# Clip Questions



## caroline429 (Mar 5, 2012)

I have been having a heck of a time finding a groomer that I am happy with. Cali is 7 months old and has been clipped in a puppy cut 3 times by 3 different groomers. They have all been very nice people, very good to Cali and, I'm sure, quite competent. I find though there's always something about the clip I haven't liked. 

The first groomer tried to cut a topknot into puppy hair and cut her ears into a triangle. The second one forgot to clip her throat and didn't seem to clip face, feet, etc close enough. 

I just got her done again yesterday and had her taken down to 1/2 inch all over for summer. Overall, I like the job this groomer did the best so far. A minor point is that I would have liked her tail a little shorter. She has a natural tail so if the hair weren't left as long at the tip, her tail would look a little shorter. My biggest concern is the bottom of her legs. They look rather high to me....in fact, I found she kind of looked like she was wearing flood pants after all 3 clips. 

I cannot clip myself and am definitely new to poodles so it may be I am way out to lunch with my observations. I've posted a couple of pictures of her latest clip and would appreciate it if you could tell me what you think of her legs (and anything else you might care to add).


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## TrinaBoo (Apr 3, 2012)

It does look a little high but it isn't bad at all. She looks adorable! If you decide to go to the same groomer I would just show him/her your specifications. It really is a decent job compared to what I have seen 7 different groomers do to my toy! I picked Trina up one time and she smelled like Listerine! The groomer put it in her ears!


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## mom24doggies (Mar 28, 2011)

Lol, she does look a bit like she's "waiting for the flood" doesn't she!? Your groomer did shave a bit high, the shaved part should stop at the ankle bone...it feels like a bump on either side of the foot. Her tail would look much better with less band...I usually shave about an inch or so on minis. Otherwise, she looks pretty good! Very cute puppy, btw.


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## MamaTiff (Sep 23, 2011)

First of all, she's adorable! She doesn't look that bad at all. She definately shaved up a bit too high on the foot, and too much on the tail, but overall she's cute! One thing though, when these groomers did something you didn't find perfect, why didn't you just ask them to fix it next time? I love it when my clients tell me specifically what they want if I didn't do exactly what they wanted. It's just that much easier to get it perfect the next time.  Don't be afraid to speak up and tell them exactly what you want. Especially if they are nice and you feel like they treat your pup nice!


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## ambitious groomer (Mar 21, 2011)

*from a groomers pespective*

I do so many different things to so many of my poodles based on what my clients want. it's your dog so do whatever makes you happy. i think you should try a groomed at least twice so long as it's only small changes you'd like them to make. don't worry about asking for the changes you'd like to see. there may have been a reason they did x instead of y. take pics of grooms you like and let them know what u especially like about it. We tend to be very visual people. i know it can be a learning curve for both of you to get to what u want. (you learning how to ask for it and the groomer learning how to interpret what you're asking for) I've grown as a groomer because of clientele feedback and i learn what each person is looking for. every groom i do is just slightly different based on each owners preference.


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## caroline429 (Mar 5, 2012)

Thanks for all your replies.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is a bad clip, there are just the few minor things I needed some advice on. I will definitely take Cali back to this groomer and ask her to change the legs and the tail next time. 

The reason I didn't go back to the first two groomers was because I did try to explain exactly what I wanted each time and I also took a picture of a puppy clip just in case my explanations weren't correct. Even with this, Cali didn't come back looking even close to what I wanted. I'm not saying they were "bad" groomers, just that maybe they weren't as experienced with poodles as I thought they'd be.

For Cali's first groom, you could still see the outline of where the breeder had clipped her so I asked the groomer to follow exactly where she'd been clipped before and to take about 1/2 inch off her coat. Her coat length was fine afterwards but, as I said, she tried to cut a topknot into her, cut her ears into a weird triangle shape, cut her legs too high and somehow made her look like she had a roached back. After having given her the picture, explaining what I wanted plus having the outline of the last clip to follow, it seemed she didn't listen to me and just went ahead and did what she wanted. 

The second groomer had advertised she could groom to show standards so I thought I'd have more luck. I again handed over the picture and asked that Cali's legs not be taken as high as previously. You could clearly see where they'd been clipped to before and even though the hair at the bottom would have ended up a bit shorter than the rest, I said I didn't mind because I wanted to grow it so I could lengthen the legs. Cali came back with the legs clipped exactly as they had been the first time, her front nails too long, her ears not plucked and her throat not clipped.

I totally agree on working with a groomer on some minor preferences but since I'm not a groomer, I have to depend on them to get the basics right. To my mind, each of the first two groomers missed some basic poodle things. It didn't occur to me that groomers could be great on some breeds (the second one did a great Old English clip LOL) and not so good on others. This grooming stuff has been a real learning curve for me! 

I went to the last groomer because I'd been told she did a very good poodle clip. I didn't give her any instructions or pictures, just asked for Cali to have a puppy cut with her hair 1/2" all over. She did the best job by far, with no instructions, LOL, so I'm going to stick with her and just ask her to change the two things.

Thanks so much for telling me exactly where the foot should be shaved to and also for the instructions for the tail. It will be a big help next time I go to be able to be that specific. 

I'm not surprised to learn that a good groomer is very visual. I find that all artistic people are and a good groomer is definitely an artist!


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

I personally LOVE the tail, and would shave less and have a BIGGER pom! But yes, her feet do need to be shaved less imo.


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## caroline429 (Mar 5, 2012)

Fluffyspoos said:


> I personally LOVE the tail, and would shave less and have a BIGGER pom!


I totally agree.  When I said I wanted the tail shorter, I just meant the extra inch of hair on the tip of her tail. With this off, the overall length of the tail will look shorter. 

If I get less band shaved off her tail next time, like mom24doggies suggested, she'll end up with a bigger pom. She got about 3 inches shaved off this time. Before this clip there was only about 1 1/2" shaved and I liked it better that way. If you look at her in my avatar picture, you can kind of see how big the pom used to be.


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## FunkyPuppy (Jan 27, 2011)

You will learn that most groomers are not at all well-versed in the Poodle language of Real Grooming. As a matter of fact, many groomers stop their poodle expertise at the Lamb, Town & Country (which many in my state mistake for a lamb), and for fancy people, the Miami (though they just call it "the pom-pom cut"). 

You'll be hard pressed to find a passionate Poodle groomer, butthe moment you introduce yourself to one of these, you'll know it... Us Poodle Geeks get a sparkle in our eyes,start gushing about angles andconformation... And some, not all but those like me... Will pull a thick hardback textbook onto the counter and flip the well-worn pages with ease while explaining to you the work of Shirlee Kalstone. 

If your latest groomer is obviously excited by the prospect of a REAL poodle who gets REAL styles, consider borrowing this book from the library to show her your ideal image. If she's anything like me, she'll be thrilled at the possibilities!


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## caroline429 (Mar 5, 2012)

I wanted to post an update to this thread. Today I moved on to groomer #4 and I think I'm finally getting close to what I want.  

I stuck with the third groomer for 4 months. I finally got really ticked off. issed-off: First and foremost, I wasn't allowed to speak to her directly. All instructions had to be relayed through the person out front. Every time I took Cali in, I explained that I didn't want the feet taken so high and that I didn't want so much band on the tail. The tail band just kept getting longer until Cali looked more like a PWD than a mpoo. Her feet continuously were taken too high and at the last groom I was informed by the person out front that the groomer had said to tell me she did them to the "poodle standard"! Ya know, even if this were the "standard", it shouldn't have mattered. I'd requested them shorter and I was the client. I was polite and pleasant with my requests and I was ignored so I took my business elsewhere. 

Today's groom was a much better experience. The groomer came out to talk to me and didn't seem offended by the pictures and list of instructions I took. LOL It may have been overkill but I've gotten kind of gun shy.

I didn't know what to do with Cali's tail since she had so much band on it. The groomer suggested a tapered bottle brush. She said it would look neat and tidy and I could grow in the hair where the original band came too high if I wanted to go back to a pom pom.

And.....hallelujah.....no more flood pants!!!!! The bottoms of her legs still haven't grown in fully from being taken too high before but we're on the way. Who knew where your poodle's feet were clipped to could make a person so happy. :rofl:

I've posted a couple of pictures so you can have a look. She has a chunk of hair missing at the bottom of her right leg. That was missing before the groom, not sure what happened to it but I suspect it came out when I had to remove a couple of burrs while we were out on a walk.

There are a couple of things I'd like to tweak in future clips but I get the feeling that this groomer won't get huffy if I ask for some changes.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

This is by far the best groom. The tapered tail looks good and is a good compromise if you want to grow it out. Huge improvement with the feet. She is such a pretty girl and it looks like she has fabulous hair to work with.


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## caroline429 (Mar 5, 2012)

CT Girl said:


> This is by far the best groom. The tapered tail looks good and is a good compromise if you want to grow it out. Huge improvement with the feet. She is such a pretty girl and it looks like she has fabulous hair to work with.


Thanks.  I don't know how her hair is to work with but I can tell you she has an absolute ton of it!! Because she came into heat a few days before her last grooming appointment I had to cancel it so she hadn't been clipped for 10 weeks. It was taking me an hour and a half to brush and comb through all that hair! I can't imagine how much time it must take to maintain a show coat but I have nothing but admiration for anyone who does it!


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