# Standard poodle owners who keep their dog in a simple puppy/teddybear cut, is it difficult /greatly time consuming?



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

That is probably the easiest clip to maintain, but I think you would still need to spend several hours a week brushing, especially during adolescent coat change when poodle hair mats very easily. If you plan on doing all your own grooming then brushing and combing every few days for a young dog (at least 30 minutes each time), and bathing and clipping every four weeks or so (at least 2-3 hours) would probably be the minimum for a standard poodle. If you have your dog professionally groomed then it would just be the brushing and combing, and adult coat may only need brushing once a week if kept short. But poodle hair is high maintenance - left unbrushed for too long it forms painful mats that can lead to serious health issues.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

I basically keep my guy in this basic cut, sometimes his body is slightly fluffier and his face and feet n sanitary are kept clean. He goes to the groomer every 4 week under normal conditions. I brush and comb him throughly once a week and sometimes I also comb him out in between. He loves the time I spend with him so its good and its pretty easy maintenance. The most work are his ears and tail.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

My original plan was to keep Annie in a cut like that. I fell in love with poodle cuts from spending time here and so far it hasn't happened 

So long as I keep Annie below 1" of hair, I have no issues with brushing once a week. I keep her ears, tail, and head longer and those require more frequent brushing, but occasionally think about shaving even those down like you show!
I like her longer, but tend to get overwhelmed and give up and shave her down at about 3". If you like longer hair, you can get a force dryer, which I dont have, that straightens and detangle the hair after the bath, and that's something I really want!

I recently put her in a Miami with a 7f blade. I run the comb through her shorter hairs not because it needs it but because she enjoys the brushing process, and it gives her a break from brushung the more sensitive legs and tail.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I doubt very much 1 hour every 6-8 weeks will cut it with a standard poodle. I spend at least 3 hours on each of my toys on grooming in that period, and that’s not including brushing.

Poodles are probably the most high maintenance dogs in the world. You need to take that into consideration amd be ready for it.


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## VanessaC (Feb 24, 2020)

Some poodles will have a thick, dense coat and some will have thinner, sparser hair. That will mostly influence how you brush and the tools that you use, but the clip should be doable with any hair type. It shouldn’t be hard to achieve once you and your dog get used to the grooming process, but I agree with everyone in that it’s gonna take more than an hour every 6-8 weeks between brushing, bathing and cutting hair.

I keep my dogs in a similar clip and, if I’m consistent, it takes about 10-15 min a day of brushing. I hike with mine pretty much every day, so they usually have a lot of nature in their hair that is best to remove as soon as possible. If you don’t plan on getting the dog dirty that often, you could probably get away with brushing once or twice a week. If they do get tangled, brushing becomes pretty arduous and can take hours (unlikely with a short coat but depends on how dirty and dense it is). If they get a lot of tightness or tangles, clipping them can take around 2 hours even for a professional. If the hair is brushed, the clippers glide right through and it’s a lot easier for you and the dog.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

I've been slowly taking Peggy's coat right down with a 10 blade, and the areas I've finished require zero brushing. She doesn't even really look like a poodle at this point, which I guess is what some people want.

Her black hair looks nice and velvety at this length, whereas her white hair looks rather sparse. You can clearly see her pink skin through the white on her chest. Poor Peggy.


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## poodlelove01 (Sep 14, 2019)

You will definitely spend more than 1 hour every 6-8 weeks. Bathing and drying itself takes about an hour, then brushing is an almost daily task depending on how long you keep it. Maybe 10 minutes if you brush daily. Doing the cut yourself, which I don’t, can take hours. Like you I thought the fluffy face was cute and still do-until I found out how much food and water got stuck on it. Now I get my pup’s face shaved. It’s doable, but you will need to invest more time than you think. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

The lowest maintenance clips will involve shaving the feet and face. It's just more sanitary and then you have less dirt and plant seeds and stickers getting picked up in the feet hair. Teddy bear cuts tend to be very high maintenance. The absolute lowest maintenance route would be to just shave a dog down with a 10 blade completely once a month. This is still probably going to take you at least a couple hours, but it would mean you don't really need to brush (if groomed monthly) and drying won't be a big deal with such short fur. I've seen poodles kept in this manner and as long as they are well behaved for grooming, it's not hard. Of course with puppies you'd have to do a lot of work to condition them to grooming first.

That said, dogs require sooo much time in general that I'd question somebody who's only willing to put in one hour every 6-8 weeks for grooming.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

I'm still a novice at the clipping. I've done the brushing, combing, bathing and drying for my minis for many years. 

Brushing and combing is done pretty much daily, maybe 15 minutes per poo, to keep their coats mat-free. The bath is every 2 weeks, approximately 30 minutes, followed by blow drying and more brushing and combing, at least another 30 minutes. A bit of tidying of face, feet, and sani with every bath - oh and nail clipping, another 30m - if you have a pup trained to accept grooming. 

That makes my total for a mini at least 90 minutes every 2 weeks. Groomers with more experience and better trained pups will do things faster but the frequency is pretty typical. 

Here's the cut I do on my boys:


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

PeggyTheParti said:


> I've been slowly taking Peggy's coat right down with a 10 blade, and the areas I've finished require zero brushing. She doesn't even really look like a poodle at this point, which I guess is what some people want.
> 
> Her black hair looks nice and velvety at this length, whereas her white hair looks rather sparse. You can clearly see her pink skin through the white on her chest. Poor Peggy.


I have to chuckle...I shaved Renns body down mostly, lol haven't gotten to his chest or his legs. I planned to use a 7 but out of the 4 or 5 I had (had them many years, don't remember using them) and then I came to a #5. It worked! Leaves a bit of coat so I like it. MY problem is nothing looks smooth its uneven. I guess thats me because it was my first time. I may tackle some more today. But I did hear my groomer will open around the 15th so....
I will not touch his top knot or ears. LOL


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## Michigan Gal (Jun 4, 2019)

I think the picture you posted shows a pretty easy comb out. Try using a pin brush, a steel comb, and a slicker brush to find what works best for you and your dog. 

I never bathed my standard (60 pound) that much. My groomer said he should not need a bath in between her clippings as long as I kept the coat combed out and mat free. I did cut his long coat with scissors and give him a bath after he courageously fought off a skunk.


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## EVpoodle (Sep 25, 2018)

I actually like this clip quite a lot. I am even growing Evie's face out so that she can be in a version of that clip. Perhaps it looks more girly with a topknot but it is not required. Any way I know several people who keep their male poodles without topknots because it makes them look more masculine. It is all personal preference, everyone is different and people do not all have to think one way about everything.


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## vanydog (Aug 23, 2019)

EVpoodle said:


> I actually like this clip quite a lot. I am even growing Evie's face out so that she can be in a version of that clip. Perhaps it looks more girly with a topknot but it is not required. Any way I know several people who keep their male poodles without topknots because it makes them look more masculine. It is all personal preference, everyone is different and people do not all have to think one way about everything.


Don't worry about that commenter, their the new forum troll just trying to stir up trouble.


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## Vita (Sep 23, 2017)

Note from Vita: offensive comment by a member today has been removed.


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## RJF (Aug 3, 2020)

Yes. If allowing the hair to get longer than an inch or so.
It's difficult and time consuming to brush and comb.

If you keep it as short as in your pic - and cut it every 3 weeks - you should do fine.


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## RJF (Aug 3, 2020)

For Want of Poodle said:


> My original plan was to keep Annie in a cut like that. I fell in love with poodle cuts from spending time here and so far it hasn't happened
> 
> So long as I keep Annie below 1" of hair, I have no issues with brushing once a week. I keep her ears, tail, and head longer and those require more frequent brushing, but occasionally think about shaving even those down like you show!
> I like her longer, but tend to get overwhelmed and give up and shave her down at about 3". If you like longer hair, you can get a force dryer, which I dont have, that straightens and detangle the hair after the bath, and that's something I really want!
> ...


Force air dryer is fantastic and they're not too expensive. Unfortunately, the younger the dog is when they get used to it - the better. Got my pup used to it from the time he was 10 weeks old.


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