Has anyone groomed their poodle at home?

[sweetlittle]

We just added a 7 mo. old poodle to our household. He was surrendered to foster care where we fell for his cute look and personality. I cut everyones hair here so why not the new addition . He is gentle and I'm sure I could groom him if I knew what to buy and do. I'v looked at some web sites that show how to do a lamb cut but I don't want to buy all the clippers. Has anyone tried a regular hair clipper (human type LOL)? Did it work? Any suggestions? I would like to do this out of saving money but it really is more a matter of convience. The closest groomer is 30 miles away. I'd love any suggestions or well wishes LOL!

[wanderinggrandma]

My DD grooms her Shih Tzu at home. She went on the inter-net and watched a video that showed step by step how to's and what equipment she needed. She has Oster brand clippers around $100 and scissors and gives Victor a puppy cut, nail trim, cleans ears and bath once a month.

We consider the whoopes adding character.

Good quality pet clippers are important. People clippers don't work on the fine hair of dogs. She started just scissor clipping but it took way too long. She has 1 yr old twins, works full-time and found clippers took like 15 minutes to get the job done.

[TheRootedNomad]

My sister and I both have a minature poodle. She cuts hers with a good set of "people clippers" that she already had. (I think animal clippers would do a better job though)

I trim my little fuzzball with scissors most of the year but take her in once a year for the real deal.

Neither of us do the traditional poodle cut though (just because we don't want them that way). You do have to pull hair from the ears and keep the hair trimmed down between the pads on their paws too. I have always just used my fingers to pull the ear hair out as it starts to come in. If it's already well established you may want a professional groomer to pull it first and then maintain it yourself. The paw hair we just keep trimmed down.

Actually our biggest grooming issue with her is her breath! Poodles tend to get a build up on their teeth easier than most other dogs which lead to the stench. We brush her teeth almost every day follow all the vet's instructions but it's still worse than any other dog I've ever owned and hard to keep under control.

[luv-my-lexi]

No tips here (I take our Chelsea to get groomed) but just wanted to say congrats on acquiring your new poodle. If you have never owned a poodle I think you will just adore their personality. My dd is trying to talk us into getting a standard size to add to this household.

[redveg]

Congratulations! poodles are really nice dogs, and so smart. I used to have a business years ago grooming dogs, but i had to give it up when i developed arthritis.
I think you can certainly groom your poodle at home, but it would be much more difficult with clippers made for people-due to the vast difference between poodle hair and human hair. If you got a good, second hand set of clippers off say, ebay, and groomed him yourself you would certainly save a lot of money versus taking him to a professional.
My sister has 4 poodles (a standard, a miniature and two toys) and she taught herself to groom them.
You would be able to find instructions for grooming on the internet-or maybe a book from your local library?
You would also need to buy scissors and brushes etc, but they can be obtained reasonably cheaply. The clippers would be your biggest expense, but i am sure you could find good, used ones. And a previous poster did mention Oster, which are probably the best brand.
Best of luck!
Julie x

[PrairieRose]

I have mine groomed b/c I have a bad back and leaning over the tub kills it, plus I just plain don't want to. I know you can learn to do this yourself and save some major money though. I pay $20/month for mine plus driving the 17 miles each way to drop her off and pick her up.

[sweetlittle]

Thank you all for the posts! I'm excited to learn and care for our pup. I did make an appointment for Saturday for him to get groomed. I'm going to stay and watch carefully. I'll try freecycle, craigslist, etc. to find what we'll need for next time. He really is so sweet and gentle for a puppy. I think we'll do just fine. Thanks for all the encouragement

This is such a nice place to be, such a nice forum. I truely appreciate your kindness!

[momtoadiva]

Well Skeeter is pis$%^ for days and goes into hiding if I take him to the groomers. He has a bad hip and even if I tell them they are not always careful, so I just started grooming him at home (he's a 10 yrs old minature poodle we've had since he was 5 months old) I have all the clippers purchased at garage sales, estate auctions etc but his fur is soooo thick they just get hung up and I wind up pulling his hair poor baby. I purchased a pair of people hair scissors from WM and a beard and mustache clipper and dog nail clippers. Over many years of grooming him these are the tools I found work best for me. I just cut his hair all over the same length *shrugs with the scissors and I keep the hair on his ears cut short b/c he hates to be brushed. I use the clippers to shave the top and bottom of his paws, his underneath and his little bottom. Oh I did have (lost them) a small pair of thread scissors (they look like a bird) that I used to clip up around his eyes, I just use the big scissors now that he's pretty calm about me grooming him. I put him on the washer (when I had an top loader) as it was the best height for me, now he goes on the bar, you will have to find something that is comfortable height for you or it will kill your back. We have finally gotten it down to an hour or less just depends on how long I let him go between groomings. After winter it of course takes me longer b/c I let him get a thicker fur coat for obvious reasons. If you've never had a poodle before I hope you love him as much as I love Skeeter, he has absolutley been the most loyal, sweet, protective (which is funny b/c he's all of 6 lbs) and loving of all my animals. I've had him as stated for 10 yrs this coming Mother's day and my kids will teasingly say you love that dog more than us. It is a tight race but yeah they would come out a little ahead I do adore that dog and when and if anything ever happens to him I will have another, he's my second poodle (they can live a long life if taken care of). I love the breed, I'm so excited for you I bet he's absolutley adorable enjoy him and he will be the most loyal pet you've ever had.

[PrairieRose]

Thank you all for the posts! I'm excited to learn and care for our pup. I did make an appointment for Saturday for him to get groomed. I'm going to stay and watch carefully. I'll try freecycle, craigslist, etc. to find what we'll need for next time. He really is so sweet and gentle for a puppy. I think we'll do just fine. Thanks for all the encouragement

This is such a nice place to be, such a nice forum. I truely appreciate your kindness!

I'm just so excited that your little boy has found a loving home. Just remember, poodles are soooo smart and never ever forget a thing. If anyone every mistreats him (we had a child grab a hold of our's one night and not let go...so lots of people can't get Heidi to even come near enough to pet even though she loves everyone) he will never forget it. I hope he's got the poodle sense of humour too....they can be the funniest dogs ever. Our dd has an 80 lb. boxer and when she comes to visit she minds our Heidi as we all know she's 'Queen of Quite a Lot'

I would love to do poodle rescue, Gripey wouldn't be so thrilled though.

[luv-my-lexi]

I would love to do poodle rescue, Gripey wouldn't be so thrilled though.

I would too cause I just can't stand to see a poodle in need . To me poodles are the BEST!! My little Chelsea is a white toy poodle and she is 14 years old. I have already informed the family I won't have another dog unless it is a poodle!!

[PrairieRose]

They're my absolute favorite too Darlene. I do have to say that you can get ahold of a bad one every now and again. My dad had 2 that were borderline psycho. Bad (very bad) breeding I think.