TOY POODLE SCISSORED LAMB

BUDDY'S BACK - YEA!

Buddy was one of the first grooms I blogged last Fall. This little toy poodle was coming every four weeks and we were doing a nice, full, scissored lamb trim. He never ever had a single tangle! Eat your hearts out, my groomer buddies. I last saw Buddy in March. Then he missed his appointment AND missed the rebook, and dropped off my radar. :-( I knew it did not have anything to do with my grooming. This was one where it was easy to not take it personally.

Last week I got the call: Seems as though Buddy's Daddy had gotten tired of driving across town to my salon and booked his dog for grooming at a closer establishment. Buddy's Daddy figured all groomers were basically the same. NOT! They learned. I was delighted to hear from them and happily set up an appointment. He came in looking like this.

It is not that the other place did a horrible job. They did a decent job. With this being eight weeks regrowth, my best guess is that they used a #3 blade on the body and a #4 on the legs. It was not chopped up. The grooming simply lacked style. The styling choices that were made were not complimentary to the dog. Their idea of a "full lamb" seems to have been to leave the body fuller than the legs. The legs were tapered to the feet, or "pegged" as I put it, and this is one of my pet peeves in poodle grooming. Unless there is a serious sticker problem in the back yard, the current style is to "cuff" the legs at the foot not to taper into a full top.

Here is Buddy about an hour later:

This is not a perfect groom, but it is flattering to Buddy.

In between the "before" and the "after", I did a couple of things.
Redefined the rear angulation and shortened top of back (top line):

I'm not too thrilled with my poodle angulation. My poodle rears looks a bit too much like bichon butts....

I also shaped the shoulder and front:

I'm also not totally pleased with this part.

Goals for next time:
Work on the angle of the rear angulation.
Set in front legs
Improve front line where leg meets shoulder.

We're not perfect, but we're on the path (to perfection)...
BBird

Tools & Equipment used on this groom:
Arius-Eickert 5.5" curved scissors on leg cuffs, tail, hat.
Wahl Peanut clipper on feet (now known as the Tid Bit)
Arius-Eickert 8" Legend shears for scissor finishing.

Arius-Eickert shears can be purchased at:
http://www.bbird.biz