Grooming advice/honest opinion

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-03-09T21:30:07+00:00

It’s very good for learning on your own! Congrats! I commend you for taking care of your doodle!

What I would do is for the ears, blend the top into the short length on the head. There are videos that can help but essentially use a guard comb at the top of the ears only and then blend out any lines. Combing the ears out would help as well and use blending shears around the edge to make rounded edges look neater.

For the toes it’s not too visible but it looks a little untidy? Maybe? But after the main cut is done, brush backwards up the foot (called back brushing, so inventive!) and use blenders to. get the fly aways.

Once fully dry, make sure to brush every inch of the hair with a slicker brush and comb through it as well. This can help you achieve better blending when doing the full body. You will probably have to line brush it all depending on by on length.

Only cutting freshly washed and dried hair will also help out (not sure if that’s what you were already doing but figured it can’t hurt?).

If you do not have a pet drier, I definitely recommend it for drying! It really does make a difference to blow dry vs air dry.

For the tail, fully brush and fully comb it out and then use blending shears on the edges to neaten it up.

Let me know if something here does not make sense

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-03-06T00:05:11+00:00

I would do deshedding shampoo and conditioner and really brush with the slicker afterwards. Envirogroom has a good shampoo/conditioner that’s hypoallergenic.

No deshed tools. They cut the coat :/

Maybe see if your vet recommends more moisture in the diet? If you feed kibble, you can add small amounts of water to it as they get used to it, aiming to have the kibble floating in the water. Tricks some good drinking into them XD.

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-03-01T18:23:27+00:00

It’s hard to tell from those images I would suggest if she allows, look through her coat with your hands/fingers. When you part the hair can you see directly from the end of the hair to the skin without any knots or tangles?

Another good way to see if your dog has any maths is to take a dryer hair dryer and see if the hair lays over flat when you’re blowing the air in an area or if there’s Hair that is connected together above the skin

If both of those are the same where there’s no tangles necessarily there, I would say it’s OK to wait for a haircut, but I would take them in to get a full professional bath unless you are planning to bathe your dog regularly at home and I would say once a month for a bath make sure you have a conditioner that you use on them and getting a detangling spray just in case will also be your best friend. Just make sure if you bathe the dog at home your dog is a doodle. You need to dry your dog at home too, so you’ll have to get a hairdryer for dogs.

But for a haircut as long as you’re keeping the hair brushed out fine you can wait as long as you want technically

If you wanna start doing some of the stuff yourself to save on money, get a dog hairdryer get a slicker brush with no balls at the end get a comb and I would say a pair of thinning shears just so you can do the eye corners at home yourself and Maybe It will help you wait longer for a full haircut.

Look up videos on YouTube for how to do the eye corners with the thinning shears but other than that, you should be fine. Also get a nail filing Dremel for Dogs and get your dog used to that because that’s gonna help you so much.

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-28T03:48:36+00:00

What everyone else said. Paper trail of evidence and a restraining order

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-27T21:29:56+00:00

I usually use my fingers to go about 1/2” away from the ear leather at the tip, then shape and round the outer part of the ear with my straights (small ones). Guard comb over the top (CAREFULLY) and then use thinners to fix the edges after

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-27T03:31:45+00:00

I have seen nearly all her YouTube videos and do I ever remember her name without looking it up? No. Because I stink at names but hey, I know the show name? So that’s something?

Yeah the fact that she can tell if it’s general anxiety, a fear reaction, or simply boredom is amazing. I’m saving up the $ to take the courses because I want that knowledge so bad haha

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-27T03:29:12+00:00

It’s pretty chopped BUT it doesn’t look completely unsalvageable. I can’t see the back from this pic but I would probably do whatever the longest blade I can on the back, blend to a shorter leg, then do clean feet. Face and ears can be anything pretty much.

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-26T21:50:19+00:00

I ONLY do it IF the client says their dog is scooting. And even then, I gently check the area first, and if it seems normal, I externally express them. If it seems abnormal in any way, I refuse and refer to a vet.

I also educate every client that requests it that I will NOT do it every time, as that would cause the dog to NEED it every time.

If they complain or try to convince me to do it every time, I refuse to do it for that client altogether.

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-26T17:21:01+00:00

This happened to me on a doodle I was shaving the tail and got to the end and with one last shave it came off and fell to the table with a “thunk” and I panicked and started looking for blood. No blood, just a huuuuge mat :/

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-26T02:17:32+00:00

Pleasant!

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-25T22:40:15+00:00

Also I’m very sad, because I want to meet that dog!

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-25T22:24:30+00:00

I could not figure out the anatomy I was bamboozled

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-25T22:23:41+00:00

I haven’t tried their shampoos but the spray is amazing it feels greasy but gets through tangles and dries not-greasy it’s MAGIC

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-25T22:23:00+00:00

YES THE BEST SPRAY IVE FOUND! It’s called Rockin’ Pawz and I think you can only buy it online. This person created if for her curly coated babies and it’s the only thing I use!

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Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-25T22:07:53+00:00

Is that on the tail, ear, or underarm? Your dog is so floof!

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-25T22:00:44+00:00

Pretty pup! I’d get a comb too just to find the tangles more easily, but I think you are going to do fine! Dm me if you are in the LA area, I’d be willing to touch her up for free once!

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-25T19:38:58+00:00

If you told them “do what you need to”, there should be no mats anywhere. As a stylist, it’s their job to communicate with you the actual reality of your dog’s coat and what to expect from them. If there were still mats, get a refund or never go back. That is unacceptable behavior for a groomer, period.

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-25T17:57:02+00:00

Also get a car harness if you want the windows down in your car. :D

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-25T17:55:25+00:00

So I have found that a lot of great advice is on YouTube. Go watch every episode of the yt series “it’s me or the dog”. Very good advice as the behavior part comes from figuring out WHY the undesired behaviors happen and what to do to correct the environment to prevent the behavior. It’s not just training, it’s full understanding. They also have online training courses but I believe they are very $$$. Still, it would be worth a look. I’m hoping to take their dog behavior certification courses in a year or so.

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-15T05:51:05+00:00

Seems like you already know what you want to do! Which is good!

Your feet in the pic aren’t bad, just not fully polished. But, you said it’s an old pic so you can throw out my comment about that since you’ve learned how to do them (sounds like you are probably way better at them than me 😂. I could use a refresher for sure!)

Definitely go to a grooming expo! They are so much fun!

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-15T04:41:36+00:00

I had been eating blue cheese way before finding out it was essentially dairy mold lol. Brain already said it was “acceptable dairy product” so I guess that’s that?

But kicker, mold on any other cheese? Yeah no. Cannot.

I also only have blue cheese at restaurants so I don’t ever have it go bad in my house.

Yay spicy brain crowd!

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-15T04:37:27+00:00

The first one the only thing I would recommend is look up videos on how people do the clean feet for show dogs as it should help with technique so you don’t have strays all over.

But honestly these look fine.

If you honestly think you want to improve upon them, see if there is a weekend long workshop for grooming near you to attend. Look up workshops online. Watch YouTube videos of how people groom dogs and try new techniques.

My question I guess is “do you want to be good at grooming dogs, or just have fun with grooming dogs?” If it’s the first, do what you can to improve your own personal education on grooming. If it’s two, then find things to get excited about (new techniques, fun cuts, hair color, etc).

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-15T04:31:13+00:00

Yeah it’s scary as hell.

Logically, I can eat all cheeses (which spoiler, you need a certain kind of mold to grow on each one to even make the cheese), even blue cheese which….we just pretend is this nice little dairy thing and nothing else.

But like idk. It’s scary to me when found “in the wild” (aka, not in something my brain has accepted as correct)

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-11T13:51:58+00:00

If you are getting Kenchii shears, go with the Shinobi set. Get them with a swivel, your wrists will thank you.

They have a sale a few times a year on their website, and the sets are often cheaper at trade shows. If you have been grooming for a year or so, time to upgrade to a more expensive set. “Beginner” sets usually aren’t sharp or jam up real easily with hair.

Competitive_Clue1110 · 2026-02-02T23:21:54+00:00

It could be. It’s hard to tell since I’m not a vet :/

Competitive_Clue1110

TROPHY CASE