Poodles and their hair cuts

Today as I was bathing Bella I got to thinking about the one main topic when it comes to poodles- Grooming. Their hair although it doesn't shed requires more upkeep than some other breeds. The plus side of poodle hair other then not shedding? You can pick a hair do that suits the work you want to put into it.  I love hair.  Having been a groomer in the past for a couple of years I love it when Bella has lots of hair.  Like her current clip.  She was shaved down in July with a #4 blade and I haven't clipped her since.  I've kept up her face, and sanitary areas but that's it.  A bit of 'topping' (Trimming just the ends) and some slight shaping.

So she's one poofy girl right now. This is a modified lamb trim.  Her tail is longer her ears are shorter and she doesn't have 'poodle feet' (Shaved feet). The legs have more hair length then her body.
She was last shaped 3 weekes ago (ignore the flat head- I forgot to floof it up before the photo) today was purely a bath and blow dry.

This amount of hair requires a fair bit of brushing and bathing to keep up with it and prevent bad matting. But she's so poofy and soft.  With this amount of coat I brush her head to toe every couple days and needs a bath every couple weeks. Clean coat is easier to brush and maintain matt free.

This summer we were busy- camping and at the lake and bella who had a fair bit of hair in the spring- was getting hot.  Hot dogs do not do fantastic in the obedience ring- can't be peppy an on the ball when your dressed up in the equivalent of a poodle sweater! Like i mentioned above she was clipped down in a 4blade. (The lower the blade # the more hair it leaves). She had poodle clipped face, sanitary area  This is very much a kennel or sporting clip. She still has a top knot and looks very poodlish.  It was great for swimming and hiking- enough hair to protect her body but not so much to drag everything home.  This clip because of it's short hair required very little brushing and brushing went very fast. Once a week a come through took 5 minutes and that was it.

Similar clip on a dog with no top knot and the coat has been allowed to be curly after being clipped.

There's lots of different clips you can get your poodle styled with. These are some of my favorites.
Bella as a puppy was in a Swedish clip (puppy showclip style in Europe).  It sorta makes em look like they are wearing pants.

and here a show pup in it- note the more hair on ears and top knot but so fancy looking!

The continental clip is the most common adult show clip.  It's the clip that makes people think "poodle". It's fun to have it on a dog.  A pet version is shorter hair than the show dogs. Here's some pics.  Bonus of this clip- the shorter butt and legs = less area to groom.

 

A show Mini Poodle in the Continental Clip

Bella in the HCC Clip

German clip- this is one of my favorite clips. The German Clip has a 'carrot' tail (For docked dogs), short ears and is otherwise a lamb clip. This is my friend Amy's dog Paris.  Amy and Paris won some big awards in grooming competitions (Top groomer of the year!) with this clip- SO gorgeous! This is the standard German Clip

Lots of other clips around here's some examples. The big thing is to pick something that works for you, your dog and what upkeep you want to put in brushing and grooming wise!

Go old school with the Dutch Clip

Go creative- get your poodle done as a pony poodle!

Or go Japanese style