Dog grooming 101

[niccig]

I need to know what to ask for at the grooming. I took our new dog in, he's a poodle/terrier mix, and the dog I was given back does NOT look the same. DS and I burst out laughing in the car, he looks ridiculous.

1. I got him clipped too short. It's hot here and they suggested 1/2" or 3/4". We like the look of him with longer hair, so maybe 1" is as short as would go, 2" would look better, but I'm worried he'll be hot. The house does has have AC and we go for a walk when it's cooler.

2. He has a poofy head on top.

He looks like a poodle. Not the look we were going for.

So I need to know what to ask for next time.

[cuca_]

I think if you ask for a puppy cut, you will get a cut that is short, yet fuller all around. We have a labradoodle and we have gotten the very short cut with the pouf on the head. The first time our dog got her hair cut short i did a double take as she looked like a totally different dog.

[ChristinaLucia]

I think if you ask for a puppy cut, you will get a cut that is short, yet fuller all around. We have a labradoodle and we have gotten the very short cut with the pouf on the head. The first time our dog got her hair cut short i did a double take as she looked like a totally different dog.

This happened to me too one time. We always ask for the puppy cut or take a photo of what we want.

[hellokitty]

It helps to bring a pic of what you want him to look like (previous to his current hair cut). I also ask that they shave the dog's butt hair (ok, there is no graceful way to say that) and if our dog has a long tail, that they also trim the under part of the tail that the dog sits on (when they tuck their tail under, our dog has a shih tzu type of feathery tail). Our dog has floppy ears and we don't like it when they trim them down too much. One time they trimmed his eyebrows too short and his beard was more like a schnauzer (we wanted it more like a yorkie's, he's a dorkie), so if you have a dog, esp a mutt that doesn't have a specifically recognizable hairdo, I think it's not unusual for some trial and error a few times before the groomer figures out what you want. It took about 3 groomings at the same grooming place before we finally got the right, "look." They do take notes, so that they can figure out what you want.

[niccig]

Thanks everyone. DH is calling him dog from Ethiopia - he is skinnier than we thought under all that hair. We like the shaggy look, so I think we'll keep his hair longer. It's hair, it'll grow back..

[basil]

My dog always looks a little like a shaved wet rat after she's groomed…we go a little short to keep the intervals between needing grooming longer, even though she looks a little funny the first few weeks. She doesn't seem to mind.

We ask for a "round head" to keep the top of the head and beard area in balance and not too long or short. And my groomer calls the butt trim the "sanitary cut", which is a necessity!

[MelissaTC]

I have a Pekepoo and ask for a puppy cut so he looks like a teddy bear. He looks adorable when he comes back.