# Poodle experts help



## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

I think learning to groom your dog yourself would be a good idea. I had a dog with chronic pancreatitis and Addisons disease. Stress can make their condition worse. You can groom your dog in stages. Do the muzzle one day, the feet the next, and so on. Practice holding her muzzle in your hand while feeding her treats. Brush her teeth which is another occasion when you have to hold her muzzle. Dogs like the tast of the toothpaste. Keep all grooming to short intervals and make them happy with treats and use a happy voice. I am an amateur groomer. So others can give you more advice. Good luck. You can do this. Oh, yes, consider trimming face with scizzors instead of shaving. Might be faster and less tramatic for her.


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## Kidbd (May 8, 2014)

*Great advice*

Yeah, I was thinking along those lines. Thanks very much


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## Wild Kitten (Mar 13, 2014)

Kidbd said:


> I'm thinking about grooming her myself because she hated having her mouth shaved. She became vicious like I've never seen. The groomer was nasty about it so, I won't go back there, but,* I'm not sure if I do it, will it be more traumatic for her? *
> Any suggestions will help. Thanks


I groom my own dog and I think it is much less stressful to her than if I had to leave her with some one.... she doesn't like to be separated from me anyway so that would be an added stress. 

I can take my time, and don't have to rush to finish because other dogs are waiting or the owner is coming..... so the whole experience is nice and relaxed. If either of us have enough, we can always take a break and continue later or the next day. 

It might not look perfect but over time I got pretty good, maybe not good enough for show grooming but certainly good enough for me - and everyone who meets Lucia comments on how well groomed she is. If I can do it... anyone can  

PammiPoodle is posting great videos of her progress training her pups to get used to grooming - I find these two of her topics extremely useful to me too:

This is an older one, and a recent one. 

You can go along the same lines to get yours used to being clipped on her face...... just play with her and feed her while you are holding a clipper so she gets used to seeing it, then turn it on while rewarding her, so she gets used to hearing the noise, then put it near her face (not actually on her face) and feed her, so she is completely relaxed in it's presence then you can do a little clipping with loads of rewards.... over a period of time she will be fine with it. 
Just do little steps..... Good luck  

Keep us updated on how things are gong


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## Wild Kitten (Mar 13, 2014)

I forgot to say...... I also agree with the above post .... loads of handling of the muzzle and the puppy all over while you are feeding treats and playing is a good thing......... tooth-brushing and brushing the muzzle with a brush (she will get fluffy in no time and you don't want to rush the clipping until she is more relaxed to set her back when she panics)...

I also found these two videos very helpful, the lady explains very well how to clip the face, feet, how to scissor legs..... even if you don't want to do the exact same clip she is demonstrating there, it can be helpful, you just adjust it (like for example, I don't like the shaved ears, but that's ok, I just leave them long)


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## PoodleFoster (May 25, 2013)

Kidbd said:


> Hi, I'm new here. I have an 8th month old female miniature named Penny. She just had a horrible experience of pancreatitis and almost dehydrated and died. We got her to the vets on time and Thankfully she's back to herself now. I'm thinking about grooming her myself because she hated having her mouth shaved. She became vicious like I've never seen. The groomer was nasty about it so, I won't go back there, but, I'm not sure if I do it, will it be more traumatic for her?
> 
> Hello
> At 8 months, your pup may never have had experience with grooming. That is a fear stage and can be tough on everyone. I say this out of experience about 3 months ago, and I won't even repeat what happened, it was that bad.
> ...


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## Kidbd (May 8, 2014)

*Appreciate all the help everyone*

Thank you so much for your help. I should have stated she had her first professional groom at about 5 months. The only time. The groomer acted as if she was a huge uncontrollable vicious breed, and she insinuated I did something to make her like this. Since then, Penny has been a different dog and it breaks my heart. She's smart, of course, but hates this grooming thing. Now, her fur is getting matted so bad because it's long. I brush and brush, and she is hating it more and more. I'll just keep working on her, trimming with scissors every day. 
Wish me luck.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

Really does sound like you need to groom her yourself, at least most of the time. You can continue to look for a groomer who is very good with young dogs while you work on her. When I got my youngest dog, she absolutely hated being held in place for any reason. When I took her to the vet for her first check up, it took 2 people to hold her for the exam and the vet never was able to see her teeth. Since I groom her myself, she is much, much better. I still need to work on holding her and practice cupping her chin while we sit on the couch and kissing her nose and giving her treats for letting me just hold her face for a while. Brushing her teeth helps a lot. I put the toothbrush in front of her and she wants to lick it, but she has to let me hold her muzzle first. If she shys away, I take away the toothbrush. When she stops pulling away from me, I brush her teeth.

You might also look for a TTouch practitioner in your area, or an animal massage therapist. These people can use techniques to help calm the dog, and they are usually willing to teach the techniques to you.

I did mishandle my young dog once. She had gone outside and gotten all muddy, then come inside through the doggie door and was jumping from couch to chair when I walked into the living room. I was angry and gave her a quick bath and went to dry her and I used the high speed dryer, which is loud because it puts out a lot of air. She resisted me using it, and I just held her and dried her anyway. From that time on, she was afraid of the sound of a dryer and would shake on the grooming table when I brought out the dryer. So I had to back track and use a handheld dryer on the lowest setting and had her lay down on the table in a comfortable position, give treats, and REALLY take my time to dry her. She is much better now but I still have a ways to go before I can use the high speed dryer again.

I do wish you luck. It can be fun to groom your dog. If you can enjoy the experience and use a happy voice, she will calm down in time. Do consider alternative therapies to help her if you can find one in your area.


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## PoodleFoster (May 25, 2013)

Kidbd said:


> Thank you so much for your help. I should have stated she had her first professional groom at about 5 months. The only time. The groomer acted as if she was a huge uncontrollable vicious breed, and she insinuated I did something to make her like this. Since then, Penny has been a different dog and it breaks my heart. She's smart, of course, but hates this grooming thing. Now, her fur is getting matted so bad because it's long. I brush and brush, and she is hating it more and more. I'll just keep working on her, trimming with scissors every day.
> Wish me luck.
> 
> Hi
> ...


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## Kidbd (May 8, 2014)

Thanks again. Penny was bred by a co worker. She was always calm and we were able to handle her and do anything to her before her grooming experience, so, I think something happened at the groomers, and yes I blame her because she was snipping at ME when I picked her up. Having never owned a poodle, I rely on advice from others, so I trusted this well known place. As far as scissor cutting, I am going very very slowly. Brushing, and rewarding and kissing. Teeth brush has always been fun for her. She loves that, so, I start with that, then brush, then cut a bit. I've done her face, feet and a bit around her neck. Tomorrow I'm going to bath her and try scissoring all over, because she is too hot now. I guess I'll keep working on her slowly. I'll post a picture when I'm done.mhopefully she won't look too wild. Thanks again folks!


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## Carolinek (Apr 2, 2014)

Can't wait to see pics!

Sorry to hear about the troubles you had at the groomer. I groom my own dogs, and it wasn't too hard to learn. It's also just doing it- and practicing- I think every time I groom them is better than the last. And remember, it's hair, it grows! 

I do bring them to a groomer sometimes, and that helped, particularly in the beginning, because I could follow what they did. Right now, I don't need that so much anymore, but it's nice to have them done by a professional here and there. I also now want to keep Lily in a traditional poodle cut. I started with her face, and it came out pretty good, but I think in a month or so, I'm going to bring her to the groomer and have her do a Miami clip on her for the summer. Then I can follow what she did. 

If you want to use a groomer, I also think looking at a mobile groomer is better. That way you can watch them and feel confident your dog isn't being abused. 

A groomer recommended Shirlee Kalstone's book for me-and it is quite good. It's old, but it really has a lot of information. I bought it for the Kindle and it wasn't that much. The forum here is also very helpful, with some good stickies.

Good luck!


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## Jamie Hein (Aug 17, 2013)

I'm a groomer. I've seen more than one dog that had been groomed at home have cuts on them because the owner doesn't know what they are doing. Get some books on dog grooming and watch some videos at the least. Handling a dog who is "vicious" for their face is not easy. I would be unhappy if I got bit- did she? But I wouldn't be rude about it either unless the owner wasn't listening to me. One tip I have, never cut mats out with scissors, it is a sure way to cut your dog.


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## Kidbd (May 8, 2014)

I'll be careful. Thanks. If she did bite her, she never said, but she never even growled before and she does now, so, I have to assume the groomer made a mistake somehow. I mean no offence to other groomers. Please understand. I will look for someone but want to try to calm her down and get used to this again. Thank you for your help.


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## Sunny'sMoney (May 13, 2014)

People would really hate haircuts if they had to sit in a cage for eight hours, while the stylist intermittently tortured strangers, before returning to their cage . . . 

That is how things normally work at groomers, including my vets office. How healthy could that be? We are using mobile now because she can get him done in about 45 minutes. I guess I vacillate between wanting all the beauty, and understanding that those aestetics do cost the animal. Mine are not show dogs, and something about them suffering for the sake of accessorizing - I do not even color my own hair anymore! I do have the time, so I figure that it is fair that they do not have more coat than I am willing to suffer maintaining myself. Something about it feels more like a partnership that way and, boy howdy, am I going to save some bucks.

Dogs groom each other in affection. It cannot be a great leap to make it that way with your own dog, I hope for us both.


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## Kidbd (May 8, 2014)

*I did it!*

Thank you everybody!
Well I think I'm almost done. She has been brushed daily for seven days, and today, I scissored her. She stood like a show dog! Lol.
I was able to use the clippers a little bit on her back, just to make her aware.
She's not even yet, but I'll do more tomorrow. Main thing is she's still happy!
No stress. I don't care if she's perfect looking, she is to me
I tried to put a picture here, not sure how.
Thanks again everyone.


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