeks. I have nothing but respect for those of you who groom your own dog(s), but I'm also glad to know I'm not the only who "contracts out" the work to a pro!


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

If you guys would start a grooming fund for me, I'd love to hire a pro!!! lol I learned to do it myself because I am too cheap to hire someone. I have to say that I didn't find it to be hard. I was scared when I first tried the clippers, but now I am fast and don't think a thing about it. I do keep them in a easy to do coat. For anyone thinking about learning to do their own dog, I encourage them to try it. It is not nearly as hard as you think.


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

I'd say I spend on average an hour or two a week. 

I keep Kohl in a short retriever clip, though, so the time really varies. One week all I'll do is clean ears, trim nails, and brush (which takes no time at all with his coat so short), and the next I'll spend several hours with a bath, blow dry, brush, touch-up face/feet/sanitary and the usual ears and nails treatment. Then there are the 'trip to the groomer' weeks when I _should_ be doing nothing, but in actuality usually end up doing nails and ears anyway.


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## MaryLynn (Sep 8, 2012)

I think right now I am probably spending somewhere closer to 3 hours a week, every other week I bath and dry him myself, otherwise I am just doing some light brushing and the occasional spot cleans throughout the week. Of course ears, teeth, and nails as needed.

I plan on learning to clip him myself once he settles with being clipped more with our groomer. He is really nosy about the clippers, even treat distractions don't work he is more focused on trying to eat the hair coming off of him. 

I don't want to learn to clip on a moving target haha!


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## Sawyersmomma (May 28, 2012)

I spend about 30 mins a day brushing Sawyer out. Then once every 1 or two weeks I probably spend an hour and a half bathing/drying him. I normally just do a quick blow dry, and let ti mostly dry on it's own though.
I'm growing out his coat and he's still going through a coat change so matts keep popping up no matter how many times I brush him


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## katbrat (May 8, 2011)

I "joke" all the time with dh that the only reason I don't have another spoo is I can't afford the grooming bill for two, otherwise I'd be batting my baby browns at him and we would be picking out a friend for Lexi.  Lord help him if I ever get up the nerve to try grooming myself!


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## Doggroomer812 (May 4, 2011)

*grooming time*

Well, Jack is in a HHC... slowly growing out to a continental with full sprayup. Most weeks we bathe/dry/FFT which is about 2.5-3 hours. When I am getting ready for a show, and have to do all the shaving and scissoring too, it takes about 4-5 hours... And I'm a groomer! lmao. I don't do any brushing during the week, as I loathe brushing dirty hair, lol... so I only work on him once a week, or twice if he rolls in the mud


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

katbrat said:


> I "joke" all the time with dh that the only reason I don't have another spoo is I can't afford the grooming bill for two, otherwise I'd be batting my baby browns at him and we would be picking out a friend for Lexi.  Lord help him if I ever get up the nerve to try grooming myself!


I'm with you katbrat. If I could afford it (and most of the cost is grooming) I think I'd have another mpoo. But too $$$ to keep two dogs groomed.


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## ar22dp (Oct 19, 2011)

We give our spoo a brush and fix his ears/claws twice a month, and every month he gets his nose/paws trimmed and a bath.

In the winter time we only cut his coat two times(keeping it longer for the cold) and in the summer i give him a short cut every second month(#5 blade).

On average i would guess that i spend about an hour per week.


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

I think that number is a bit high for the pet owner. Show dog yes I could see 10hrs a week. I have 2 Poo's & I just took Leif down because he was just too long & mats were forming at the 2 week mark. I don't brush him in between, I do everything at once. So, every 2 wks about 3 hours include scissoring down. My OT I do run a comb through her most days & a weekly bath so maybe 1 1/2 hrs a week, include HV drying & some scissor work. We will be gettin our 3rd Poodle next week a Toy but she will be our UKC conformation show dog so I expect the same care as my other 2. Even now with 2 Poodles it is nowhere near 10hrs weekly.


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## BigRedDog (Mar 2, 2011)

lol....no..I can't imagine ten hours a week with all my other responsibilities. My dog gets brushed throughly every other day. That only takes about 20 minutes tops.
Bathed and fluff dried every two weeks and groomed about once a month. The full grooming is time consuming and takes a couple of hours (minimum) because I scissor finish her.


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## msminnamouse (Nov 4, 2010)

Definably not so for me, which is why I guess I usually keep them in short, easy to manage pet clips. I do brush teeth every day though. I _should_ be brushing the coats every day to help distribute sebum.


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