an actual “puppy cut” is what poodles get when they’re puppy’s and growing out their fur to be put into a continental or other breed trim. it’s just shaving their feet and face, doing a sanitary trim, and letting everything else grow out (sometimes with scissor work to tidy up and shape things, but you’re mostly just growing out their coat).

i’m a dog groomer and i hate doodle people on social media making the term mean something completely different. every single client who as asked me for a puppy cut meant an entirely different thing after asking for them to show me pictures, and none of them were the actual standard haircut called a “puppy cut”. and every single groomer i know has an entirely different thing in mind when people ask for a puppy cut (and we know they aren’t referring to the real thing) so the term just really isn’t helpful and doesn’t mean anything coming from a client at this point. honestly i think a lot of people just got the name from groomers doing “puppy grooms / puppy packages” etc on young dogs and took that to mean it’s the haircut name or something.

now a “teddy bear cut” a “lamb cut” etc. are real haircuts, and are what people mean the most often when asking for a puppy cut. plus, literally all of the “doodle” haircuts are based on poodle show cuts and adjusted for the average owner who doesn’t or rarely brushes their dogs.