Poodle grooming can be a daunting task, but a necessary part of owning this particular breed. Well-groomed poodles have healthier skin and coats and grooming also helps prevent health problems.
A poodle’s hair never stops growing, so a full clipping is necessary every six to eight weeks. If you can afford it, it may be best to pay someone else to groom your poodle. The steps involved can be labor intensive and it is sometimes best left to a professional.
Poodle Ears
Poodles grow a lot of hair in their ears which must be plucked out to avoid moisture getting trapped in the ear canal and causing yeast to grow and ear infections. This is something that you can do yourself or have your groomer do it. For more info on how to do this yourself try watching some Youtube videos on the process. It is very easy.
Giving your Poodle a Bath: You can bathe your poodle as frequently as once in a week. Fill a tub with warm water and allow his/her coat to saturate thoroughly, making sure that it is wet right up to the skin. Since poodles were bred to be water dogs, their coat is very dense, hence, this may take some time. Then, using a mild shampoo.. I personally use a the Nature’s Specialties products like their Almonds Crisp Dog Shampoo with Aloe Vera and their Quicker Slicker leave in Conditioner on my both my adult Poodles and puppies. They have a whole range of professional high quality products available on Amazon.
Bathe and rinse your poodle thoroughly, finish off by using a conditioner for dogs. Next, towel dry your poodle, removing the excess moisture, and then use a blow dryer to dry them off, be careful not to use the blow dryer too close, or it may burn their skin. Since poodles are water dogs they naturally shed water so it does take some extra effort to get the coat completely wet.
Make sure to rinse the shampoo out of your poodles coat thoroughly. Any leftover residue can become irritating to your poodles skin. After the bath you can let them air dry for a curly look, or brush and blow-dry to give the coat a more fluffy look. While blow-drying, use a slicker brush gently. Either way make sure you can still brush them out from root to tip after they’re dry because water can actually cause mats to get tigher and bigger and you can’t always see them under all their curls. Use a grooming comb to double check for mats after every bath and after their fully dry.
Choosing a Groomer: Choose your groomer carefully and get advice from other poodle or doodle owners in your area. You might want to consider trying a couple different groomers in your area. Visit their shops and pay attention to how the facility is managed. Look for a clean shop and a groomer with a gentle hand and manner. I’ve found groomers will charge anywhere between $60-$150 per visit. Prices will vary greatly depending on where you live and the groomer you choose.
To maintain your poodle’s cut between visits, you will need some quality dog grooming tools at home.
If you want to learn to groom your poodle at home you will need a high quality pair of clippers and scissors. Keep your clippers in top working condition by cleaning the blades and oiling them regularly. Dull blades can scrape the skin of your poodle and cause clipper burn. Look for a pair of clippers that have a many blades, this way you can rotate the blades during the grooming session if need be.
You’ll also need quality brushes and combs to maintain your poodle’s cut between grooming sessions. Your Poodle should be brushed out at least twice a week, if not daily.
Even though poodles don’t shed as much as other dogs, they do lose hair. That hair remains in the dog’s coat until you brush it out. Brushing will also keep your poodle’s coat shiny by distributing the skin’s natural oils.
Bi-weekly brushing sessions can be a great way to bond with your dog. Gentle but vigorous brushing will make your dog feel good and increase circulation in the skin.
The 4 Types of Combs Every Poodle Owner Needs..
I think every Poodle owner should own all 4 of these grooming tools! The first “must-have” is a good “greyhoud” comb like the Paws Pamper Metal Tooth Comb, this comb is used to comb out your Poodle from root to tip especially before and after a bath and to check for any exsisting knots or mats.
I also highly recommend using a grooming rake for daily combing. I personally like the FURminator Grooming Rake because you can quickly pull out any loose hair or smaller knots and they help avoid any bigger mats from forming.
If they already have some tougher mats though then you’re gonna need a good dematting comb to cut those out. I personally like the GoPets dematting comb.
Grooming Blade Numbers
You select the blade number according to how long you want to leave the coat. The lower the blade number, the longer the hair will be.
For example, a #5 blade will leave a hair length of 1/4″, while a #30 blade will leave a mere 1/100″.
A #10 is one of the most commonly used blades because it works well for trimming the body of most breeds.
Other blades that work well with most breeds include the #15, #5, and #7 blades.
For slightly matted hair use a #5, for heavy or very matted coats select a size #7, and for pads use a #15.
Visit allpoodleinfo.com for more info on Poodle grooming
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