# How Long To Clip Your Poodle



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I am new at grooming and I have a toy. I takes me about 1 1/2 hour to brush, wash and dry. I guess maybe 30-50 minutes depending if I adjust body length or just do FFT. If you add teeth brushing and ear plucking, then add 15 minutes. So total about 2 1/2 a 3 hours. I don't do it all at once. I split it over two days.

It costs me 35$ for grooming, but no bath and drying, no nails, no ear plucking. It's a professional show groomer, so she clips and scissors in any trim I want.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

$55.00 for a full groom for my toy. Simple puff balls above feet, fluffy ears and Pom the rest close cut.


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## snmim (Sep 7, 2015)

It is $70 to do a spoo in my area. My groomer does a great job grooming my standard except I would do a few things differently. For ex. she doesn't create the "v" on her tail set or trim the hair shorter around her shaved neck line. But those are all little things and she does a good job scissoring and follows all of my directions. She also has 3 spoos of her own and a toy! The shop only uses force dryers. I don't have to worry about anyone chopping off her top knot there (which happened with a different groomer); they put her in pretty bows and place her in an extra large cage as to not ruin her hair.

I hope very, very soon all my supplies for grooming will come in and I can start grooming Mira myself. Mira is perfect with grooming and stands like a statue but I am a perfectionist and if I intend to do a full grooming job on Mira, I think it will take me at least half a day!! I'm new to grooming and I'll have to brush all of that long hair, bathe, force dry, clip, and finally scissor. I want to put her in a modern clip or maybe even a show puppy clip.

Some groomers do charge extra without doing much work. The last groomer I went to charged my 16 week old standard $50 for bath, blow dry, fft. The shaved areas were done horribly and she chopped up the top knot. Even though she was a puppy, I know she stays very still so I could have done that at home with much better results and no money. I had to tell her to do the feet again because they were hardly shaved while I watched and Mira stayed very still, so no excuses! It takes some looking around to find a groomer that has good communication with you and does what you ask.


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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

It cost me 55 for 7 pound and my 3 pound, using a 7 on the body and pom-poms and tknot. the only scissoring is the pom-poms and tknot, and I think that is high for my size dogs and going once a month


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

It takes me around two hours to groom Poppy, my toy. I brush her out thoroughly the evening before, then bath, blow dry, clip face, tail and a swipe over the toes, clip body and legs using combs, finish legs with scissors, and scissor topknot, ears and tail. Last job is to do her feet with small scissors - she hates havng them clipped! I usually leave everything out for 24 hours, so that I can tidy up any bits I miss first time around. Prices for grooming a toy locally vary - around £25-45/$37 - 60, but I have yet to see a poodle groom that has me wanting the name of the groomer!


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Molly's a mini and it costs $90.00 to have her groomed but that is because she is hand scissored (I keep her in a modified conti/lion clip) I have her groomed professionally every 10-12 weeks and I do her grooming inbetween times. It usually takes me about 2 hours to bathe,fluff dry, & dremel her nails, then another 30 mins to apply and dry her nail polish. She gets groomed by me every 7-10 days.

P.S. If I just did a 'pet clip' her grooming would only cost $40 complete!!!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

I never rarely do my Toys all at once, but I would guess it would take about 3 hours each if I did. Around here it would cost in the neighborhood of 200 bucks each to have them done by a skilled groomer, so although I hate grooming, I can't help but to give myself a pat on the back every time I save $400 - $600!


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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

I realize grooming is hard work, and I can see the prices if a dog is not taken care of in between grooming or not groomer monthly, but I do feel 55 a dog for mine is to much, I just cannot take the time to do it myself all the time. My retired show groomers were 35 to 40 for the cut I have now, and one did it in my house for 6 years. It took him max 2.6 hours for my 6 pound dogs, not th lines were there which they are for all my other groomers I tried. And they groom my friends dogs as well who go every 2 month and not brushed and bathed as mine and they pay the same price


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

glorybeecosta said:


> I realize grooming is hard work, and I can see the prices if a dog is not taken care of in between grooming or not groomer monthly, but I do feel 55 a dog for mine is to much, I just cannot take the time to do it myself all the time. My retired show groomers were 35 to 40 for the cut I have now, and one did it in my house for 6 years. It took him max 2.6 hours for my 6 pound dogs, not th lines were there which they are for all my other groomers I tried. And they groom my friends dogs as well who go every 2 month and not brushed and bathed as mine and they pay the same price



Say each dog takes 2 hours - you really think that $27.50 an hour of labor intensive work, plus keeping your dogs happy and safe during that time is too much?
Don't forget if the groomer just works for the shop, they typically only get half the fee, the rest goes to the shop, and they may have to pay a bather separately off their portion.
And if they own the shop, you must remember that rent, supplies, heat, electricity and equipment is also covered under that fee.
I honestly think that grooming is worth the $200 that they charge around here - I can't afford it, but doing the work myself, it sure seems worth it to me. Seeing Timi folks often ask me if I could groom their dogs and I laugh - I can't even think of a figure that would make it worth it to do someone else's dog - which I know would be way more difficult doing it to somebody else's specifications and who knows what level of mis-behavior during grooming!


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## dogs123 (Jun 14, 2012)

Thanks for the input, everyone. It is interesting to see the wide range of prices.

It is a LOT of work to do your own clipping. 
I started clipping when I was 19 (this was in 1965) and back then there were no books or anywhere to learn. Plus the fact that at 19, I had very, very little money. But I bought my $50.00 mini poodle, and my mom bought a toy and said she would buy the clippers (Osters) if I would clip them both. So, I learned on my own....I don't want to say how they turned out then, but after 6 months of working away, they looked pretty darn good.
When I got older and could afford a pro clip once in a while, they never came out the way I wanted them to look (In the '70's it cost $35.00). So, I went back to doing it myself.
It's funny because so many people ask me if I would clip their dogs....but it is a lot of work, and I figured I would probably have to have insurance in case some one got irritated, and so I figured it just wasn't worth it.

When I bought my spoo last July, I had NO idea how much longer it takes to clip a large dog....wowee! I am glad she only gets done every 6-7 weeks!

I appreciate each one of you that does your own dogs....and I understand that for the money it costs, you should be picky. And for those that have their own grooming salon, I understand your costs and the work you put in...
Thanks again!


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## AngelAviary (Aug 12, 2014)

Ill chime in and say that Stellas groomer charges about $70 to do her. She takes an average of 2 hrs to do her. It took longer when she was being shown, to scissor her and such in her show puppy cut. She only uses forced air dryers on her and does just a perfect job. Stella is usually perfectly behaved. I only have her done about once every 3-4 months because I like her in a longer cut. I do my own bath/blow dry(I bought a dryer)/clip f/f/t and such every 2 weeks.
I will never question the cost of Stellas grooms, My gal is a duel certified Master groomer and has owned Standard forever and is just the best! It is a ton of work! I am happy to now consider her a friend also!


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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

I do not begrudge the money the groom makes, my concern is I pay the same as someone who brings there dog in dirty and matted, plus the only scissoring is the tk/f and tail. I know it does not take that long for hr. She is grooming when I get there and they are ready for me in max 3 hours. They are brushed out when I take them, she shampoos, blows dry and 90% is a razor. They both are very good on the table, she told me that. If I could do them in 1.5 hours myself I would. The owner does mine, so the income is all hers


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## cecethepoodle (Aug 23, 2014)

My groomer shows great danes, but knows all of the clips for poodles because her friend showed her how when she started grooming...she does an amazing job and can do show cuts, or do modifications for a pet dog. She charged $60 for a full groom on my toy and I would typically do a miami for summer or a puppy for winter. I would brush Cece almost every day so no tangles, and just to be sure I would do a full brush out the day before with leave in conditioner. So it took my groom about an hour or 2 for the whole process. That is probably the most expensive in my area, so I would do face and sanitary trims at home in-between but my clippers were too big for her tiny feet and I never got around to buying a smaller set. When I get another poodle I plan on doing more grooming myself...its cheaper and it is super relaxing for me and the dog.


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## TeamPoodle (Aug 10, 2015)

Riley costs $45. I found that relatively inexpensive before reading all your posts, but now I find it nearly a steal! Riley's still nervous about grooming, I don't think he got much of it in his first year of life. When I explained this to the groomer (owns her own shop, used to working with nervous dogs) she asked me to book a 4pm appointment (last of the day) so that she could make sure there were no other dogs in the shop and to plan on staying the whole time with Riley. It took her 1.5 hrs to wash, blow dry (no high-speed blower yet, they terrify him), trim, and clip his nails. 

She groomed his body with the clippers, but scissored his legs and his face, and of course scissored his back a bit to make sure it was even. She did a great job and mainly I was impressed by how she handled Riley. She was firm but very kind and gentle to him, while I fed him endless treats and praise. He did end up with the cone of shame at one point...but we made it through. I gave her an extra big tip, though, because he definitely wasn't an easy groom.

Oh, and we just wanted a basic trim. I love the show clips, but we're not up to that level of maintenance. Just our daily brushing is still sometimes a battle with Riley.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

glorybeecosta said:


> I do not begrudge the money the groom makes, my concern is I pay the same as someone who brings there dog in dirty and matted, plus the only scissoring is the tk/f and tail. I know it does not take that long for hr. She is grooming when I get there and they are ready for me in max 3 hours. They are brushed out when I take them, she shampoos, blows dry and 90% is a razor. They both are very good on the table, she told me that. If I could do them in 1.5 hours myself I would. The owner does mine, so the income is all hers



Then she is giving a break to those who bring in their dogs dirty and matted - most groomers charge extra for dematting.
And even if all the money goes to her, she is still paying all the costs of operating the business. Honestly for the work that they do, I don't think that groomers charge 1/3 of what they do. I groom my own, and I wouldn't think of doing all of that work for someone else for less than $300 - $400, not kidding! I lol when people ask me if I would groom their dogs, because I am imagining their reaction if I told them what they would have to pay to get me to do it?


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

TeamPoodle said:


> Riley costs $45. I found that relatively inexpensive before reading all your posts, but now I find it nearly a steal! Riley's still nervous about grooming, I don't think he got much of it in his first year of life. When I explained this to the groomer (owns her own shop, used to working with nervous dogs) she asked me to book a 4pm appointment (last of the day) so that she could make sure there were no other dogs in the shop and to plan on staying the whole time with Riley. It took her 1.5 hrs to wash, blow dry (no high-speed blower yet, they terrify him), trim, and clip his nails.
> 
> She groomed his body with the clippers, but scissored his legs and his face, and of course scissored his back a bit to make sure it was even. She did a great job and mainly I was impressed by how she handled Riley. She was firm but very kind and gentle to him, while I fed him endless treats and praise. He did end up with the cone of shame at one point...but we made it through. I gave her an extra big tip, though, because he definitely wasn't an easy groom.
> 
> Oh, and we just wanted a basic trim. I love the show clips, but we're not up to that level of maintenance. Just our daily brushing is still sometimes a battle with Riley.



It sounds like you found a real gem there - keep treating her well!


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## Caddy (Nov 23, 2014)

The last time I took Abbey to a groomer was 9 months ago, it cost me $140.00 and I got 10.00 off for bathing her. She was not scissored at all, the next day it was painfully obvious how uneven her cut was. After that I purchased everything I could ever want or need to groom Abbey, and everytime I do I say cha-Ching! I bath and groom her every 7-10 days and that way I'm never overwhelmed, but it still takes a good part of my day, we do take breaks though.


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