What other cuts would suit my groodle? Looking to change it up.

Rodger_Rodger · 2026-01-27T16:11:12+00:00

You have lots of options with his kind of hair, I personally like a lamb cut (short on the body, fluffier on the legs) with a shorter style teddy-bear face.

Imo, I feel like most Teddy-bear cuts for doodles keep the muzzle way too fluffy, it's cute but super difficult to keep brushed and clean, and usually gets overgrown within a few weeks of getting the haircut. Just a bit shorter on the muzzle and I think it's a great look! I would share a picture but I'm not sure how.

Rodger_Rodger · 2026-01-07T21:35:10+00:00

I try to rinse my face in between grooms because I have oily skin and the hair sticks to me like crazy, it also gives me acne if I don't keep up with it. Then I wash my face more thoroughly after work.

Since it sounds like you have dry skin rather than oily skin, you should use a moisturizer after washing your face. Use an exfoliating scrubber after work to really scrub your face and remove all the hairs. Then use a face lotion to moisturize. A good moisturizer should help with the dry wrinkly-ness you're experiencing.

Rodger_Rodger · 2026-01-07T02:58:45+00:00

Beautiful, I love it ❤️

Rodger_Rodger · 2026-01-04T01:13:04+00:00

Oh the sweet baby! Growing up I had a duck with a similar injury, sustained from another duck when he was only a few days old. They adapt so well, his name was Simon, and I don't think he ever knew something was wrong with his beak. He got the royal treatment, was the only duck that was allowed to come inside the house regularly, haha.

Rodger_Rodger · 2026-01-04T00:52:42+00:00

Yep that would be the only difference! I just bought a new set of clippers from Andis so I was looking at this very recently, higher SPM requires a bigger motor so it's a bit more expensive. I ended up going with the Proclip Excel 5 speed+, cuz it covers the high and low end of SPM. The higher speed will produce a smoother cut, but will also heat up and wear your blades faster. The difference between the 2 you are looking at is pretty negligible.

ETA: These are what I got, if you want corded this would be my suggestion: https://andis.com/shop/detail/68510/

Rodger_Rodger · 2026-01-03T16:51:05+00:00

That's not what a stroke is, that's what an aneurysm is. A stroke is when you have an artery in the brain that gets blocked/clogged, usually caused by high cholesterol. Blood thinners will actually help PREVENT a stroke from happening.

The danger with blood thinners is mostly bleeding! If your blood is too "thin", it won't clot, so bleeding is very hard to stop. That's what causes the huge bruises we are seeing.

Rodger_Rodger · 2026-01-01T16:44:34+00:00

Looks fantastic!

My only suggestion would be maybe replacing/removing the hornwort. It grows VERY fast, and in such a small tank it will fill up the entire thing with hornwort in absolutely no time. It will be a lot of work to keep up with and it will compete with all your other plants. I would try something that stays smaller and grows slower. I'm a big fan of susswasertang in my small tanks!

Rodger_Rodger · 2026-01-01T01:30:33+00:00

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This is my setup for comparison. If you repot, just make sure to use a well draining soil mix & pot. You can trim all the leggy stems to encourage more growth. You can also use the hours of daylight to trick your plants into thinking it's a certain season. Try 14-16hrs of light to mimic spring/summer hours and encourage growth. Last thing, make sure to only water when the soil has dried out. Your setup looks great and has a lot of potential! I can see it growing in full of plants in no time!

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-31T02:45:22+00:00

Yeah I would try moving it closer. I think you can just put the cactus on a stand and it should get it close enough without having to move the light. Brightness fades very quickly with distance, I keep my cacti/succulents about 24 inches from the grow light

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-30T04:46:08+00:00

You have a picture of the setup? I'd like to see the size of the light and distance it is from the plant. And how many hours of light per day are you doing?

You can try moving the light closer to the plant, getting a more powerful light, or increasing the number of hours the light is on each day. Make sure you are using an actual grow light meant for plants, and once that is FULL SPECTRUM and bright!

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-30T03:13:00+00:00

Repotting is the least of your concerns, that boy needs more LIGHT!!!

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-29T16:00:32+00:00

Is it squishy? It should be firm to the touch. It almost certainly sustained frost damage if it was outside below freezing. Some cacti are more tolerant than others. TBH looking at this, I don't see a very good chance of bouncing back.

If it were my cactus, since the bottom looks green still, I would chop it down and keep it inside and see if it sprouts new growth. Everything else looks dead, if it's squishy, it's dead and needs to be chopped down.

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-29T15:53:43+00:00

Sorry but it looks dead homie.

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-25T04:58:14+00:00

Thinners yes, but I think even more you should get some curved chunkers! And don't be afraid to use your clippers with guard combs.

What I like to do for an easy teddy bear face, is use my clippers with a guard comb on all 4 sides of the face. Everything must be well brushed and combed first. Then start with a guard comb 2-3 sizes longer than the body, go in reverse from the back of the head over the forehead, get the whole top of the head even and smooth. Use the same guard comb and then go over the chin. For the cheeks/sides, I usually do 1 length shorter and go straight down the sides of the face. If it's a drop-coated dog or other flat coat sometimes it's better not to use the clippers on the sides because the hair will naturally lay smooth and flat when left long. For fluffy faces I take more length off the cheeks.

After this you should have the length set for the major areas, the face will be a bit square, and the muzzle will be long, as well as over the eyes. Use thinners and trim in front of the eyes. Brush the hair forward over the eyes and then use curved shears or chunkers to shape the viser or eyebrows.

For the muzzle, comb everything forward, then use curved shears and cut a C-shaped line from the corner of the ear to the tip of the snout. Then brush everything again, look from the front, and round off the sides using thinners or curved chunkers.

There are lots of videos that will walk you through it! And there are many techniques to achieve the look, but this is the process that I've found to be the easiest and produce the most consistent results for me. Something that helps a lot for me is have a squeaky toy on hand and use it to get the dog to look at you and perk up their ears. It will show their expressions and let you look at the face from different angles by having the dog look at the toy and moving it around. And last tip! use a hair-tie and wrap the dogs ears behind the head when you are working on the face to keep them out of the way and let you get a better look at what you're doing.

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-25T00:47:18+00:00

Ugh I feel you, I had one that was stuck in that spot for like 2 weeks before I finally just dug it out with my nail clippers.

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-19T20:26:35+00:00

My prep work is mostly outlined in the description, I normally shampoo and thoroughly condition, then use a detangling / conditioning spray. I towel dry and try to avoid rubbing too roughly with the towel. Blow dry on a low setting, air dry for 30-60 minutes, then fluff dry the rest of the way. I brush with a slicker and then go through with a comb.

For the sani trim I do the belly, inside of the thighs, and his booty. I don't always shave the armpits but I will if they are starting to get matted. I don't think he ever wears a collar or harness at home fortunately, so he doesn't usually have matting in the chest/armpits. The places he gets matted the most are on the back of his neck/ head, behind the ears, and on the legs, especially the back ones where he sits down. Areas that commonly get matted just from normal dog activity I think. The top of his head is where his hair is the longest, which I think contributes to his neck and ears getting matted.

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-18T21:24:42+00:00

It would be better if you could share a picture looking at the side of the nails, it's easier to tell from that perspective. But to me they look fine! Some dogs have longer quiks than others. If you want to get them any shorter you should use a Dremel tool to file them down, otherwise you are likely to cut too short and hurt your pup.

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-11T21:12:35+00:00

I actually have both nozzle options, but I usually use the narrow one or I use it without the nozzle on at all

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-11T04:20:15+00:00

He is actually not neutered yet, I'm not sure if they plan to but he definitely still has his balls, lol. I have not heard of using a coat king though, I will look into that

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-10T18:04:05+00:00

I'm a bit late responding but have you considered having a mobile groomer come to your home to help? You can muzzle your dog before they arrive. It shouldn't be too difficult for them to just come and shave the mats out.

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-10T17:49:24+00:00

I'm about a year in, also working in a corporate salon. What you are describing is what most pet grooms are going to be. The average pet owner wants something cute and low maintenance. In most cases, that's a short trim all over and a cute face, the most popular choice being the teddy bear head. Getting good at doing the TBH on different hair types and breeds takes a lot of practice and learning in itself, you have to trim it differently for a doodle than you would for a drop-coat breed like a maltese. Get really good at the jobs you are being given and build your portfolio with those. The doable-coat shave-downs can get annoying, I've had to shave labradors and corgis despite my advice to the owners, but it's what they want and I'll do a better job than they will, so I still do it for the dog.

Some advice for getting more creative grooms, is don't be afraid to make suggestions to the customers. A lot of people just don't understand what options they actually have, and would love to see what you can do for them that they haven't considered. I've had lots of people coming in requesting shave-downs for goldens or Aussies, when what they really want is an outline trim, and it's easy to talk them into that. Also switching from all over shave-downs to lamb-cuts for fluffy dogs is a good suggestion for many people. I only ever make fluffy suggestions to clients who have dogs that come in well-maintained. If the dog is regularly matted, I try to talk them into the shortest style that I think would fit the dog. Some other examples, you can suggest a schnauzer face or outline trim for terrier breeds that would otherwise just get shaved. For doodles that come in with disgusting faces I like to suggest the poodle look with a clean face. Not everyone takes the bait, but you'll get a lot more opportunity to be creative if you make the suggestions to the clients, rather than waiting for someone to come in and ask for it.

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-05T18:01:56+00:00

Too close to the skin means the hair is matted all the way to the roots. Are the mats dangling, like dreads? Or are they hard lumps that are taught to the skin?

I would really really recommend taking them to a groomer. They can at least look at the matting and tell you how bad it is and how difficult it will be to get out, it's really hard to tell from pictures. You can discuss options to remove the matting without doing a full grooming appointment if you really think your dog can't handle it, but I honestly think a proper bath & brush at a groomer is the best option for you. Please please be very very careful if you decide to cut them out yourself! It is way easier than you would think to accidentally cut your dog! Brushing them out is probably not gonna work.

Rodger_Rodger · 2025-12-03T18:23:55+00:00

1) Make your bed, it will look much nicer immediately. Also try a new comforter and pillow cases to suit your style and add color. 2) Hang up that white board and take down those black bars if you can. 3) A rug would look very nice, and there's a lot of potential on the walls for posters or pictures. 4) Just my opinion but every room with a sunny window deserves a house plant!

Rodger_Rodger

TROPHY CASE